TABLEAU CONTENT

1) Introduction to Tableau

2) Tableau Design Flow

3) Tableau Data Sources

4) Tableau Field Operations

5) Tableau Worksheets

6) Tableau Calculations

7) Tableau Functions

8) Tableau Sorts & Filters

9) Tableau Filter Operations

10) Tableau Dashboards

Introduction to Tableau

Tableau
Tableau is an excellent data visualization and business intelligence tool used
for reporting and analyzing vast volumes of data. It is an American company
that started in 2003—in June 2019, Salesforce acquired Tableau. It helps users
create different charts, graphs, maps, dashboards, and stories for visualizing
and analyzing data, to help in making business decisions.

Tableau is a data visualization tool or business intelligence tool which analyzes

and shows data in a chart or report fastly. It is very easy to use, because it does
not require any programming skill.

Tableau is the fastly growing and powerful data visualization tool. Tableau is a
business intelligence tool which helps us to analyse the raw data in the form of
the visual manner; it may be a graph, report, etc.

Example: - If you have any data like Big Data, Hadoop, SQL, or any cloud data
and if you want to analyse that given data in the form of pictorial
representation of data, you can use Tableau.

Data analysis is very fast with Tableau, and the visualizations created are in the
form of worksheets and dashboards. Any professional can understand the data
created using Tableau.

Tableau software doesn't require any technical or any programming skills to

operate. Tableau is easy and fast for creating visual dashboards.

Why use Tableau?

Here are some reasons to use Tableau:

 Ultimate skill for Data Science

  User-Friendly
 Apply to any Business
 Fast and Easy
 You don't need to do any Coding
 Community is Huge
 Hold the power of data
 It makes it easier to understand and explain the Data Reports

Features of Tableau

 Data Blending
 Real-time analysis
 The Collaboration of data

Why Choose a Career in Tableau?

The data being generated each day continues to increase at a rapid pace. In
2020, the amount of data created around the world went up fiftyfold from the
prior decade. With so much data available to businesses and organizations, it’s
more important than ever to have effective analytic tools available, as well as
individuals who are trained to use them to help gather important information
for their business. Studying Tableau provides prospective job candidates with
essential data analysis, visualization, and collaboration training with this widely
used software that will set them apart from other candidates.

Many top companies around the world, such as Groupon, Sony, Facebook,
Dell, and General Motors, currently offer high-paying career options in Tableau
for qualified individuals. Those with Tableau training have a plethora of job
options available in 2022, a trend that is likely to continue in the coming years
as more and more data will need to be analyzed and utilized.

This article will explore seven of the most popular Tableau jobs in 2022, the
average national pay rate of each position, and several of the tasks involved
with each career path.

Tableau have many job opportunities, in data analytics, business intelligence,

and data science:

 Tableau Consultant
 Business Intelligence Manager
 Data Visualization Developer
 Tableau Business Analyst
 Data Visualization Designer
 Tableau Developer

Tableau - Design Flow

As Tableau helps in analysing lots of data over diverse time periods,
dimensions, and measures, it needs a very meticulous planning to create a
good dashboard or story. Hence, it is important to know the approach to
design a good dashboard. Like any other field of human endeavour, there are
many best practices to be followed to create good worksheets and
dashboards.

Though the final outcome expected from a Tableau project is ideally a

dashboard with story, there are many intermediate steps which needs to be
completed to reach this goal. Following is a flow diagram of design steps that
should be ideally followed to create effective dashboards.
 1. Connect to Data Source

The first step is to connect the data source to Tableau. Tableau can connect
to nearly every data sources like text files, relational sources, SQL sources, or
cloud databases, etc. There is an inbuilt connector in Tableau to establish a
link with data sources.
Tableau connects to all popular data sources. It has inbuilt connectors which
take care of establishing the connection, once the connection parameters are
supplied. Be it simple text files, relational sources, SQL sources or cloud data
bases, Tableau connects to nearly every data source.

2. Build Data Views

The next step is to build views, which are also known as reports. After
connecting to the data source, we have columns of data set in the Tableau
environment. There is a certain drag and drop feature in Tableau to build
views.

After connecting to a data source, you get all the column and data available in
the Tableau environment. You classify them as dimensions and measures, and
create any hierarchy required. Using these you build views, which are
traditionally known as Reports. Tableau provides easy drag and drop feature to
build views.

