Data sources in Tableau store information about the connection(s). In addition to the connection itself (example, database server name, database, and/or file names), the data source also contains information about all the fields available (such as field name, data type, default format, comments, and aliases). Often, this data about the data is referred to as metadata.
Right-clicking a field in the data pane reveals a menu of metadata options. Some of these options will be demonstrated in a later exercise; others will be explained throughout the book. These are some of the options available via right-clicking:
- Renaming the field
- Hiding the field
- Changing aliases for values of dimension (other than date fields)
- Creating calculated fields, groups, sets, bins, or parameters
- Splitting the field
- Changing the default use of a date or numeric field to either...