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Tree Maps - ANSWER - Use for hierarchical data with more than 5 categories. To create, bring one measure to color and size, and a dimension to 'detail' on the marks card. Add the same dimension and measure to "label" for clarity. Tree maps do not use the rows and columns shelf. They do not have axis. Tool tips can be used to add info not in the viz. Just drag dimensions to "tooltip". Color: no more than 7 colors in a view. A word cloud can be made from a tree map by changing the mark type to "text" Bubble charts show relative values without axis too. Change mark type to "circle". Note: if you do bring a dimension to "rows" it will build multiple tree maps for each member of the field. Dashboards - ANSWER - Can be built from views based on different data sources Dashboards monitor (performance dashboard), explore (lets user answers questions), inform (quick points and specifics for user) Dashboard Editing Pane Tools: " Device Preview" button "Size" and "Sheets" "Objects" Tiled (single layer grid tiles snap into place) Floating (can overlay) Show Dashboard Title LayoutPane- See objects on view and note floating vs tiled icon Note vertical vs horizontal containers (blue frames) Sheets (grey frame) Tiled objects are fixed, cannot change position or size but can be changed to floating by selecting "floating" from Dashboard editing pane
Each view added to the dashboard brings in its own legend and any filters included in the view. Gray box preview area. Click and drag to rearrange tiles. Click corner arrow to visit underlying worksheet or click on worksheet name in dashboard editing pane Dashboard Filters and Legends - ANSWER - Click the drop down menu on a filter, set to "floating" to move on top of a tile. Legend Highlights: on filter drop down arrow, select "Highlight Selected Items" Use View as Filter: click the Filter Icon on the tile you want to use. Now, other views are filtered by data selected on that mark. Set a filter card to apply to more than one view: Click on filter card filter icon, and "selected worksheets" or "all sheets using this data source" to filter entire dashboard through this filter (shown) Title: Click "Dashboard" on top nav menu, then "Show Title" Double click any filter or legend to rename the title How to hide sheets on dashboard - right click on sheet in dashboard pane and click "hide sheet" so it no longer appears in the bottom tabs (or right click tab to hide). RIGHT CLICK THE DASHBOARD TAB TO SELECT "HIDE ALL SHEETS" Actions in Dashboards - ANSWER - Allow users to interact with view. Require source sheet, and sometimes a target sheet. Three types of actions: Highlight Actions these color targeted marks and dim others. Activate in the source sheet to highlight marks in the target sheet. Filter Actions: filter data showing only targeted data cross multiple data sheets to drill down on specific data to find trends or data points or navigate other sheets. URL Actions: click source sheet to go to target URL resource Three ways to run any action: HOVER (best for highlight) SELECT (best for filter) or MENU (best for URL) where a menu appears in the tooltip when you click a mark Highlight Actions - ANSWER - Use the Actions Dialogue box as the best way to edit actions. However, there are two more ways to use highlights- the little highlighter pen is on the top nav of the dashboard and on each pane.
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Reference lines and bands - ANSWER - Provide context and analysis to a view. Extracts - ANSWER - Depending on the version the extract was created in, Tableau extract files can have either the .hyper or .tde file extension. Extract files are a local copy of a subset or entire data set that you can use to share data with others, when you need to work offline, and improve performance. .TWB - ANSWER - Tableau workbook is the default file type in Tableau for saving. It saves views, dashboards and connection info but does save a not a copy of the data source file. A link is saved to the established data source so that when you open a .TWB it automatically updates to show any changes made to the data source. .TWBX - ANSWER - Tableau Packaged Workbook saves all views, dashboards, images and, if you choose, it will save a copy of the flat data source files. If the data source is not a flat file you must create a flat extract to save it. .TWBX will also save live connections. This is the best file option for sharing with anyone who don't have access to the local data source used in your viz, because anyone with Tableau Reader can view a .TWBX file. How do you save a .TWBX for sharing? - ANSWER - Save as a .TWBX to share with anyone who can open with Tableau Desktop or Tableau Reader (free for interacting only with a viz using limited features). .TWBX can only save data from a flat file unless you create an extract. Click Save/Save as/.twbx The default is a .twb .TDS - ANSWER - Tableau Data Source: Saves the connection info and any organizational or metadata changes made to the data. TDS does not save login info or viz's created with data. It does not save the actual data. If saved locally they appear on the connection page. Types of metadata changes are pictured, including changing dimensions to measures and folders, groups, and calculated fields How do you save a .TDS for future use? - ANSWER - To save locally: Click the data menu ("Data" in the upper left), select the name of the data source, then click add to saved data sources, this opens the dialogue box that prompts to save in My Tableau Repository where it will then be available on the data connection page under Saved Data Sources, making it easy to find when I open Tableau again.