Enhance the Views

The views created above needs to be enhanced further by the use of filters,
aggregations, labeling of axes, formatting of colors and borders, etc.

Create Worksheets
Create different worksheets to create different views on the same or different
data.

Create and Organize Dashboards

Dashboards contain multiple worksheets which are linked. Hence, the action in
any of the worksheet can change the result in the dashboard accordingly.

Create a Story
A story is a sheet that contains a sequence of worksheets or dashboards that
work together to convey information. You can create stories to show how facts
are connected, provide context, demonstrate how decisions relate to
outcomes, or simply make a compelling case.
 Tableau - File Types

The result of data analysis in Tableau can be saved in various

formats, to be saved and distributed. The various formats are
referred as different file types and they are identified by different
extensions. Their formats depend on how they are produced and
for what purposes they are used. They are all stored as XML files,
which can be opened and edited.

File
File Type Purpose
Extension

It contains information on each sheet

and dashboard that is present in a
workbook. It has the details of the
fields, which are used in each view
and the formula applied to the
Tableau
.twb aggregation of the measures. It also
Workbook
has the formatting and styles applied.
It contains the data source connection
information and any metadata
information created for that
connection.

This file format contains the details of

a workbook as well as the local data
Tableau that is used in the analysis. Its
Packaged .twbx purpose is to share with other Tableau
Workbook desktop or Tableau reader users,
assuming it does not need data from
the server.

The details of the connection used to

Tableau
.tds create the tableau report are stored in
Data Source
this file. In the connection details, it
 stores the source type
(excel/relational/sap, etc.) as well as
the data types of the columns.

Tableau This file is similar to the .tds file with

Packaged .tdsx the addition of data along with the
Data source connection details.

This file contains the data used in a

.twb file in a highly compressed
columnar data format. This helps in
Tableau storage optimization. It also saves the
.tde
Data Extract aggregated calculations that are
applied in the analysis. This file should
be refreshed to get the updated data
from the source.

These files contain a single worksheet

Tableau
.tbm that is shared easily to be pasted into
Bookmark
other workbooks.

This file stores the color preference

Tableau used across all the workbooks. It is
.tps
Preferences mainly used for consistent look and
feel across the users.

Tableau - Data Types

As a data analysis tool, Tableau classifies every piece of data into one of the
four categories namely - String, Number, Boolean and datetime. Once data is
loaded from the source, Tableau automatically assigns the data types.
Contrarily, you can also change some of the data types if it satisfies the data
conversion rule. The user has to specify the data type for calculated fields.
 Data Type Description Example

Any sequence of zero or more

characters. They are enclosed 'Hello'
STRING within single quotes. The quote 'Quoted'
itself can be included in a string 'quote'
by writing it twice.

These are either integers or

floating points. It is advised to
3
NUMBER round the floating point
142.58
numbers while using them in
calculations.

TRUE
BOOLEAN They are logical values.
FALSE

Tableau recognizes dates in

almost all formats. But in case
"02/01/2015"
DATE & we need to force Tableau to
"#3 March
DATETIME recognize a string as date, then
1982"
we put a # sign before the
data.

Tableau - Data Terminology

As a powerful data visualization tool, Tableau has many unique

terms and definitions. You need to get acquainted with their
meaning before you start using the features in Tableau. The
following list of terms is comprehensive and explains the terms
most frequently used.

S.No Terms & Meaning

Alias
1
An alternative name that you can assign to a field or to a dimension member.

2 Bin
 A user-defined grouping of measures in the data source.

Bookmark
A .tbm file in the Bookmarks folder in the Tableau repository that contains a
3
single worksheet. Much like web browser bookmarks, .tbm files are a
convenient way to quickly display different analyses.

Calculated Field
4 A new field that you create by using a formula to modify the existing fields in
your data source.

Crosstab
5 A text table view. Use text tables to display the numbers associated with
dimension members.

Dashboard
6 A combination of several views arranged on a single page. Use dashboards to
compare and monitor a variety of data simultaneously.

Data Pane
A pane on the left side of the workbook that displays the fields of the data
sources to which Tableau is connected. The fields are divided into dimensions
7
and measures. The data pane also displays custom fields such as calculations,
binned fields, and groups. You build views of your data by dragging fields from
the data pane onto the various shelves that are a part of every worksheet.

