Appendix E Understanding Tableau Functions
If you are accustomed to creating SQL statements in a database, the functions and syntax of Tableau’s calculated values should look familiar. If you are a spreadsheet expert, the syntax will be new but should not pose a significant challenge for you to learn.
Tableau’s formula-editing window provides help and error-checks the syntax of the formulas you create. Even if you have no experience, with a little practice you’ll find that you use some functions frequently. Table E-1 groups functions into thirteen categories.
Table E-1: Tableau Function Categories
| Function Category | Category Capabilities |
| Aggregate | Mathematical and statistical summaries of your data. |
| Date | Calculate and parse date fields. |
| Google Big Query | Functions that work with Big Query data sources only. |
| Hadoop Hive | Functions that work with Hadoop Hive data sources only. |
| Level of Detail (LOD) | Level of detail expressions support aggregation in calculations at dimension levels different from the view level. Computed at the data source unlike table calculations, totals, or reference lines. |
| Logical | Conditional operations based on your data. |
| Number | Arithmetic and trigonometric operations. |
| RawSQL Pass Through | Pass SQL statements directly to the data source and then excute the statement within the data source. These functions do not work with every data source supported by Tableau. |
| String | Functions for manipulating strings. |
| String Pattern | Specialized string patter functions (REGEXP) ... |
Get Tableau Your Data!, 2nd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
