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Tableau can create interactive visualizations customized for the target audience. In this tutorial, you will learn about the measures, chart types and its features.
In this tutorial, 'Sample-Superstore.csv' is used for the demonstration. You can connect to the data source and follow the steps given in the tutorial.
Measure names and Measure values are the two fields created in Tableau by default. These fields are created when a data set is imported into Tableau. You can go to a Data pane of the worksheet and view the fields as shown in the figure.
Measure Names:
A measure name consists of all the names of the measure present in a data set. It always presents at the end of dimension list. It consists of discrete values of all measure names.
Measure Values:
All the measure values present in a data set are kept together in the field called measure values. It always presents at the end of measures list. It consists of continuous values of all measures.
Use cases of Measure Names and Measure Values:
Case 1:
Measure names and Measure values can be used to see the aggregation of all measure present in a data set. These fields can be shown as different types of visualization in Tableau.
Steps:
It creates a visual for all measures present in the data set. By default, Tableau creates a bar chart showing all the measure names and their values.
Case 2:
Any measures can be removed from the visual by removing the measure from mark card. It can be removed by
It removes the measure from the visualization.
Case 3:
Alias name can be created for measure names. It can be shown in the visualization for better identification.
Step 1) Use the same steps given in case 2 and follow the below steps.
Step 2) It opens 'Edit Aliases' Window.
You can see the name change in Visualization.
Case 4:
If you want to analyze multiple measures in a single visual, it can be done by using measure names and measure values.
In this example, we will see the trend of measures namely sales, profit and quantity over the years.
Step 1)
It adds the measure name filter in the filter box.
For example: The above filter condition shows the visual as follows:
It creates a filter on selected measures in the worksheet.
Step 2)
Step 3)
Tableau generates some fields which can be visible in the data pane. These fields are generated in addition to the fields present in the data set. The generated fields are given as follows.
Measure Names and Measure Values are already explained in the article.
Number of Records:
Number of records shows the count of records present in the data set. It is an auto-generated field in Tableau which assigns a value '1' for each record present in the data set. It can be used to verify the count of records when joining multiple tables. The procedure to check the number of records present in a dataset is given as follows.
Step 1) Go to a Worksheet
Longitude and Latitude:
Longitude and Latitude (generated) fields are associated with the geographical detail present in the data. Dataset should consist of geographical details like City, Country or State. The longitude and latitude values are auto-generated in Tableau. These fields can be used to build maps in Tableau. You can create geographical maps using Longitude and Latitude is given as follows.
Step 1) Drag Longitude (generated) into columns and Latitude (generated) into Rows.
Step 2) Drag 'State' from Dimension list into 'Detail' present in Marks Card.
This creates a geo-mapping visual as shown below.
Tableau can create interactive visuals for easy data interpretation. You can create various types of graphs in Tableau based on the purpose. The different charts that can be created using Tableau and their purpose are given as follows.
A Pareto chart consists of both bar and line graph. The same measure is used to create the graphs but the measure values are manipulated differently. The purpose of using Pareto Chart in Tableau is to identify the contribution of members present in a field. For example, Profit contributed by different subcategory of products in a retail store can be analyzed using Pareto Chart. It can show the top members and their contribution. The procedure to create a Pareto Chart is given as follows.
Step 1) Go to a new Worksheet
Step 2)
Step 3) It opens a Sort Window.
Step 4)
It merges the x-axis of both measures and converts the visualization as given below.
Step 5) Go to Marks Card
Step 6)
Step 7)
Step 8) It opens the Primary Calculation Type window.
Step 9)
Step 10) Select any color of your choice. This changes the color of line present in the graph.
This is the procedure to create Pareto Chart in Tableau.
A bullet chart can be used as a gauge or indicator to show the performance of measures. Two measures can be compared to each other using the bullet graph. For example, if we are having estimated profit and actual profit we can compare both of them using bullet chart. The procedure to create bullet chart is given as follows.