to save to Tableau server: power users can access without credentials to access database directly (click Server in upper bar menu) NOTE: This does not save the data, just the info about the connection .TDSX - ANSWER - TDSX A packaged data source is a zip file that contains the data source file (.tds) described above as well as any local file data such as extract files (.hyper or .tde), text files, Excel files, Access files, and local cube files. Use this format to create a single file that you can then share with others who may not have access to the original data stored locally on your computer. .TDE - ANSWER - Tableau Data Extract- this is a snapshot of the data that Tableau saves locally, best for when connecting to extremely large sets of data of which you need only a portion. By saving this locally, Tableau can optimize speed performance by querying the data directly and not relying on the speed of the original database, which can be slow. .TBM - ANSWER - Tableau Bookmarks contain a single worksheet and are an easy way to quickly share your work. How many rows of data appear in Tableau preview? - ANSWER - 1000 What is the data source page? - ANSWER - This is where you connect to a data source and see sheets from the data source (on left , shown) to bring into the join area. Drag or double click sheets to bring onto the canvas. What is a mark? - ANSWER - The shape used to represent data in the viz (bar, line, pie, etc) see "marks card" for full menu of marks features Dimensions - ANSWER - Qualitative or categorical data Measures - ANSWER - Quantitative data Remember the Undo button - ANSWER - Click to undo any action
Remember that a field is... - ANSWER - Just the name of any dimension or measure in the data pane of a worksheet How to change dimensions to measures - ANSWER - Click and drag a dimension to the measures area, or vice versa Change default properties of a field - ANSWER - Right click the field and select "Default Properties" then change things like numbers format, colors or aggregation. These changes will work across all worksheets. However, if you make changes to field properties by right clicking a pill in the view, the changes only apply to that worksheet. How to create folders - ANSWER - When you right click a field in the data pane, do not confuse "Group By" (and then "folder) with the correct way to create a folder! To create a folder, right click a field in the data pane, select "Folders" and then select "Create Folder". You can drag and drop any fields into your folder. Updating the data source - ANSWER - With a live connection Tableau can automatically update the viz, or you can manually right click the data source in a worksheet and click "refresh". However, Tableau cannot process the following changes if they are made to the data source: changing the name of columns, or removing columns. If this happens to the source data, the pill for these fields will change to pink with an exclamation appears by the field. You can fix the viz by right clicking the field and selecting "replace references". Then select the renamed field to fix the viz. How to show a filter in the view for any field - ANSWER - Click field menu (drop down arrow on a field) for any field in the data pane or view and click "show filter". Filtering dimensions vs measures - ANSWER - Filter on a dimension to show a subset or part of a category; filter on a measure to show a specific range of values within the data. Filtering with the filter shelf and filter dialogue box - ANSWER - Drag any measure or dimension to the filter shelf and the filter dialogue box will appear. Tabs include: General, wildcard (allows you to filter date via include or exclude), condition (ranges, eg) and top (10). The dialogue box also shows a summary of all filters applied to fields. Fields with filters applied will be shown in the filter shelf.