Data Source Page

A page where you can set up your data source. The data source page generally
8
consists of four main areas − left pane, join area, preview area, and metadata
area.

Dimension
A field of categorical data. Dimensions typically hold discrete data such as
9
hierarchies and members that cannot be aggregated. Examples of dimensions
include dates, customer names, and customer segments.

Extract
A saved subset of a data source that you can use to improve performance and
10
analyze offline. You can create an extract by defining filters and limits that
include the data you want in the extract.

Filters Shelf
11 A shelf on the left of the workbook that you can use to exclude data from a view
by filtering it using measures and dimensions.

Format Pane
A pane that contains formatting settings that control the entire worksheet, as
12
well as individual fields in the view. When open, the Format pane appears on
the left side of the workbook.

13 Level Of Detail (LOD) Expression

 A syntax that supports aggregation at dimensionalities other than the view level.
With the level of detail expressions, you can attach one or more dimensions to
any aggregate expression.

Marks
A part of the view that visually represents one or more rows in a data source. A
14
mark can be, for example, a bar, line, or square. You can control the type, color,
and size of marks.

Marks Card
15 A card to the left of the view, where you can drag fields to control mark
properties such as type, color, size, shape, label, tooltip, and detail.

Pages Shelf
A shelf to the left of the view that you can use to split a view into a sequence of
16 pages based on the members and values in a discrete or continuous field.
Adding a field to the Pages shelf is like adding a field to the Rows shelf, except
that a new page is created for each new row.

Rows Shelf
A shelf at the top of the workbook that you can use to create the rows of a data
table. The shelf accepts any number of dimensions and measures. When you
17
place a dimension on the Rows shelf, Tableau creates headers for the members
of that dimension. When you place a measure on the Rows shelf, Tableau
creates quantitative axes for that measure.

Shelves
Named areas to the left and top of the view. You build views by placing fields
18 onto the shelves. Some shelves are available only when you select certain mark
types. For example, the Shape shelf is available only when you select the Shape
mark type.

Workbook
19 A file with a .twb extension that contains one or more worksheets (and possibly
also dashboards and stories).

Worksheet
20
A sheet where you build views of your data by dragging fields onto shelves.
 Tableau - Data Sources

Tableau can connect to all the popular data sources which are widely used.
Tableau’s native connectors can connect to the following types of data
sources.

 File Systems such as CSV, Excel, etc.

 Relational Systems such as Oracle, Sql Server, DB2, etc.

 Cloud Systems such as Windows Azure, Google BigQuery, etc.

 Other Sources using ODBC

Visualisation in Tableau starts with connecting to an outside data source. Steps

to follow :-

 Run Tableau. On the left side of the start screen, there is a Connect
Panel.
 Go to the File Section and choose the type of data file you want. Let’s
choose any excel file.
On clicking the Microsoft Excel option, a dialogue box will appear for the user
to choose the required data file. As shown below I have chosen a data –
‘Coral data.xlsx’

Now, Tableau will create connection to the data file and as you can see we
have our data at the bottom.
 If you are connecting to a Microsoft file then it is straight forward but if you
are connecting to a Microsoft SQL server then there is a possibility that it
might need some credentials like username, password e.t.c
 After connecting to the data file, the user can go the Worksheet

Then finally you can work on the data visualisation after wrangling your data.
Connect Live
The Connect Live feature is used for real-time data analysis. In this case,
Tableau connects to real-time data source and keeps reading the data. Thus,
the result of the analysis is up to the second, and the latest changes are
reflected in the result. However, on the downside, it burdens the source
system as it has to keep sending the data to Tableau.

In-Memory
Tableau can also process data in-memory by caching them in memory and not
being connected to the source anymore while analyzing the data. Of course,
there will be a limit to the amount of data cached depending on the availability
of memory.

Combine Data Sources

Tableau can connect to different data sources at the same time. For example,
in a single workbook you can connect to a flat file and a relational source by
defining multiple connections. This is used in data blending, which is a very
unique feature in Tableau.

Tableau - Extracting Data

Data extraction in Tableau creates a subset of data from the data source. This
is useful in increasing the performance by applying filters. It also helps in
applying some features of Tableau to data which may not be available in the
data source like finding the distinct values in the data. However, the data
extract feature is most frequently used for creating an extract to be stored in
the local drive for offline access by Tableau.