Step 1) Go to a new Worksheet.
Step 2) It opens Calculated Field Window.
Step 3) Go to measures in Data pane. Hold the control key in keyboard and select 'Estimated Profit' and 'Profit'.
Step 4)
It creates a bullet graph as shown below.
A bar chart can compare the data across different categories. The height of the bars represents the measured value of each category. It can be represented as vertical and horizontal type bar charts. The procedure to create bar chart is given as follows.
Step) Go to a new worksheet.
A Line Chart should be used to compare the data over the different periods. A line chart is created by the series of dots. These dots represent the measured value in each period. The procedure to create line graph is shown below.
Step) Go to a new Worksheet.
Text tables are used to show the exact value of measures across the different dimension. A text table is also called as a Pivot Table. It groups the dimensions and measures by default. The procedure to design a text table is given as follows.
Step) Go to a new Worksheet.
A heat map can visualize the data in the form of size as well as color on different measures. Two different measures can be visualized simultaneously using heat map. One measure can be assigned to size whereas another measure can be assigned to the color of the heat map. The procedure to create heat map is given as follows:
Step 1) Go to a new Worksheet.
Step 2)
Step 3) Drag 'Profit' into the Color box.
Step 4)
Waterfall Chart can visualize the cumulative effect of a measure over dimension. It can show the contribution of growth or decline by each member in a dimension. For example, you can see the contribution of profit by each sub-category using a waterfall chart. The waterfall chart can be designed in Tableau by following the given procedures.
Step 1) Go to a new Worksheet.
Step 2)
Step 3) It opens 'Calculated Field' Window.
Step 4) Drag the newly created calculated field '-Profit' into size option present in the marks card.
Step 5)
Step 6)
This creates a waterfall chart as shown below.
A Gantt chart can show the comparison of data between categories. It can be used to identify the time taken for each process. In the below example, time taken for shipment by each type of ship mode is given. The procedure to create Gantt chart is given as follows.
Step 1) Go to a new Worksheet.
Step 2)
Step 3)
Step 4)
Step 5)
Step 6) This creates a Gantt chart. It shows the time taken for each shipment across different ship mode.
A pie chart can show the segment-wise data. It can show the contribution of measure over different members in a dimension. The angle of pie determines the measured value. Different colors can be assigned to pie to represent the members in a dimension.
Step 1) Go to a new Worksheet
Step 2)
It creates a Pie Chart as shown below.
The relationship between two measures can be visualized using scatter plot. A scatter plot is designed by adding measures in both x and y-axis. This can show the trend or relationship between the measures selected. A scatter plot can be designed by following the below procedure.
Step 1) Go to a new Worksheet.
This creates a scatter plot by default.
Step 2)
Area chart can represent any quantitative (measure) data over different period of time. It is basically a line graph where the area between line and axis is generally filled with color. The procedure to create area chart is given below.
Step 1) Go to a new Worksheet.
Step 2)
Step 3)
Dual axis chart can be used to visualize two different measures in two different chart types. A date column and two measures are necessary to build a dual axis chart. The different scales used in the graph helps the user to understand both measures. The procedure to create dual axis chart is shown below.
Step 1) Go to a new Worksheet.
Step 2)
It creates a dual axis chart as shown in the figure.
A bubble chart visualizes the measures and dimensions in the form of bubbles. The sizes of the bubbles determine the size of measure value for effective visualization. The color of bubbles can be set to differentiate the members present in a dimension. The procedure to create bubble chart is given below.
Step 1) Go to a new Worksheet.
Step 2)
It creates a bubble chart as shown below
A histogram can show the values present in a measure and its frequency. It shows the distribution of numerical data. As it shows both frequency and measure value by default, it can be useful in many cases. For example, if you want to analyze the discount given by a retail shop, you can visualize the amount of discount and its frequency using histogram. The procedure to create histogram is shown below.
Step 1) Go to a new Worksheet.
Step 2)
It creates a histogram chart in Tableau.
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