And Logic for filters - ANSWER - Tableau applies filters using "and" logic, on top of filters that already apply according to the order of operations. Show mark labels button - ANSWER - Filtering on a measure - ANSWER - The default setting is "all values" but can be adjusted, and you can pick range of values, at least, at most, special (for null values) and adjust the slider. Double click to re open the filter dialogue box Show Filter Card - ANSWER - Right click any dimension or measure, and click "show filter". The field will appear on the filter shelf and its filter appears in the upper right corner of the viz. You can also click on the filter card arrow to open a menu of many filter options. Click customize to click and clear "show all value" setting to remove the "all" default setting. Adding a filter card to the view allows users to filter the data in the view. Filters appear in Tableau Reader. How to filter for a field that is not in your view - ANSWER - Click field menu (right click or drop down arrow on field in data menu), and click "show filter". Tableau will place the field on the filter shelf and the filter card appears in the right view. Filter can be moved to another area in the view by click/drag. The default setting is a multiple value list with all values selected. Multiple value vs single value list - ANSWER - You can decide whether filters allow for multiple "select" or one single "select". A multiple value list is helpful for comparing/combining different members in a dimension. A single value list is great for showing one dimension at a time. To change either, click the drop down arrow on the filter card and choose the new style. The Customize menu also has other features. Change the title by opening filter menu and selecting "edit title". Default filter type settings for measure vs dimensions - ANSWER - Measure: range of values slider; dimension: multiple value list with all values selected. Discrete date parts - ANSWER - BLUE Years, quarters months. DIMENSIONS. Continuous date range - ANSWER - GREEN Range of dates, relative dates; starting/ending dates, special dates. MEASURES.
Creating Groups in the View - ANSWER - Best for short data groups, group manually by selecting marks or labels. Labels: Use Control+click on labels (shown) then right click any selected label and pick "group". Now the mark will group those labels together in one mark, and a new dimension appears in the dimension pane. Right click the label to rename with "edit alias" or "rename". Marks: This is visual grouping, control+click the marks, right click on a mark, and select group. Or click and drag to select marks. Visual grouping automatically adds a dimension to color on the marks card. Visual is Good for ad hoc analysis and data exploration. Hierarchies - ANSWER - Allows us to organize dimensions in data as we define them from highest at top to lowest at bottom (geographic, eg). In a view, you can drill up and down on the hierarchy field (pill) by clicking the + sign. Create by selecting a dimension in the dimensions pane, right clicking and select "Hierarchy"> "Create Hierarchy" and name it and it will appear in the dimension pane. Members are listed alphabetically. You can also drag and drop one dimension onto another one, name it, and it will appear. You can add additions to a hierarchy by right clicking any dimension and selecting "add to hierarchy". You can click and drag to rearrange the order of members of a hierarchy. You can duplicate a field to add it to two different hierarchy. If a hierarchy is removed, members will return to individual dimension fields in the dimension pane. You can drill down in Tableau Reader and Server. Date dimensions - ANSWER - Tableau automatically converts dates in relational databases to a dimension. Also, Tableau automatically converts dates into discrete values. Date Parts - ANSWER - These are the individual components of the date (month, day). In a view, a "January date part" would add data from every January of every year into one bar. Discrete. BLUE. Date Value - ANSWER - Complete specific dates to a specific level of detail, ie "January 24, 2018 5:45pm". A January date value in a view will aggregate all data into the separate months and year it belongs and ignore the lower date parts in the hierarchy. Continuous field because it will include the year (it is like a funnel and you set how detailed it goes down). GREEN. Continuous Fields - ANSWER - GREEN Values can fall anywhere on an infinite axis (ie. temperature, height of a tree, wind speed, price). In a view, they create an axis. Vertical Y axis. Rows. Discrete Fields - ANSWER - BLUE Values can fall only into specific bins or categories, not between them (pet names, countries, employee IDs). In a view, they create categories or headers with bars. Horizontal X axis. Columns.