Creating an Extract
Extraction of data is done by following the menu - Data → Extract Data. It
creates many options such as applying limits to how many rows to be
extracted and whether to aggregate data for dimensions. The following screen
shows the Extract Data option.
Applying Extract Filters

To extract a subset of data from the data source, you can create filters which
will return only the relevant rows. Let’s consider the Sample Superstore data
set and create an extract. In the filter option, choose Select from list and tick
mark the checkbox value for which you need to pull the data from the source.
Adding New Data to Extract

To add more data for an already created extract, you can choose the option
Data → Extract → Append Data from File. In this case, browse the file
containing the data and click OK to finish. Of course, the number and datatype
of columns in the file should be in sync with the existing data.
Extract History

You can verify the history of data extracts to be sure about how many times
the extract has happened and at what times.

For this, you can use the menu - Data → Extract History.
 Tableau - Fields Operations
Tableau has many features to manipulate the fields present in Tableau data
pane. You can rename the fields or combine two fields to create one field. Such
operations help in better organization of the dimensions and measures, as well
as accommodate two or more fields with the same name for better data
analysis.

Following are the important examples of such Field Operations.

Adding Fields to Worksheet

You can add any field to the worksheet by right-clicking and choosing the
option Add to Sheet. You can also drag and drop the fields into different
shelves present in the worksheet, like Columns shelf, Rows shelf, Filters shelf,
and many other shelves under the Marks card. The following diagram shows
the right-click option.
 Tableau - Data Joining

Data joining is a very common requirement in any data analysis. You may need
to join data from multiple sources or join data from different tables in a single
source. Tableau provides the feature to join the table by using the data pane
available under Edit Data Source in the Data menu.

Creating a Join

Consider the data source ‘Sample superstore’ to create a join between Orders
and Returns table. For this, go to the Data menu and choose the option Edit
Data Source. Next, drag the two tables, Orders and Returns to the data pane.
Depending on the field name and datatype, Tableau will automatically create a
join which can be changed later.
Editing a Join Type

The type of join which the table creates automatically can be changed
manually. For this, click the middle of the two circles showing the join. A popup
window appears below which shows the four types of joins available. Also
Tableau automatically greys out some types of joins, which it finds irrelevant
on the basis of data present in the data source.
Tableau - Data Blending

Data Blending is a very powerful feature in Tableau. It is used when there is

related data in multiple data sources, which you want to analyze together in a
single view. As an example, consider the Sales data is present in a relational
database and Sales Target data in an Excel spreadsheet. Now, to compare
actual sales to target sales, you can blend the data based on common
dimensions to get access to the Sales Target measure. The two sources
involved in data blending are referred as primary and secondary data sources.
A left join is created between the primary data source and the secondary data
source with all the data rows from primary and matching data rows from
secondary data source.

Tableau - Worksheets

Tableau - Add Worksheets

Worksheet in the Tableau screen is the area where you create the views for
data analysis. By default, Tableau provides three blank worksheets when you
have established a connection to data source. You can go on adding multiple
worksheets to look at different data views in the same screen, one after
another.

Adding a Worksheet

You can add a worksheet in two ways. Right-click on the name of the current
worksheet and choose the option New Worksheet from the pop-up menu. You
can also click on the small icon to the right of the last sheet name to add a
worksheet.
Tableau - Rename Worksheet

You can give appropriate names to the existing worksheets by renaming a

worksheet. This helps in relating the content of the worksheet with its name.
For example, if we want to know which sheet has the view to know the
segment wise profit then with a proper name of the sheet we can identify it.

To rename a worksheet, right-click the sheet name and choose the option
Rename Sheet.

Tableau - Save & Delete Worksheet

An existing worksheet can be both saved and deleted. This helps in organizing
the contents in the Tableau desktop environment. While you can save a
worksheet by clicking the save button under the main menu, you can delete a
worksheet using the following steps.

Deleting the Worksheet

To delete a worksheet, right-click on name of the worksheet and choose the
option ‘Delete Sheet’.

Tableau - Calculations

Tableau - Operators

An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific

mathematical or logical manipulations. Tableau has a number of operators
used to create calculated fields and formulas.

Following are the details of the operators that are available and the order
(precedence) of operations.

Types of Operator

 General Operators
 Arithmetic Operators
 Relational Operators
 Logical Operators

General Operators

Following table shows the general operators supported by Tableau. These

operators act on numeric, character, and date data types.

