Grouping data
Grouping data in Tableau Prep can be done as part of the Aggregate step, as we've seen in the Aggregating values recipe earlier in this chapter. The function we'll review in this recipe is different, in that it can group values from a single field based on certain criteria.
As an example, values in a Name field might include John Smith and Smith, John. These might refer to the same person, and so we can group them together as John Smith. Performing this type of grouping is key to your data preparation efforts and ensures the downstream analysis does not run into issues with seemingly duplicate names.
Getting ready
To follow along with this recipe, download the Sample Files 4.4 folder from this book's GitHub repository.
How to do it…
Start by opening Tableau Prep and connect to the 2016 Sales.csv file from the Sample Files 4.4 folder in Tableau Prep, then follow these steps:
- Add a clean step to your flow and observe the values...