Changing Continuous into Discrete Fields - ANSWER - This will change, with dates for example, a continuous graph over time into distinct bars. How to change a date field between continuous and discrete - ANSWER - Click the drop down menu on the date field, select date parts (blue) or date values (green). Date parts are automatically discrete and date values are automatically continuous. NOTE: CHOOSING DISCRETE OR CONTINUOUS FROM THE DROP DOWN MENU WILL NOT CHANGE WHETHER A DATE IS A PART OR VALUE. INSTEAD, FOR EXAMPLE, A DISCRETE DATE VALUE WILL HAVE MANY BARS WITH INDIVIDUAL COLUMN HEADINGS. When a date field is brought into the view... - ANSWER - It defaults into a discrete date at the highest level ie. Discrete year. You can change default in the data pane by clicking the drop down menu on the date field and selecting "convert to continuous" and the field will stay continuous whenever it is added to the view. Continuous Date Fields vs Discrete Date Fields - ANSWER - Shows data over time (line chart graph) GREEN. Shows data in specific date parts (bars). Drop Field Dialogue Box - ANSWER - You can choose the date part or value when you add the field to the view by right clicking the date field and dragging/dropping it in the view. The drop field dialogue box will appear. On my Mac it has to be "option + click and drag" Discrete/Continuous Date Fields Notes - ANSWER - The color legend will change (different colors for discrete, gradient for continuous) Filter Shelf-Selecting green continuous opens range of dates options; blue discrete gives general range choices Custom Date Fields: Continuous date Values vs. Discrete Date Parts - ANSWER - To Create Either: Click context menu on date field in dimensions, click "create" then "custom date" for Custom Date Dialogue Box. Most common custom date values. D(note, you can only drag and replace same types in the view) Also note you cannot expand a custom date in the view, unless you create a hierarchy first. Hierarchies clean up dates.
running east/west and longitude as north/south so don't confuse the direction of lines on a globe with the direction in which they plot measurements. Remember that in Tableau maps are scatter plots. Tableau can geocode eight geographic info types plus lat/long and automatically assign lat/long to that info. Create a Symbol Map - ANSWER - If you drag a geocoded dimension into the view it will be added automatically to the marks card and lat/long fields added to rows/columns. Add measures to size to create marks. Avoid using measures with negative values. NOTE: Click "map" in the top menu and "map layers" to adjust the background using the Map Layers menu. Crosstabs - ANSWER - Ideal for checking data accuracy and referencing. Add grid lines by right clicking any measure in the crosstab and select "format". The format font menu will appear (shown). View Data Button - ANSWER - Shows the data Tableau is using in the view, including calculated fields. You cannot edit data or metadata here, although you can rearrange it visually. This will not save to the data source. Measure Names Filter - ANSWER - On the filter shelf, right click measure names. Changing the measure names filter will change the data in the crosstab. How to add Totals to a Crosstab from the Analysis Menu - ANSWER - Click the "Analysis Menu" and select "Totals", then select "row" or "Column" grand totals. You can also add sub totals from this menu and edit defaults. How to add Totals to Crosstabs from the Analytics pane - ANSWER - Great way to click and drag totals from the Analytics Pane to the correct option on the view. Change aggregation methods for crosstab totals - ANSWER - Tableau defaults to "sum" but this can be changed. Click the drop down arrow from the measure in the tool menu and select your choice. You will need to manually right click to change the headers to match your choice. NOTE: Tableau cannot perform these actions if you are connected to a cube/multi dimensional data source. Weighted Averages - ANSWER - This is a tricky explanation. Tableau aggregations (such as averages) average all the data in the data source and not just what is showing in your view. Thus, it can be the case that the "total average" in a view is not actually the average of the "averages" shown in the columns or