Operator Description Example

7+3
Profit + Sales
Adds two numbers. Concatenates two strings.
+(addition) 'abc' + 'def' = 'abcdef'
Adds days to dates. #April 15, 2004# + 15 =
#April 30,
2004#

– Subtracts two numbers. Subtracts days from -(7+3) = -10

(subtraction) dates. #April 16, 2004# - 15 =
#April 1,
 2004#

Arithmetic Operators

Following table shows the arithmetic operators supported by Tableau. These

operators act only on numeric data types.

Operator Description Example

*(Multiplication) Numeric multiplication 23*2 = 46

/(Division) Numeric division 45/2 = 22.5

%(modulo) Reminder of numeric division 13 % 2 = 1

^(power) Raised to the power 2^3 = 8

Comparison Operators

Following table lists the comparison operators supported by Tableau. These

operators are used in expressions. Each operator compares two numbers,
dates, or strings and returns a Boolean (TRUE or FALSE). Booleans themselves,
however, cannot be compared using these operators.

Operator Description Example

Compares two numbers or two strings or two dates

= = or = ‘Hello’ = ‘Hello’ 5 = 15/
to be equal. Returns the Boolean value TRUE if they
(Equal to) 3
are, else returns false.

!= or <> Compares two numbers or two strings or two dates

‘Good’ <> ‘Bad’ 18 !=
(Not equal to be unequal. Returns the Boolean value TRUE if
37 / 2
to) they are, else returns false.

Compares two numbers or two strings or two dates

[Profit] > 20000
> (Greater where the first argument is greater than second.
[Category] > ‘Q’ [Ship
than) Returns the boolean value TRUE if it is the case, else
date] > #April 1, 2004#
returns false.
 Compares two numbers or two strings or two dates
[Profit] < 20000
< (Less where the first argument is smaller than second.
[Category] < ‘Q’ [Ship
than) Returns the boolean value TRUE if it is the case, else
date] < #April 1, 2004#
returns false.

Logical Operators

Following table shows the logical operators supported by Tableau. These

operators are used in expressions whose result is a Boolean giving the output
as TRUE or FALSE.

Operator Description Example

If the expressions or Boolean values present on both sides [Ship Date] > #April
AND of AND operator is evaluated to be TRUE, then the result 1, 2012# AND [Profit]
is TRUE. Else the result is FALSE. > 10000

If any one or both of the expressions or Boolean values [Ship Date] > #April
OR present on both sides of AND operator is evaluated to be 1, 2012# OR [Profit]
TRUE, then the result is TRUE. Else the result is FALSE. > 10000

This operator negates the Boolean value of the expression NOT [Ship Date] >
NOT
present after it. #April 1, 2012#

Operator Precedence

The following table describes the order in which operators are evaluated. The
top row has the highest precedence. Operators on the same row have the
same precedence. If two operators have the same precedence, they are
evaluated from left to right in the formula. Also parentheses can be used. The
inner parentheses are evaluated before the outer parentheses.

Precedence Operator

1 –(negate)

2 ^(power)
3 *, /, %

4 +, –

5 ==, >, <, >=, <=, !=

6 NOT

7 AND

8 OR

Tableau - Numeric Calculations

Numeric calculations in Tableau are done using a wide range of inbuilt

functions available in the formula editor.

In this chapter, we will see how to apply calculations to the fields. The
calculations can be as simple as subtracting the values of two fields or applying
an aggregate function to a single field.

Following are the steps to create a calculation field and use numeric functions
in it.

Create Calculated Field

While connected to Sample-superstore, go to the Analysis menu and click

‘Create Calculated Field’, as shown.
Calculation Editor

The above step opens a calculation editor which lists all the functions that is
available in Tableau. You can change the dropdown value and see only the
functions related to numbers.
 Tableau - Functions

Any data analysis involves a lot of calculations. In Tableau, the calculation

editor is used to apply calculations to the fields being analyzed. Tableau has a
number of inbuilt functions which help in creating expressions for complex
calculations.

Following are the description of different categories of functions.

 Number Functions
 String Functions
 Date Functions
 Logical Functions
 Aggregate Functions

Number Functions

These are the functions used for numeric calculations. They only take numbers
as inputs. Following are some examples of important number functions.

