All in Data

How and Why to Create Tableau Data Extracts (.hyper)

Eric Parker
Data

If you want to create the best user experience in Tableau, odds are you want to convert your data connections into extracts. Tableau Data Extracts (.hyper) provide the most efficient way to query data in Tableau. Extracts are local snapshots of your data which have been optimized for usage in Tableau.

Extracts can be customized to filter data, aggregate data, and even hide unused fields. Server and cloud-based data sources can support automated extract refreshes on Tableau Server and Tableau Cloud.

Data Dashboard Design Best Practices

Eric Parker
Data, Design, Tableau Dashboards

Effective data dashboard design is an art. It requires meticulous attention to detail. It includes visualizing the right data, displaying the appropriate level of granularity, designing an efficient layout, and making a number of minute design decisions so the data hits your user "just right".

If you're looking for a checklist of design elements to review before your next dashboard rollout, you've came to the right place! In this video, we discuss the following 15 design best practices:

How to Calculate Running Headcount in Tableau with Start and End Date Fields

Eric Parker
Data, Table Calculations, Tableau Calculations

Do you want to use Tableau to look at running headcount over time? For example, you work with employee level data which has Start Dates and End Dates and you'd like to be able to see how the total active headcount at the company has changed over the last 8 quarters.

That's something Tableau can do, but it isn't going to work out of the box. It's going to take some creative data structuring and calculations to get things working.

Why Tableau Created Relationships

Eric Parker
Tableau Relationships, Data

In 2020, Tableau unveiled a new way to combine multiple tables of data in Tableau Desktop: a Relationship. Billed as "smart joins", relationships provide the capability to merge multiple tables of data horizontally on shared dimensions (like a join). However, they don't duplicate data when the tables being combined have different levels of granularity.

So, are they better than joins? Not always! Relationships can reduce data duplication and improve performance, but a data set that is generated from a relationship might present blind spots if the data isn't perfectly clean.

Tableau Join Calculations

Ollie Linley
Data, Tableau Calculations

How do you join two tables together in Tableau when they don’t share the same common field? Or what if that common field is slightly different in both tables? A Join Calculation can help solve a lot of those problems! In this video, we take a look at how to use a join calculation to join tables with mismatched fields.

How to Prepare (Structure) Data for Tableau - Webinar Recording

Eric Parker
Data, Tableau Prep

Are you having trouble getting your data to work in Tableau the way you want? Join us to learn how to prepare data for analysis in Tableau!

You can find a thousand tutorials on how to use Tableau, but they're all worthless until your data is structured for analysis in the format that Tableau likes. Don't get stuck in your analysis journey because Tableau doesn't like your data.

6 data formats to avoid, 8 key rules for structuring data, and 1 video you can't miss. Check out the recording to learn about the key concepts you can utilize to prepare for your data for Tableau.

Academic Years + Tableau: All You Need to Know (Webinar Recording)

Eric Parker
Tableau Dates, Tableau Calculations, Data

Tableau is optimized to perform date comparisons and calculations relative to a standard calendar. If your organization’s year starts on the first of a month other than January, Tableau can still handle that relatively well. The flexibility breaks down when the calendar year doesn't start on the first of the month and the comparison periods (e.g. semester or trimester) don't align with Tableau's pre-built periods (quarters, months, weeks).

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