Learning Tableau
()
About this ebook
- Create meaningful data visualizations and dashboards in Tableau
- Analyze and display your data effectively using Tableau
- Extend the value and functionality of your data with this step-by-step guide
If you want to understand your data using data visualization and don't know where to start, then this is the book for you. Whether you are a beginner or have years of experience, this book will help you to quickly acquire the skills and techniques used to discover, analyze, and communicate data visually. Some familiarity with databases and data structures is helpful, but not required.
Read more from Joshua N. Milligan
Learning Tableau 2019 - Third Edition: Tools for Business Intelligence, data prep, and visual analytics, 3rd Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLearning Tableau 10 - Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tableau 10 Complete Reference: Transform your business with rich data visualizations and interactive dashboards with Tableau 10 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTableau 10 Bootcamp Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Learning Tableau
Related ebooks
Creating Data Stories with Tableau Public Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPractical Business Intelligence Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Smart Data Discovery Using SAS Viya: Powerful Techniques for Deeper Insights Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeginning Microsoft Power BI: A Practical Guide to Self-Service Data Analytics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCreating Universes with SAP BusinessObjects Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Data Visualization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInsightful Data Visualization with SAS Viya Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMastering Tableau Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tableau Your Data!: Fast and Easy Visual Analysis with Tableau Software Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tableau Cookbook – Recipes for Data Visualization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTableau 10 Business Intelligence Cookbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTableau A Complete Guide - 2021 Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsR for Data Science Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Practical Data Analysis Cookbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVisual Analytics with Tableau Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsData Analysis with R Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mastering Data Analysis with R Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Data Visualization: Representing Information on Modern Web Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Practical Data Analysis - Second Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTableau 10 Complete Self-Assessment Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsR: Data Analysis and Visualization Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Microsoft Tabular Modeling Cookbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPractical Data Analysis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hands-On Data Analysis with Pandas: Efficiently perform data collection, wrangling, analysis, and visualization using Python Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMastering Python for Data Science Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mastering RStudio – Develop, Communicate, and Collaborate with R Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Data Visualization For You
The Big Book of Dashboards: Visualizing Your Data Using Real-World Business Scenarios Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hands-On Data Analysis with Pandas: Efficiently perform data collection, wrangling, analysis, and visualization using Python Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEffective Data Storytelling: How to Drive Change with Data, Narrative and Visuals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Data Analytics for Beginners: Introduction to Data Analytics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Lie with Maps Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsData Visualization: A Practical Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No-Code Data Science: Mastering Advanced Analytics, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Visual Analytics with Tableau Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLearning pandas - Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Data Analysis with Stata Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Become a Data Analyst: My Low-Cost, No Code Roadmap for Breaking into Tech Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsData Analytics & Visualization All-in-One For Dummies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVisualizing Graph Data Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsData Structures & Algorithms Interview Questions You'll Most Likely Be Asked Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Salesforce Reporting and Dashboards Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tableau 10 Business Intelligence Cookbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDAX Patterns: Second Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Functional Aesthetics for Data Visualization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Chicago Guide to Writing About Numbers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpatial Statistics Illustrated Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Little Book of Artificial Intelligence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChatgpt | Generative AI - The Step-By-Step Guide For OpenAI & Azure OpenAI In 36 Hrs. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to be Clear and Compelling with Data: Principles, Practice and Getting Beyond the Basics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for Learning Tableau
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Learning Tableau - Joshua N. Milligan
Table of Contents
Learning Tableau
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Support files, eBooks, discount offers, and more
Why subscribe?
