Table Of ContentPro
Tableau
A Step-by-Step Guide
—
Seema Acharya
Subhashini Chellappan
Pro Tableau
A Step-by-Step Guide
Seema Acharya
Subhashini Chellappan
Pro Tableau: A Step-by-Step Guide
Seema Acharya Subhashini Chellappan
Pune, Maharashtra, India Bangalore, Karnataka, India
ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-2351-2 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-2352-9
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4842-2352-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016961342
Copyright © 2017 by Seema Acharya and Subhashini Chellappan
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Contents at a Glance
About the Authors ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xv
About the Technical Reviewer �������������������������������������������������������������������������������xvii
Acknowledgments ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xix
Introduction ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xxi
■ Chapter 1: Introducing Visualization and Tableau ������������������������������������������������� 1
■ Chapter 2: Working with Single and Multiple Data Sources �������������������������������� 49
■ Chapter 3: Simplifying and Sorting Your Data ��������������������������������������������������� 121
■ Chapter 4: Measure Names and Measure Values ���������������������������������������������� 237
■ Chapter 5: Table Calculations ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 321
■ Chapter 6: Customizing Data ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 433
■ Chapter 7: Statistics ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 495
■ Chapter 8: Chart Forms ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 547
■ Chapter 9: Advanced Visualization �������������������������������������������������������������������� 665
■ Chapter 10: Dashboard and Stories ������������������������������������������������������������������� 729
■ Chapter 11: Integration of Tableau with R ��������������������������������������������������������� 795
Index ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 835
iii
Contents
About the Authors ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xv
About the Technical Reviewer �������������������������������������������������������������������������������xvii
Acknowledgments ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xix
Introduction ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xxi
■ Chapter 1: Introducing Visualization and Tableau ������������������������������������������������� 1
1.1 Why data visualization?........................................................................................... 2
1.2 What can data visualization help with? ................................................................... 2
1.3 An introduction to visualization ............................................................................... 3
1.3.1 W hich domain is leveraging the power of data visualization? ................................................... 6
1.3.2 W ho is using data visualization? ................................................................................................ 6
1.3.3 T op data visualization tools ........................................................................................................ 6
1.3.4 History of data visualization ....................................................................................................... 7
1.3.5 W hat are the expectations for a data visualization tool? ............................................................ 7
1.3.6 Let us see how Tableau fulfls the expectations. ........................................................................ 7
1.3.7 Reasons to make a switch to Tableau ........................................................................................ 8
1.4 P ositioning of Tableau ............................................................................................. 8
1.5 Tableau product line ................................................................................................ 9
1.6 File types in Tableau .............................................................................................. 13
1.6.1 T ableau Workbook (twb) ........................................................................................................... 13
1.6.2 T ableau Packaged Workbook (twbx) ......................................................................................... 17
1.6.3 T ableau Data Source (tds) fle ................................................................................................... 19
1.6.4 T ableau Packaged Data Source (tdsx) fle ................................................................................ 20
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■ Contents
1.6.5 T ableau bookmark .................................................................................................................... 28
1.6.6 T ableau data extract ................................................................................................................. 34
1.7 Points to remember ............................................................................................... 46
1.8 A ssignments .......................................................................................................... 46
1.9 N ext steps ............................................................................................................. 48
■ Chapter 2: Working with Single and Multiple Data Sources �������������������������������� 49
2.1 D esktop architecture ............................................................................................. 49
2.1.1 D ata layer ................................................................................................................................. 50
2.1.2 D ata connectors ....................................................................................................................... 50
2.1.3 L ive connection ........................................................................................................................ 50
2.1.4 I n-memory ............................................................................................................................... 50
2.2 T ableau environment ............................................................................................. 51
2.2.1 T o open ..................................................................................................................................... 51
2.2.2 T o close ..................................................................................................................................... 51
2.2.3 S tart page ................................................................................................................................. 52
2.2.4 Data Source Page .................................................................................................................... 55
2.2.5 W orkspace ................................................................................................................................ 59
2.2.6 W orkbooks and Sheets ............................................................................................................. 60
2.2.7 V isual Cues and Icons in Tableau .............................................................................................. 60
2.3 Connect to a File ................................................................................................... 62
2.3.1 Connect to a Text File ............................................................................................................... 62
2.3.2 Connect to MS Access ............................................................................................................. 64
2.3.3 Connecting to RData fles ......................................................................................................... 67
2.4 Connect to a Server............................................................................................... 73
