Visual Analytics with Tableau

Alexander Loth is a data scientist with over 10 years' experience in the Enterprise software space, focused primarily on Digital Transformation, Big Data, Machine Learning, and Business Analytics. Since 2015 he has been with Tableau Software as Digital Strategist in Frankfurt, Germany where he guides organizations to evolve their data-driven culture. Prior to Tableau, Alexander was a Data Scientist at CERN and worked as a consultant for Capgemini and in software engineering at SAP.

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• About the Author viiAbout the Technical Editors ixCredits xiAcknowledgments xiiiForeword by Nate Vogel xxiForeword by Sophie Sparkes xxiiiIntroduction xxvChapter 1: Introduction and Getting Started with Tableau 1The Advantages of a Modern Analytics Platform 2My Personal Tableau Story 3The Tableau Application Suite 4Installing Tableau Desktop 5System Requirements for Tableau Desktop 5Downloading and Installing Tableau Desktop 6Registering and Activating Tableau Desktop 6Data Preparation 6Crosstab Reports with Wide Tables 7Preparing Your Data for Analysis 8Long Tables Suitable for Analysis 8The Sample Dataset 9Finding the Dataset 9Understanding the Data 10Opening the Excel File Containing the Sample Dataset 11The Tableau Workspace 13The Menu Bar 15The Data Pane 16Working with Measures and Dimensions 17Visualizing a First Measure 17Breaking Down a Measure Based on a Dimension 17Working with Marks 19Working with Color 20Adding More Information to Tooltips 21Saving, Opening, and Sharing Your Workbooks 21Saving Workbooks 21Opening Workbooks 23Sharing Workbooks with Tableau Reader 23Chapter 2: Adding Data Sources in Tableau 25Setting Up a Data Connector 26Connecting to a File 27Connecting to a Server 28Connecting to a Cloud Service 30Selecting Data Tables 31Adding a Table to a Data Model 31Joins 31Unions 34Specific Unions (Manual) 34Wildcard Unions (Automatic) 35Data Extracts and Live Connections 36Live Connections 36Untethered with a Data Extract 37Data Protection and Data Governance 38Editing the Model’s Metadata 38Data Types 40Changing a Field’s Data Type 41Adding Hierarchies, Calculated Fields, and Table Calculations 41Data Collection 42Data Collection with IFTTT and Google Sheets 42Website Analysis with Google Analytics 43Checklist for Increasing Performance 46General Advice for Performance Optimization 46Performance Optimization with Files and Cloud Services 47Performance Optimization with Database Servers 48Chapter 3: Creating Data Visualizations 49Chart Types 50Ready, Set, Show Me 52How Show Me Works 52Scatter Plots 52Bar Charts, Legends, Filters, and Hierarchies 53Bar Charts 54Hierarchies 54Filters 55Line Charts 57Straight Lines 57Adjusting the Time Dimension 58Step Charts 59Jump Lines 59Continuous Date Fields 61Highlight Tables 64Step 1: Cross Tables 64Step 2: Add Color 64Step 3: Change the Mark Type 66Heatmaps 67Step 1: Build the Table 67Step 2: Choose an Interesting Color Palette 68Step 3: Change the Size of Marks 69Bullet Charts 69Step 1: Side-By-Side Bars 71Step 2: Overlay the Measures 71Cumulative Sums with Waterfall Charts 73Step 1: Sorted Bar Chart 73Step 2: Cumulative Sum and Gantt bars 74Step 3: Calculate the Step Size 75Reflection: The Anatomy of a Tableau Visualization 77Chapter 4: Aggregate Functions, Calculated Fields, and Parameters 81Aggregate Functions 82Calculated Fields 84Aggregations in Calculated Fields 86Text Operators 88Splits 88Shortening Character Strings 89Converting Between Uppercase and Lowercase 90Replacing Substrings 90Date Fields 90Date Parts 90Traditional Gregorian and ISO 8601 Calendars 91Date Calculations 92Parsing Date Parts 92Date Format Conversions 93Logical Functions in Calculated Fields 94Case Discrimination 94Case Discrimination with IF-THEN-ELSE Logic 95Case Discrimination with the IIF Function 96Working with NULL Values 97Parameters 97Creating a Parameter and Displaying the Control Element 97Parameters in Calculated Fields 98Searching Text Fields 100Chapter 5: Table Calculations and Level of Detail Calculations 105Different Types of Calculations 106Order of Processing Steps 107Quick Table Calculations 107Setting Up a Quick Table Calculation 107Duplicate as Crosstab 110Editing Table Calculations 110Customized Table Calculations 113Bump Charts 113Dual Axis Charts 116Adjustable Moving Average 118Level of Detail Expressions 123Keywords and Syntax 123Cohort Analysis 124Regional Averages 125Higher-Level Regions 127Chapter 6: Maps 131Symbol Maps 132Filled Maps 134Density Maps 134Map Layers 136Maps with Pie Charts 137Creating a Pie Chart Map 138Adding a Filter 138Dual Axis Map 139Viz in Tooltip 140Step 1: Create the Second Chart 141Step 2: Embedding the Chart in Tooltips 142Reflection: The Anatomy of a Tableau Map 143Alternative Map Services 144Mapbox Maps 145Mapbox Account and Token 145Mapbox in Tableau 146Using the Background Map 146Spatial Data 147Undersea Communication Cables 148Open Data 152Chapter 7: Advanced Analytics: Trends, Forecasts, Clusters, and other Statistical Tools 155Overview of the Tableau Analytics Pane 156Constant, Average, and Reference Lines 157Trend Lines 157Adding Trend Lines 158Trend Line Options 160Line and Trend Model Description 161Forecasts 162Adding a Forecast Line to the View 162Forecast Settings 162Model Description 164Cluster Analysis 166Clustering in Tableau 166Saving and Working with Clustering Results 167Python, R, and MATLAB Integration 168Getting Started with Python and TabPy 169Connecting Tableau with TabPy 170Python Scripts in Calculated Fields 172Trellis Chart with Python Script 173R Integration 174Security 175Example: Local Regression with R 175MATLAB Integration 178Chapter 8: Interactive Dashboards 181Preliminary Considerations 182Creating a New Dashboard 183The Dashboard Pane 184Placing Charts on the Dashboard 185Dashboard Titles 187Navigation Buttons 188Dashboard Actions 191Filter Actions 191Adding and Editing Filter and Highlight Actions 193Adding Web Content via URL Actions 195Email Notifications via URL Actions 198Dashboard Starters: Templates for Cloud Data 199Dashboard Best Practices and Inspiration 201Design Tips for Creating a Dashboard 201Tableau Public: A Gallery of Inspiration 202Chapter 9: Sharing Insights with Colleagues and the World 205Preliminary Considerations 206Tableau Online and Tableau Server 207Publishing 207Ask Data 211Tableau Mobile 212Tableau Public 213Publishing to Tableau Public 214Your Tableau Public Profile 216Web Embedding 216Chapter 10: Data Preparation with Tableau Prep 221Connecting to Data 222Wildcard Unions 226Additional Connections 228Inspecting the Data 229Removing Unneeded Fields 230Data Cleaning and Formatting 231Cleaning Steps and the Profile Pane 231Calculated Fields 233Built-in Cleaning Features 235Renaming Cleaning Steps 235Unions 237Joins 238Splits 239Grouping 240Joining 240Running the Flow and Outputting the Data 242Saving Flows 244Index 245