Book Image

Getting Started with Tableau 2018.x

By : Tristan Guillevin
Book Image

Getting Started with Tableau 2018.x

By: Tristan Guillevin

Overview of this book

Tableau is one of the leading business intelligence tools used worldwide, in organizations of every scale. In its latest release, Tableau 2018 promises richer and more useful features related to visual analytics, reporting, dashboarding, and a host of other data visualization aspects. Getting Started with Tableau 2018.x will get you up and running with these features. The book starts with all the new functionalities of the different Tableau 2018 versions, along with concrete examples of how to use them. However, if you're new to Tableau, don't worry! The rest of the book will guide you through each major aspect of Tableau with examples. You'll learn how to connect to data, build a data source, visualize your data, build a dashboard, and share it online. In the final chapters, you'll also learn advanced techniques such as creating a cross-database join, data blending, and more. By the end of the book, you will have a firm understanding of how to effectively use Tableau to create quick, cost-effective, and business-efficient business intelligence solutions.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Packt Upsell
Contributors
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Catching Up with Tableau 2018
Index

Advanced functions


There are two type of functions that are different from each other: Table Calculation and Level of Detail.

Table Calculation functions

The Table Calculation functions are special in many ways. Mastering them requires practice, but many useful functions are Table Calculation. It's important to understand how they work, and how to use them. Let's start with the basics.

Table function basics

Table Calculation functions allow you to calculate the rank, the percentage of total, the difference, and much more. Here is an example of the same Measure, Quantity, with different table functions:

In the preceding screenshot you can see, by Year and Quarter, in the following:

  • The sum of the quantity, the initial Measure.
  • The rank—which quarter is the best across all Years and Quarters.
  • The percentage of total—Q4 2018, for example, represents 12% of the total quantity of products purchased.
  • Moving average—the value of each quarter is the average of the current value and the two previous. This...