2.4.1 Connecting to MS SQL Server 2014 Management Studio ........................................................ 73
2.4.2 Connecting to MySQL ............................................................................................................... 77
2.4.3 Connecting to NoSQL Databases .............................................................................................. 80
2.5 M etadata Grid ........................................................................................................ 92
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2.6 J oins ...................................................................................................................... 93
2.6.1 A dding Fields to the Data Pane ................................................................................................ 93
2.6.2 Exploring different types of Join .............................................................................................. 95
2.6.3 U nion ...................................................................................................................................... 100
2.7 C ustom SQL ......................................................................................................... 103
2.7.1 D emo 1 ................................................................................................................................... 103
2.8 D ata Blending ...................................................................................................... 106
2.8.1 D emo 1 ................................................................................................................................... 107
2.9 D ata Extracts ....................................................................................................... 114
2.9.1 D emo 1 ................................................................................................................................... 114
2.10 Points to Remember .......................................................................................... 120
2.11 N ext Step ........................................................................................................... 120
■ Chapter 3: Simplifying and Sorting Your Data ��������������������������������������������������� 121
3.1 F iltering ............................................................................................................... 121
3.1.1 W hy fltering? ......................................................................................................................... 121
3.1.2 W hat is fltering? .................................................................................................................... 122
3.1.3 How to apply “Filter”? ............................................................................................................ 122
3.2 S orting ................................................................................................................. 159
3.2.1 W hy sorting? ........................................................................................................................... 159
3.2.2 W hat is sorting? ...................................................................................................................... 159
3.2.3 How to apply sorting?............................................................................................................. 159
3.2.4 Discrete and Continuous Dates .............................................................................................. 178
3.2.5 W hy and what? ....................................................................................................................... 178
3.3 G roups ................................................................................................................. 192
3.3.1 W hy groups? ........................................................................................................................... 192
3.3.2 W hat is a group?..................................................................................................................... 192
3.3.3 How to create a group? .......................................................................................................... 192
3.3.4 Editing an existing group ........................................................................................................ 202
3.3.5 C reating Hierarchies ............................................................................................................... 212
3.3.6 S ets ........................................................................................................................................ 215
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3.4 Difference between a set and group ................................................................... 231
3.4.1 G roup ...................................................................................................................................... 231
3.4.2 S et .......................................................................................................................................... 231
3.4.3 C reating parameters ............................................................................................................... 231
3.5 Points to remember ............................................................................................. 236
3.6 N ext step ............................................................................................................. 236
■ Chapter 4: Measure Names and Measure Values ���������������������������������������������� 237
4.1 Why are measure names and measure values required? ................................... 237
4.1.1 W hat are measure names and measure values? ................................................................... 237
4.1.2 W here do these felds come from? ......................................................................................... 238
4.1.3 Measures on an independent axis .......................................................................................... 251
4.1.4 B lended axes .......................................................................................................................... 253
4.1.5 D ual axis ................................................................................................................................. 291
4.2 Points to Remember ............................................................................................ 319
4.3 N ext steps ........................................................................................................... 319
■ Chapter 5: Table Calculations ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 321
5.1 What is a table calculation? ................................................................................ 321
5.2 Running Total of Sales ......................................................................................... 324
5.2.1 D emo 1 ................................................................................................................................... 324
5.3 Proftability as Percent of Total ........................................................................... 333
5.3.1 D emo 1 ................................................................................................................................... 333
5.4 M oving average ................................................................................................... 341
5.4.1 W here is it used? .................................................................................................................... 341
5.4.2 T ypes of moving average ........................................................................................................ 341
5.4.3 D emo 1 ................................................................................................................................... 342
5.5 R ank .................................................................................................................... 351