Free access for Packt account holders
Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for
Conventions
Reader feedback
Customer support
Downloading the example code
Downloading the color images of this book
Errata
Piracy
Questions
1. Creating Your First Visualizations and Dashboard
Connecting to data in Access
Foundations for building visualizations
Visualizing data
Bar charts
Extending bar charts for deeper analysis
Line charts
Extending line charts for deeper analysis
Geographic visualizations
Filled maps
Symbol maps
Using Show Me
Bringing everything together in a dashboard
Building your dashboard
Summary
2. Working with Data in Tableau
The Tableau paradigm
A simple example
Connecting to data
Connecting to data in a file
Connecting to data on a server
Connecting to data in the cloud
Shortcuts for connecting to data
Working with extracts instead of live connections
Creating extracts
Using extracts
Performance
Portability and security
When to use an extract
Metadata and sharing data source connections
Customizing a data source
Sharing a data source
An example of customizing and sharing a connection
Joins and blends
Joining tables
Blending data sources
A blending example
Filtering data
Filtering discrete (blue) fields
Filtering continuous (green) fields
Filtering dates
Other filtering options
Summary
3. Moving from Foundational to Advanced Visualizations
Comparing values across different dimensions
Bar charts
Bar chart variations
Bullet charts – showing progress toward a goal
The bar-in-bar chart
Highlighting a single category
Visualizing dates and times
The built-in date hierarchy
Variations in date and time visualizations
Gantt charts
Relating parts of the data to the whole
Stacked bars
Treemaps
Area charts
Pie charts
Visualizing distributions
Circle charts
Jittering
Box and whisker plots
Histograms
Visualizing multiple axes to compare different measures
Scatterplots
Dual Axis
Combination charts
Summary
4. Using Row-level and Aggregate Calculations
Creating and editing calculations
Three levels of calculation
A row-level example
An aggregate-level example
Row level or aggregate – why does it matter?
Parameters
Creating parameters
Practical examples of calculations and parameters
Fixing data issues
Extending the data
Enhancing user experience, analysis, and visualizations
Achieving flexibility with data blends
Ad hoc calculations
Performance considerations
Summary
5. Table Calculations
An overview of table calculations
Creating and editing table calculations
Quick table calculations
Scope and direction
Working with scope and direction
Addressing and partitioning
Advanced addressing and partitioning
Advanced table calculations
Practical examples
Moving Average
Ranking within higher levels
Late filtering
Last occurrence
Summary
6. Formatting a Visualization to Look Great and Work Well
Formatting considerations
How formatting works in Tableau
Worksheet-level formatting
Field-level formatting
Additional formatting options
Adding value to visualizations
Tooltips
Summary
7. Telling a Data Story with Dashboards
Dashboard objectives
Example – is least profitable always unprofitable?
Building the views
Creating the dashboard framework
Implementing actions to tell the story
How actions work
Filter actions
Highlight actions
URL actions
Example – a regional scorecard
Story points
Summary
8. Adding Value to Analysis – Trends, Distributions, and Forecasting
Trends
Customizing trend lines
Trend models
Analyzing trend models
Distributions
Forecasting
Summary
9. Making Data Work for You
Structuring data for Tableau
Good structure – tall and narrow instead of short and wide
Good structure – star schemas (data mart / data warehouse)
Dealing with data structure issues
Restructuring data in Tableau connections
Working with poorly shaped data in visualizations
Working with an incorrect level of detail
An overview of advanced fixes for data problems
Summary
10. Advanced Techniques, Tips, and Tricks
Sheet swapping and dynamic dashboards
Dynamically showing and hiding other controls
Leveraging sets to answer complex questions
Answering complex questions
Mapping techniques
Supplementing the standard geographic data
Customizing a geographic view
Some final mapping tips
Using background images
Summary
11. Sharing Your Data Story
Presenting, printing, and exporting
Presenting
Printing
Exporting
Sharing a workbook with users of Tableau Desktop or Tableau Reader
Sharing data with users of Tableau Server, Tableau Online, and Tableau Public
Publishing to Tableau Public
Publishing to Tableau Server and Tableau Online
Interacting with Tableau Server
Additional distribution options using Tableau Server
Summary
Index
Learning Tableau
Learning Tableau
Copyright © 2015 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
First published: April 2015
Production reference: 1150415
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
Livery Place
35 Livery Street
Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78439-116-4
www.packtpub.com
Credits
Author
Joshua N. Milligan
Reviewers
David Baldwin
Sagar Kapoor
Joshua Kennedy
Shawn Wallwork
Commissioning Editor
Sarah Crofton
Acquisition Editor
Sonali Vernekar
Content Development Editor
Ritika Singh
Technical Editor
Mrunal M. Chavan
Copy Editors
Deepa Nambiar
Vikrant Phadke
Rashmi Sawant
Stuti Srivastava
Project Coordinator
Judie Jose
Proofreaders
Stephen Copestake
Paul Hindle
Indexer
Monica Ajmera Mehta
Graphics
Sheetal Aute
Abhinash Sahu
Production Coordinator
Nilesh R. Mohite
Cover Work
Nilesh R. Mohite
About the Author
Joshua N. Milligan has been a consultant with Teknion Data Solutions since 2004, where he currently serves as a team leader and project manager. With a strong background in software development and custom .NET solutions, he uses a blend of analytical and creative thinking in BI solutions, data visualization, and data storytelling. His years of consulting have given him hands-on experience in all aspects of the BI development cycle, including data modeling, ETL, enterprise deployment, data visualization, and dashboard design. He has worked with clients in numerous industries, including financial, healthcare, marketing, and government.
