Tableau Course @DHIL - Day 2

Measures Vs Dimensions
Discrete Vs Continuous
Calculations: how to create new calculated fields

1. DAY TWO Alberto Lusoli – Simon Fraser University
2. Measures are usually metrics, or numerical data, like shipping cost. Inside of Tableau, measures are aggregations – they’re aggregated up to the granularity set by the dimensions in the view. The value of a measure therefore depends on the context of the dimensions. If a variable can be added, subtracted, multiplied or divided, than it’s a measure.
3. Dimensions are usually categorical fields. Specifically, in Tableau, dimensions set the granularity, or the level of detail in the view. We typically want to group our data by some combination of categories. What dimensions we use to build the view will determine how many marks we have in the visualization.
6. Tableau assign each variable to either Dimensions of Variables, automatically. You can always reverse Tableau’s automatic determination. You can also switch both measures and dimensions from discrete to continuous, and vice versa.
8. Most of the time, • measures are continuous. • dimensions are discrete However, this isn’t always true. It’s possible to have a numerical dimension be continuous, or to convert a measure to discrete.
9. http://bit.ly/tableau-ex-1 Crime.csv
10. Switching from continuous to discrete. Change in the Measure/Dimensions pane, change in pill.
11. Create Day Night Calculated field Switch year from discrete to continuous
13. Calculating the Date field
14. Using the MAKEDATE function
15. Using the MAKEDATE function
16. Clicking the arrow on the right you can open the help. Most of the time it’s just a matter of not messing up with Tableau’s syntax. For in-depth help, check: http://bit.ly/functions-tableau
17. http://bit.ly/tableau-ex-1 Bike.csv
19. Drop ID and Block number. Dimensionality difference Drop number of thefts in both cases Pages (with and without history)
20. Dashboard Filter
21. For questions or help, write me at: alusoli@sfu.ca THANK YOU