5.5.1 D emo 1 ................................................................................................................................... 351
5.6 LOD (Level of Detail) ............................................................................................ 360
5.6.1 D emo 1 ................................................................................................................................... 364
5.6.2 D emo 2 ................................................................................................................................... 374
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5.7 P ercentile ............................................................................................................ 400
5.7.1 D emo 1 ................................................................................................................................... 401
5.8 Year over Year Growth ......................................................................................... 406
5.8.1 D emo 1 ................................................................................................................................... 406
5.8.2 D emo 2 ................................................................................................................................... 417
5.8.3 D emo 3 ................................................................................................................................... 426
5.9 Points to remember ............................................................................................. 431
5.10 N ext Steps ......................................................................................................... 431
■ Chapter 6: Customizing Data ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 433
6.1 N umber functions. ............................................................................................... 433
6.1.1 CEILING(number) and FLOOR(number) ................................................................................... 434
6.1.2 MAX(number, number), MIN(number, number) ....................................................................... 438
6.1.3 A BS(number) .......................................................................................................................... 442
6.2 S tring functions ................................................................................................... 446
6.2.1 C oncatenation ........................................................................................................................ 447
6.2.2 Left() and Find() functions ...................................................................................................... 449
6.2.3 C ontains() function ................................................................................................................. 451
6.2.4 L en() function ......................................................................................................................... 453
6.3 L ogical Functions ................................................................................................ 456
6.3.1 C ASE ....................................................................................................................................... 456
6.3.2 I IF() function ........................................................................................................................... 459
6.3.3 I F ELSE ................................................................................................................................... 461
6.3.4 I F ELSEIF ................................................................................................................................. 463
6.4 D ate functions ..................................................................................................... 467
6.4.1 D ATEDIFF() .............................................................................................................................. 468
6.4.2 D ATEADD() function ................................................................................................................ 474
6.4.3 D ATENAME .............................................................................................................................. 482
6.5 A ggregate functions ............................................................................................ 484
6.5.1 A TTR(expression) .................................................................................................................... 484
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6.6 Table calculation functions .................................................................................. 487
6.6.1 F irst(), Index() ......................................................................................................................... 487
6.7 Points to remember ............................................................................................. 492
6.8 N ext steps ........................................................................................................... 493
■ Chapter 7: Statistics ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 495
7.1 Why use statistics? ............................................................................................. 495
7.2 What is statistics? ............................................................................................... 497
7.3 D escriptive statistics .......................................................................................... 497
7.4 I nferential statistics ........................................................................................... 497
7.5 Few terms in statistics ........................................................................................ 497
7.6 Why do we use inferential statistics? ................................................................. 498
7.7 Why do we use descriptive statistics? ................................................................ 498
7.7.1 W hat is the measure of central tendency here? ..................................................................... 498
7.8 Five magic number summary ............................................................................. 501
7.8.1 M ean....................................................................................................................................... 501
7.8.2 M edian .................................................................................................................................... 502
7.8.3 M ode....................................................................................................................................... 503
7.8.4 W hen to use which average? ................................................................................................. 504
7.9 Spread of data ..................................................................................................... 504
7.9.1 R ange ..................................................................................................................................... 505
7.9.2 I nterquartile range .................................................................................................................. 505
7.9.3 V ariance and standard deviation ............................................................................................ 505
7.9.4 S tandard deviation ................................................................................................................. 506
7.9.5 A ssignment 1 .......................................................................................................................... 507
7.9.6 A ssignment 2 .......................................................................................................................... 508
7.10 B ox plot ............................................................................................................. 515
7.10.1 Plotting box and whiskers plot in Tableau ............................................................................ 517
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