In 2014, Joshua was named a Tableau Zen Master, the highest recognition of excellence from Tableau Software. As a Tableau-accredited trainer, mentor, and leader in the online Tableau community, he is passionate about helping others gain insights into their data. He was a technical reviewer of Tableau Data Visualization Cookbook, Packt Publishing, and is currently reviewing Creating Data Stories with Tableau Public, Packt Publishing. His work has appeared multiple times on Tableau Public's Viz of the Day and Tableau's website. Joshua also shares frequent Tableau tips, tricks, and advice on his blog at www.VizPainter.com.
I owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have mentored, guided, and taught me throughout the years. My father, Stuart, opened up the world of computer programming for me when he showed me how I could use code to make the family computer do anything I could imagine. Thank you to all the individuals at Teknion Data Solutions: my colleagues, with whom I have had the privilege to collaborate on a daily basis, and the management and owners, who have made an investment in our training and growth and created an exciting place to build a career. I would also like to thank Tableau employees and members of the online community for creating an incredible place to mutually learn, share, help others, and have fun. I also owe much to the technical reviewers of this book for investing their time and expertise. Most of all, thanks to my wonderful wife, Kara, who has supported and encouraged me all along the way.
About the Reviewers
David Baldwin has provided consulting in the business intelligence sector for 15 years. His experience includes Tableau training and consulting, developing BI solutions, technical writing, project management, and web and graphic design. His vertical experience includes the financial, healthcare, human resource, aerospace, energy, waste management, and entertainment industries. As a Tableau trainer and consultant, David enjoys serving a variety of clients throughout USA. Tableau provides him with a platform that collates his broad experience into a skill set that can service a diverse client base.
Sagar Kapoor is passionate about work in the field of analytics and understanding business processes. He is a team player, with mesmerizing goals and ideas that can change the future course of what is possible in the field of analytics and mobility. He is looking forward to working in different industrial sectors with regard to analytics and providing them with the best results for decision making.
Sagar is currently working with NttData as a business analyst on the client side for Essar Steel India. He leads the implementation of Tableau for his clients across the organization.
Joshua Kennedy is a young business intelligence analyst currently residing in southern California. After studying software design and production in school, he went on to work as a business intelligence consultant. It was during his tenure as a consultant that he gained in-depth knowledge of Tableau and the data business. An accredited Tableau trainer, he has spent the last few years traveling across the USA, working with a variety of industries.
Focusing his skills on helping others learn Tableau, Joshua has a great understanding of new user learning processes with new innovative software. He has published a paper on the benefits of simple business software design principles. He continues to build on his thousands of hours of study and training experience in and out of the business space.
I'd like to thank Joshua Milligan, who offered a reviewer's spot to me and served as my mentor in the years when I was just getting started with Tableau and business intelligence. It has been a pleasure working alongside such a wonderful individual and helping him complete this work.
Shawn Wallwork won the 2014 Tableau Zen Master award for his extensive work on the Tableau forums, answering a variety of questions. He has spent more than 3 years using Tableau almost exclusively to help his clients solve their data analysis and visualization challenges. He works as an independent consultant for clients all over the world, all from his home in Placitas, New Mexico, USA.
www.PacktPub.com
Support files, eBooks, discount offers, and more
For support files and downloads related to your book, please visit www.PacktPub.com.
