Tableau Prep: Up & Running

Chapter 41. Handling Prep Builder Errors

Errors in software suck. Who hasn’t spent time crying into their keyboard or banging their head against their screen asking the computer gods to solve their problems? Agreed—no one! As I have used Prep Builder a lot, I have developed a good sense of the common mistakes people make with the tool. This chapter will address the following trouble spots and pose some potential solutions:

• Parameter errors

• Blank Profile and Data panes

• Errors within a Calculated Field

Parameter Errors

You may often see an error message including the word parameters. For example, the error message in Figure 41-1 reads Function 'DATEADD' can't accept parameters: (string, integer, string).

In this case, parameters are the data fields, numbers, and strings you are entering into your calculations. The calculation expects a certain data type in these fields and can’t accept a different one. In this specific case, my colleague was using a date in a string field. The DATEADD() function specifically needs a valid date for the calculation to increment.

Figure 41-1. A common error message regarding parameters in Prep

Be sure to check the data types that you are using in the calculation against what the syntax expects. Remember, you can see an example of each function’s syntax to the right of the Reference list in the Edit Field dialog.

Blank Profile Panes or Data ...