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You're reading from  Mastering Tableau 2023 - Fourth Edition

Product typeBook
Published inAug 2023
PublisherPackt
ISBN-139781803233765
Edition4th Edition
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Author (1)
Marleen Meier
Marleen Meier
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Marleen Meier

Marleen Meier is an accomplished analyst and author with a passion for statistics and data. By using traditional methodologies and approaches such as Machine Learning and AI, Marleen is dedicated to driving meaningful insights. Currently working as the APAC Data CoE Lead for ABN AMRO Clearing, Marleen is at the forefront of innovation and implementing data-driven strategies in a global financial environment. She has lived and worked in multiple countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, and Singapore, allowing her to bring a diverse and global perspective to her work. Through her writing and speaking engagements, she aims to empower individuals and organizations to unlock the full potential of their data assets.
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Three essential Tableau concepts

An important stop on the road to mastering Tableau involves three essential concepts. In this section, we’ll discuss each of them:

  • Dimensions and measures
  • Row-level, aggregate-level, and table-level calculations
  • Continuous and discrete

We’ll start by defining dimensions and measures.

Dimensions and measures

Tableau categorizes every field from an underlying data source as either a dimension or a measure. A dimension is qualitative or, to use another word, categorical. A measure is quantitative or aggregable. A measure is usually a number but may be an aggregated, non-numeric field, such as MAX (Date). A dimension is usually a text, Boolean, or date field, but may also be a number, such as Number of Records. Dimensions provide meaning to numbers by slicing those numbers into separate parts/categories. Measures without dimensions are mostly meaningless.

Let’s look at an example to understand...

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Mastering Tableau 2023 - Fourth Edition
Published in: Aug 2023Publisher: PacktISBN-13: 9781803233765

Author (1)

author image
Marleen Meier

Marleen Meier is an accomplished analyst and author with a passion for statistics and data. By using traditional methodologies and approaches such as Machine Learning and AI, Marleen is dedicated to driving meaningful insights. Currently working as the APAC Data CoE Lead for ABN AMRO Clearing, Marleen is at the forefront of innovation and implementing data-driven strategies in a global financial environment. She has lived and worked in multiple countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, and Singapore, allowing her to bring a diverse and global perspective to her work. Through her writing and speaking engagements, she aims to empower individuals and organizations to unlock the full potential of their data assets.
Read more about Marleen Meier