Learning Tableau 2019 - Third Edition

An overview of Table Calculations

Table Calculations are different from all other calculations in Tableau. Row-level, aggregate calculations, and LOD expressions, which we considered in the previous chapter, are performed as part of the query to the data source. If you were to examine the queries sent to the data source by Tableau, you'd find the code for your calculations translated into whatever flavor of SQL the data source used.

Table Calculations, on the other hand, are performed after the initial query. Here's an extended diagram that shows how aggregated results are stored in Tableau's cache:

Table Calculations are performed on the ...