Did you know that Packt offers eBook versions of every book published, with PDF and ePub files available? You can upgrade to the eBook version at www.PacktPub.com and as a print book customer, you are entitled to a discount on the eBook copy. Get in touch with us at
At www.PacktPub.com, you can also read a collection of free technical articles, sign up for a range of free newsletters and receive exclusive discounts and offers on Packt books and eBooks.
https://www2.packtpub.com/books/subscription/packtlib
Do you need instant solutions to your IT questions? PacktLib is Packt's online digital book library. Here, you can search, access, and read Packt's entire library of books.
Why subscribe?
Fully searchable across every book published by Packt
Copy and paste, print, and bookmark content
On demand and accessible via a web browser
Free access for Packt account holders
If you have an account with Packt at www.PacktPub.com, you can use this to access PacktLib today and view 9 entirely free books. Simply use your login credentials for immediate access.
Preface
The Tableau community is full of individuals passionate about the software. We use software every day—web browsers, word processors, e-mail applications, instant messaging, and numerous other apps. What is it about Tableau that inspires people to write books and blogs and spend hours volunteering to help others visualize their data?
Tableau is unique in several ways. It is easy and transparent. You can immediately connect to nearly any data source and start asking and answering questions about your data in a visual way. It's also intuitive. Its interface allows hands-on interaction with data, it's easy to get into a flow, and every action uncovers new insights. It's fun! It allows creativity and gives freedom. You're not locked into chart types and wizards that give only one path to a solution. Tableau designers feel like artists, with data as paint and Tableau as a blank canvas.
At the same time, Tableau introduces a paradigm vastly different from traditional BI tools. This book presents the fundamentals for understanding and working within that paradigm. It will equip you with the foundational concepts that will help you use Tableau to explore, analyze, visualize, and share the stories contained in your data.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, Creating Your First Visualizations and Dashboard, introduces the basic concepts of data visualization and multiple examples of individual visualizations, which are ultimately put together in an interactive dashboard.
Chapter 2, Working with Data in Tableau, shows that Tableau has a very distinctive paradigm for working with data. This chapter explores that paradigm and gives examples of connecting to and working with various data sources.
Chapter 3, Moving from Foundational to Advanced Visualizations, expands upon the basic concepts of data visualization to show you how standard visualization types can be extended.
Chapter 4, Using Row-level and Aggregate Calculations, introduces the concepts of calculated fields and the practical use of calculations, and walks through the foundational concepts for creating row-level and aggregate calculations.
Chapter 5, Table Calculations, proves that table calculations are one of the most complex and powerful features in Tableau. This chapter breaks down the basics of scope, direction, partitioning, and addressing to help you understand and use these to solve practical problems.
Chapter 6, Formatting a Visualization to Look Great and Work Well, shows how formatting can make a standard visualization look great, have appeal, and communicate well. This chapter introduces and explains the concept of formatting in Tableau.
Chapter 7, Telling a Data Story with Dashboards, dives into the details of building dashboards and telling stories with data. It covers the types of dashboards, objectives of dashboards, and concepts such as actions and filters. All of this is done in the context of practical examples.
Chapter 8, Adding Value to Analysis – Trends, Distributions, and Forecasting, explores the analytical capabilities of Tableau and demonstrates how to use trend lines, distributions, and forecasting to dive deeper into the analysis of your data.
Chapter 9, Making Data Work for You, explains that data in the real world isn't always structured well. This chapter examines the structures that work best and the techniques that can be used to address data that can't be fixed.
Chapter 10, Advanced Techniques, Tips, and Tricks, builds upon the concepts covered in the previous chapters. This chapter expands your horizons by introducing numerous advanced techniques while giving practical advice and tips.
Chapter 11, Sharing Your Data Story, throws light on the fact that that, once you've built your visualizations and dashboards, you'll want to share them. This chapter explores numerous ways of sharing your stories with others.