Function Description Example

Rounds a number to the nearest integer of

CEILING (number) CEILING(2.145) = 3
equal or greater value.

POWER (number,
Raises the number to the specified power. POWER(5,3) = 125
power)

ROUND (number, Rounds the numbers to a specified number ROUND(3.14152,2) =

[decimals]) of digits. 3.14

String Functions
String Functions are used for string manipulation. Following are
some important string functions with examples

Function Description Example

 LEN (string) Returns the length of the string. LEN("Tableau") = 7

Returns the string with any

LTRIM (string) LTRIM(" Tableau ") = "Tableau"
leading spaces removed.

Searches the string for substring

REPLACE and replaces it with a
REPLACE("GreenBlueGreen",
(string, substring, replacement. If the substring is
"Blue", "Red") = "GreenRedGreen"
replacement) not found, the string is not
changed.

Returns string, with all characters

UPPER (string) UPPER("Tableau") = "TABLEAU"
uppercase.

Date Functions

Tableau has a variety of date functions to carry out calculations involving

dates. All the date functions use the date_part which is a string indicating the
part of the date such as - month, day, or year. Following table lists some
examples of important date functions.

Function Description Example

DATEADD Returns an increment added to the DATEADD ('month', 3,

(date_part, date. The type of increment is specified #2004-04-15#) = 2004-
increment, date) in date_part. 0715 12:00:00 AM

DATENAME Returns date_part of date as a string.

DATENAME('month',
(date_part, date, The start_of_week parameter is
#200404-15#) = "April"
[start_of_week]) optional.

Returns the day of the given date as an

DAY (date) DAY(#2004-04-12#) = 12
integer.

NOW( ) = 2004-04-15
NOW( ) Returns the current date and time.
1:08:21 PM

Logical Functions
These functions evaluate some single value or the result of an expression and
produce a boolean output.

Function Description Example

The IFNULL function returns the first

IFNULL
expression if the result is not null, and IFNULL([Sales], 0) =
(expression1,
returns the second expression if it is [Sales]
expression2)
null.

The ISDATE function returns TRUE if the ISDATE("11/05/98") =

ISDATE (string) string argument can be converted to a TRUE
date, and FALSE if it cannot. ISDATE("14/05/98") =
FALSE

The MIN function returns the minimum

of an expression across all records or the
MIN(expression)
minimum of two expressions for each
record.

Aggregate Functions
Function Description Example

Returns the average of all the values in the expression. AVG

AVG(expression) can be used with numeric fields only. Null values are
ignored.

COUNT Returns the number of items in a group. Null values are not
(expression) counted.

Returns the median of an expression across all records.

MEDIAN
Median can only be used with numeric fields. Null values
(expression)
are ignored.

STDEV Returns the statistical standard deviation of all values in the

(expression) given expression based on a sample of the population.
 Tableau – Sorting

Tableau - Basic Sorting

Sorting of data is a very important feature of data analysis. Tableau allows the
sorting of data of the fields, which are called dimensions. There are two ways
in which Tableau carries out the sorting.

 Computed Sorting is the sort directly applied on an axis using the sort
dialog button.
 Manual Sorting is used to rearrange the order of dimension fields by
dragging them next to each other in an ad hoc fashion.

Computed Sorting

This type of sorting involves choosing a field to be sorted and directly applying
the sort using the sort dialog box. You have the option to choose the sort order
as ascending or descending and choose the field on which to apply the sort.

Example

Choose Sample-Superstore to apply sorting on the field named discount by

using the dimensions order date and Subcategory as shown below. The result
shows the name of the sub-categories in a descending order arranged for each
year.

Manual Sorting

This is basically changing the order in which the visualization elements appear
in the screen. For example, you want to show the sales volume of different
product segment in a descending order, however you have your own choice of
order. This sort is not as per the exact values of number or text, rather they
represent the user’s choice of ordering. Hence, they are called as manual
sorting.

Tableau - Basic Filters

Filtering is the process of removing certain values or range of values from a result
set. Tableau filtering feature allows both simple scenarios using field values as
well as advanced calculation or context-based filters. In this chapter, you will
learn about the basic filters available in Tableau.
There are three types of basic filters available in Tableau. They are as follows −

 Filter Dimensions are the filters applied on the dimension fields.

 Filter Measures are the filters applied on the measure fields.
 Filter Dates are the filters applied on the date fields.