rows, but includes the underlying data. This is a weighted average and cannot be calculated from cube data. It is possible to force Tableau to change the way data is aggregated on various measures by using the Analysis menu and clicking "totals" but using an "average of an average" is not best practice (pictured). This will force an aggregation based only on the displayed values. It is mathematically sound best practice to change aggregations on the measure field on the marks card. Highlight Tables Crosstab - ANSWER - Crosstabs can make it difficult to identify outliers and trends. Highlight tables are a solution because they encodes a measure on text and color and a "square" mark. Create: Drag a measure to the marks card on "text" and then right click to duplicate the measure and drag it to "color". Set the marks shape to SQUARE or else you will just get colored text lol Edit the color card to set a midpoint for the color range. You can also create Highlight table from the "Show Me" menu. Only use crosstabs when every data value needs to be visualized. Be very careful if using more than one measure (one on color and one on text) that the labels are VERY clear to avoid confusion. Heat Map Crosstabs - ANSWER - Great way to compare categorical data with color and size. Great for encoding two measures at the same time to identify outliers. Using the stepped color option helps the viz. Orange and blue are best for color blindness. You can also use "Show Me" to build heat maps. Calculated Fields - ANSWER - Customized fields allow you to transform the data you have to answer questions using formulas. For example, use "GDP" and "Population" fields to create a new "GDP per capita" field. Calculated fields are built from fields, functions, operators, and parameters (and can also include comments). Field: All data source fields and calculated fields can be brought in to the calculation. Functions: define operations that can be performed on data (aggregation, data type conversions, logic etc.) Operators: shortcuts for more complex functions added by manual typing (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, comparison) Parameters: variables that can be inserted into calculations to replace constant values. Comments: added to provide context for user; not displayed in the view You can use calculated fields to break up a data field or combine data fields. There are many ways to create calculated strings, dates, logic fields and geographic fields. The Calculation Editor - ANSWER - Use to create calculated fields. Right click any white space in the data pane and click "Create calculated field". Or click the drop down arrow on the Data Pane. The Calculation
Aggregation in Calculations (O of O) - ANSWER - This is the most difficult concept in the course and I should view this "Concept" video often. Example: SUM(Profit/Sales) vs. SUM([Profit])/SUM([Sales]) If you pre-define aggregation in a calculation it will add an AGG before the calculation and won't perform further aggregations. More on Aggregations - ANSWER - The order of operations doesn't always matter, but often does. When the aggregation is not included in the calculation, Tableau will calculate data at the row level of detail and then aggregate and brought into view. IF you include aggregation in a calculation, then the results will be at the level of detail in the view based on the dimensions in the view. Note: you can write ad hoc calculations in the view by double clicking an existing field. This will only be available in the view unless you drag the field in the data pane which saves it for future use. Quick Table Calculations - ANSWER - These add computations applied to values in the data table for the view and often dependent on the table structure. Calculated fields query the database directly, but table calculations perform after the results are returned from the database and are processed locally in Tableau. Filters can affect table calculations ie. Better to hide an empty value than filter it out in some cases. Quick Table Calculations from Tableau make it easy to add table calculations to the view. Note that you table directions matter. Scope also matters (the segment of the table the calculation is applied to ie. Who table, panes, cells). Running Total Table Calculation - ANSWER - Create a cross tab with totals and sub totals, right click the measure on the marks card, select Quick Table Calculation and "Running Total". To change the direction of the calculation, right click the measure on the marks card, select "compute using" and make a choice. Notice that the Grand total matches the last total before "total" (this is confusing!) as a clue to know which direction the calculation is running. Percent of Total Table Calculation - ANSWER - Look for the total that has "100%" to know the direction of the table. Rank Calculations - ANSWER - Note that the Delta Symbol appears on the measure field used as a table calculation |> (triangle) Pie charts - ANSWER - Use for high level comparisons of parts of a whole. Limit to five categories. Select "pie" from the marks card and a new 'angle' mark is added to the card. Drag a dimension to angle. Or use Show Me.
Note: a Table Pane is determined by the first measure in the columns shelf. - ANSWER
