Basics

Question 1

What are the 4 methods to connect to Data when creating a workbook?

Answer 1

1. Connect to data on the site.
2. Upload a file.
3. Connect to on-premises and Cloud data sources.
4. Use Dashboard Starters.

Question 2

What is the Sheets column in the left pane of the interface?

Answer 2

Shows all the worksheets and the named ranges that are part of your spreadsheet.

Question 3

Canvas

Answer 3

Located top right. When connected to most relational and file-based data, you can drag one or more tables to the canvas area to set up your Tableau data source.

Question 4

Data Grid

Answer 4

Located below the canvas. Shows the first 1000 rows (default) of data from the tables in your canvas.

Question 5

Does Tableau automatically identify the data types in each columns of your tables?

Answer 5

Yes. Tableau identifies data types AND geographic roles.

Question 6

Relationships

Answer 6

Relationships define how tables relate to one another.
Relationships dynamically adjust the SQL join type applied between tables, based on the fields used in your visualizations.

Question 7

Logical vs Physical Layer

Answer 7

Logical layer is the default view in the Data Source page. This view shows the logical relationships between your data tables. Logical tables remain distinct (normalized), not merged in data source.
Double-click a logical table to see its physical tables. You can combine data between tables at the physical layer using joins and unions. Each logical table contains at least one physical table in this layer. Physical tables are merged into a single , flat table that defines the logical table.

Question 8

Noodle

Answer 8

Represents the relationship between the tables. Hover over to see summary of relationship. Double-click to edit relationship.

Question 9

Workspace Area

Answer 9

Data pane: Displays all the fields from data source. Fields are grouped by data source tables.
Shelves + Cards: Drag fields here to build each viz.
View: Viz will display here.

Question 10

Dimensions vs Measures + what’s their relationship?

Answer 10

Dimensions are fields that contain qualitative and quantitative descriptive values (eg names, dates, geographic data). ID fields are also dimensions.
Measures are fields that contain numeric quantitative values that can be aggregated using functions such as sum or average.
** Dimensions control the level of aggregation of the measures in a visualization **

Question 11

Hierarchy

Answer 11

A logical arrangement of relevant unique attributes in a data set. This allows the data to have different levels of detail and helps us organize it.

Question 12

Visualizations

Answer 12

Drag fields from the data pane to the shelves and cards to build each visualizations. Data viz will display in the view. Build one viz per sheet. Combine sheets to create dashboards and stories.

Question 13

Calculated Fields

Answer 13

Allow you to create new data from data that already exists in your data source. Calculated fields essentially let you create a new field in your data source, where the values or members are determined by a calculation that you control. Can be a dimension OR a measure depending on fields/formulas you use. Calculated fields will appear in data pane and will have = next to them.
Click drop-down menu in data pane to create or go to Analysis > Create calculated field.

Question 14

Show Me

Answer 14

Useful way to create a view. Shows you a list of common visualization types as well as the recommended one (outlined in orange).

Question 15

Marks Card

Answer 15

Provides control over how the data is displayed in the view. Also lets you add context and details. Eg format numbers, change colors, size of chart elements, etc.

Question 16

Filters Shelf

Answer 16

Allows you to specify which data to include and exclude in your graphical view.

1. Drag fields on the filters shelf or use “show filter” option.
2. Show a filter to make it interactive.
3. Adjust filter card setting to control the filters’ appearance and functionality.
4. For fields not found in data place use their “show filter” option to move them to filters shelf.

Question 17

Area Chart

Answer 17

A line chart where the area between the line and the axis is shaded with a color. Generally used to represent accumulated totals over and are a conventional way to display stacked lines.

Question 18

Discrete vs. Continuous

Answer 18

Discrete fields are colored blue and create Headers. Most dimensions are discrete.
Continuous fields are colored green and create Axes. Most measures are continuous. You will usually want to set dates to continuous so you can keep your dates in chronological order.

Question 19

Axis

Answer 19

Axes are made from continuous fields. You can edit axes to change axes range, scale, title or tick marks.
Double click to edit.

Question 20

Level of Detail (LOD) Calculation

Answer 20

LOD expressions allow you to compute values at the data source level and the visualization level. LOD expressions let you answer questions with multiple levels of granularity into a single visualization.
Eg: Can I plot the number of days per quarter where my company had more than 100 orders?

Question 21

Fixed LOD

Answer 21

Fixed LOD expressions compute a value using the specified dimensions, without reference to the dimensions in the view.

Question 22

Comments

Answer 22

// for single line
/* */ for multiple

Question 23

Aliases

Answer 23

Alternate names for members in a dimension. You can edit aliases for discrete dimensions.

Question 24

How to create a default sort order for the values in a categorical field?

Answer 24

1. Right click the relevant field.
2. Default properties > Sort
3. Adjust setting as you want

Question 25

Tooltips

Answer 25

Details that appear when you hover over one or more marks in the view. You can add more fields to your tooltip by dragging them to tooltip icon in the marks card. Edit tooltip by clicking on icon. You can also disable tooltip.

Question 26

How to create a Range of Dates filter?

Answer 26

1. Drag a date field to filters shelf.
2. Click Range of Dates > Next
3. Range of Dates > Ok
4. Select “show filter” to make filter interactive.

Question 27

Can you replace a field on columns/rows shelf by dragging another field on top of it?

Answer 27

Yes.

Question 28

Text Tables

Answer 28

You can create text tables (also called cross-tabs or pivot tables) by placing one dimension on the Rows shelf and another dimension on the Columns shelf. You then complete the view by dragging one or more measures to Text on the Marks card. A text table uses the text mark type.

Question 29

Measure Names

Answer 29

This field contains the names of all measures in your data, collected into a single field with discrete values. This field is aggregated automatically.

Question 30

Measure Values

Answer 30

You can remove measures directly or through edit filter in filters shelf.
You can change the position of each measure by dragging.
You can change each measure’s aggregation .
You can format each measure to fit your objectives.

Question 31

Can the worksheet name be different from worksheet title?

Answer 31

Yes, you can edit worksheet title directly.

Question 32

Bar Charts

Answer 32

Bar charts are useful when comparing data across different categories.

Question 33

Item Hierarchy

Answer 33

Shows the organizational structure of the objects in your dashboard. Use this to easily select objects within your dashboard.

Question 34

By default, do filters on your dashboard apply to all relevant worksheets?

Answer 34

No, by default, they only apply to the worksheets from which they came.

Question 35

Dashboard Actions

Answer 35

Actions let you add interactive relationships between data, dashboard objects, other worksheets, and the web.