Filter Dimensions

These filters are applied on the dimension fields. Typical examples include
filtering based on categories of text or numeric values with logical expressions
greater than or less than conditions.

Filter Measures

These filters are applied on the measure fields. Filtering is based on the
calculations applied to the measure fields. Hence, while in dimension filters
you use only values to filter, in measures filter you use calculations based on
fields.

Filter Dates

Tableau treats the date field in three different ways while applying the date
field. It can apply filter by taking a relative date as compared to today, an
absolute date, or range of dates. Each of this option is presented when a date
field is dragged out of the filter pane.

Tableau - Filter Operations

Any data analysis and visualization work involves the use of extensive filtering
of data. Tableau has a very wide variety of filtering options to address these
needs. There are many inbuilt functions for applying filters on the records
using both dimensions and measures. The filter option for measures offers
numeric calculations and comparison. The filter option for dimension offers
choosing string values from a list or using a custom list of values. In this
chapter, you will learn about the various options as well as the steps to edit
and clear the filters.
Creating Filters

Filters are created by dragging the required field to the Filters shelf located
above the Marks card. Create a horizontal bar chart by dragging the measure
sales to the Columns shelf and the dimension Sub-Category to the Rows shelf.
Again drag the measure sales into the Filters shelf. Once this filter is created,
right-click and choose the edit filter option from the pop-up menu.

Creating Filters for Measures

Measures are numeric fields. So, the filter options for such fields involve
choosing values. Tableau offers the following types of filters for measures.

 Range of Values − Specifies the minimum and maximum values of the

range to include in the view.
 At Least − Includes all values that are greater than or equal to a specified
minimum value.
 At Most − Includes all values that are less than or equal to a specified
maximum value.
 Special − Helps you filter on Null values. Include only Null values, Non-
null values, or All Values.

Creating Filters for Dimensions

Dimensions are descriptive fields having values which are strings. Tableau
offers the following types of filters for dimensions.

 General Filter − allows to select specific values from a list.

 Wildcard Filter − allows to mention wildcards like cha* to filter all string
values starting with cha.
 Condition Filter − applies conditions such as sum of sales.
 Top Filter − chooses the records representing a range of top values.
 Tableau – Dashboard

A dashboard is a consolidated display of many worksheets and related

information in a single place. It is used to compare and monitor a variety of
data simultaneously. The different data views are displayed all at once.
Dashboards are shown as tabs at the bottom of the workbook and they usually
get updated with the most recent data from the data source. While creating a
dashboard, you can add views from any worksheet in the workbook along with
many supporting objects such as text areas, web pages, and images.

Each view you add to the dashboard is connected to its corresponding

worksheet. So when you modify the worksheet, the dashboard is updated and
when you modify the view in the dashboard, the worksheet is updated.

Creating a Dashboard

Using the Sample-superstore, plan to create a dashboard showing the sales

and profits for different segments and Sub-Category of products across all the
states. To achieve this objective, following are the steps.

Step 1 − Create a blank worksheet by using the add worksheet icon located at
the bottom of the workbook. Drag the dimension Segment to the columns
shelf and the dimension Sub-Category to the Rows Shelf. Drag and drop the
measure Sales to the Color shelf and the measure Profit to the Size shelf. This
worksheet is referred as the Master worksheet. Right-click and rename this
worksheet as Sales_Profits. The following chart appears.
Step 2 − Create another sheet to hold the details of the Sales across the States.
For this, drag the dimension State to the Rows shelf and the measure Sales to
the Columns shelf as shown in the following screenshot. Next, apply a filter to
the State field to arrange the Sales in a descending order. Right-click and
rename this worksheet as Sales_state.
Step 3 − Next, create a blank dashboard by clicking the Create New Dashboard
link at the bottom of the workbook. Right-click and rename the dashboard as
Profit_Dashboard.
Step 4 − Drag the two worksheets to the dashboard. Near the top border line
of Sales Profit worksheet, you can see three small icons. Click the middle one,
which shows the prompt Use as Filter on hovering the mouse over it.
Step 5 − Now in the dashboard, click the box representing Sub-Category
named Machines and segment named Consumer.

You can notice that only the states where the sales happened for this amount
of profit are filtered out in the right pane named Sales_state. This illustrates
how the sheets are linked in a dashboard.