What you need for this book
You will need a licensed or trial version of Tableau Desktop to follow the examples contained in this book. You may download Tableau Desktop from Tableau Software at www.tableau.com. Tableau Public is also available as a free download from Tableau and may be used with many of the examples. The examples in this book use the interface and features of Tableau 9.0.
The concepts will apply to other versions, though some interface steps and terminology may vary. The provided workbooks may be opened in Tableau 9.0 or later versions, though you can use any version to connect to the provided data files to work through the examples.
Who this book is for
Anyone seeking to understand their data and enhance their skills to visually explore, analyze, and present their data story to others will greatly benefit from this book. While it is assumed that you have some knowledge of data, you do not need to have in-depth knowledge of databases, SQL scripts, or coding.
This book starts with the foundational principles and builds upon them to acclimate you to advanced concepts. The goal is to give not a series of steps to memorize but a solid understanding of working in the Tableau paradigm. Whether you are just a beginner or have years of experience, this book will further you in the journey of learning—and even mastering—Tableau.
Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, and user input are shown as follows: We'll create a calculated field named Floor to determine whether an apartment is upstairs or downstairs.
A block of code is set as follows:
IF [Apartment] >= 1 AND [Apartment] <= 3
THEN Downstairs
ELSEIF [Apartment] > 3 AND [Apartment] <= 6
THEN Upstairs
ELSE Unknown
END
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: Drag and drop the Customer field onto the Rows shelf.
Note
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.
Tip
Tips and tricks appear like this.
Reader feedback
Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this book—what you liked or may have disliked. Reader feedback is important for us to develop titles that you really get the most out of.
To send us general feedback, simply send an e-mail to <feedback@packtpub.com>, and mention the book title via the subject of your message.
If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, see our author guide on www.packtpub.com/authors.
Customer support
Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to help you to get the most from your purchase.
Downloading the example code
You can download the example code files for all Packt books you have purchased from your account at http://www.packtpub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit http://www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files e-mailed directly to you.
Downloading the color images of this book
We also provide you a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. The color images will help you better understand the changes in the output. You can download this file from: https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/LearningTableau_GraphicsBundle.pdf.
Errata
Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you find a mistake in one of our books—maybe a mistake in the text or the code—we would be grateful if you would report this to us. By doing so, you can save other readers from frustration and help us improve subsequent versions of this book. If you find any errata, please report them by visiting http://www.packtpub.com/submit-errata, selecting your book, clicking on the errata submission form link, and entering the details of your errata. Once your errata are verified, your submission will be accepted and the errata will be uploaded on our website, or added to any list of existing errata, under the Errata section of that title. Any existing errata can be viewed by selecting your title from http://www.packtpub.com/support.
Piracy
Piracy of copyright material on the Internet is an ongoing problem across all media. At Packt, we take the protection of our copyright and licenses very seriously. If you come across any illegal copies of our works, in any form, on the Internet, please provide us with the location address or website name immediately so that we can pursue a remedy.
Please contact us at <copyright@packtpub.com> with a link to the suspected pirated material.
We appreciate your help in protecting our authors, and our ability to bring you valuable content.
Questions
You can contact us at <questions@packtpub.com> if you are having a problem with any aspect of the book, and we will do our best to address it.
Chapter 1. Creating Your First Visualizations and Dashboard
Tableau is an amazing data visualization platform! With it, you will be able to achieve incredible data discovery, data analysis, and data storytelling. You will accomplish all of these tasks and goals visually. In fact, Tableau is unique among all other data visualization tools because it uses VizQL, a visual query language. This means you won't write a lot of tedious SQL or MDX or painstakingly work through wizards to select a chart type and then link components together with data.
Instead, you will be interacting with the data in a visual environment and Tableau will automatically translate your actions into the necessary queries behind the scenes. Much of your work will be drag and drop. Tableau empowers you to work with data rapidly and iteratively, switch visualization types on-the-fly, and ask new questions and gain new insight.
This chapter introduces the foundational principals of data visualization in Tableau. You will take on the role of an analyst for a coffee chain. We'll work through a series of examples that will introduce the basics of connecting to data, exploring and analyzing the data visually, and finally, putting it all together in a fully interactive dashboard. These concepts will be developed far more extensively