Innovative Tableau

Chapter 70. 3 Innovative Ways to Use Parameter Actions: Tip 2

Using Parameter Actions to Change Date Parts with the Click of a Button

You can create control sheets even when your dataset does not contain a dimension with dimension members that match the allowable values of the parameter you want to use to create parameter dashboard actions.

Parameters are unique in that they work across multiple data connections within the same workbook. This means that I can create a control sheet in Excel containing the dimension members that will overwrite a parameter’s value, connect to that Excel sheet as a secondary data source, use it to create a control sheet, and set up a parameter action that works between the newly created control sheet and the other worksheets in the workbook.

Here’s an example of why you would need to go through the extra step of creating a control sheet from a secondary data source. Another of my favorite user experiences is to provide a means for the audience to toggle the date part of a line graph from day, to week, to month, to year. However, there is no dimension that I can simply add to the Text Marks Card to create a control sheet with the different date parts. To make matters more difficult, date parts must be lowercase in order to work with certain date functions such as DATETRUNC.

If you are not familiar with this tactic, you need a parameter with a data ...