Once you have successfully connected to your data the next step is to use the data source editor to prepare your data for analysis. Tableau Zen Master Matt Francis will explain how to the data inrepeter to clean data, rename headers, change the data type and even create new data using calculated fields right in the data preparation window.
- [Instructor] So let's go ahead and connect to some data. In this example we're gonna use an Excel sheet that we can find in our Exercise folder, called GlobalVehicleSales. Now when we look at the data window here, we notice that Tableau's identified that it could do a cleanup job for us. On the left-hand side, it offers some help. So we see that Tableau has identified some problems with this Excel file. Let's just take a quick look at it to see what's going on. So this is the sheet we just connected to, and what you can see is there's the data table in the center, but also there's another text right in there.
We've got the title, we've got some information to the reader, and we've got some formatting going on. Now this makes it really readable for somebody reading this table in Excel. But in terms of data, we've got all these extra fields that Tableu's gonna interpret as different things. So for example, when we go back and look in Tableau, we see that this first column here, instead of picking up the name of the column such as Region and Countries and then the years, it's actually picking up F1, F2, F3, and in the center there New PC Registration. Now, this isn't what we want.
Tableau's data interpreter understands that Excel documents can also have extra data to make them more readable. If we click this little button over here, for Clean with Data, it removes all this extra information. We can review the results by clicking on here. We get some information about what Tableau has done, and we can see, highlighted here, the things it's changed. So it's identified that the green sections are data, the orange sections are headers, and everything else it ignored.
In this example, column O also has that information for us. Now if we go back into Tableau and go to our sheet, we see that, instead of having the dimensions and measures with their original names of F1, F2, etc., we now have the regions, countries, and the measure names as they should be. We can now go ahead and create a visualization. We can go one step further and clean this up more by changing the case of the countries.
We can do this using a calculated field. To do that, we're gonna right-click on our dimension and go to Create Calculated Field. So we'll give the result a name, in this case we'll call it Country, and now we need a formula, to change the case into leading case. Let's do that, we're gonna have to copy and paste it in a formula, which you can find in your exercise file. Tableau tells that the calculation's valid, so we can click OK, and our new Country has been created.
Just drag that into the view. Well, we see now that we just got capital case for all of our countries.
Author
Updated
4/21/2017Released
9/12/2016The training starts with one of the most important features in Tableau: the difference between the green and blue pills (discrete and continuous data) and how this affects every single action Tableau performs. Then find out how to add new maps and create more effective dashboards that maximize screen real estate. Discover how actions can link together sheets and provide greater levels of interactivity and performance, and how formatting can make an ordinary dashboard demand attention. Plus, get some bonus tips on performing date and time calculations in Tableau. This course deep-dives into the practical, applicable, and essential skills that anyone doing data visualization and analytics in a professional setting needs to have.
- Green vs. blue pills
- Using filters, colors, and dates
- Connecting to data
- Extracting data
- Cleaning and prepping data
- Pivoting data
- Merging and joining data
- Highlighting data
- Using the Analytics pane
- Creating new maps
- Creating calculations based on parameters
- Designing dashboards
Skill Level Intermediate
Duration
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Q. Thise course was updated 04/21/2017. What changed?
A. Videos were added to cover features in Tableau 10.2.
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Introduction
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Welcome1m 19s
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Exercise files42s
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1. Green and Blue Pills
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Discrete versus continuous3m 35s
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Rows and columns2m 57s
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Filters1m 50s
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Colors3m 37s
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Dates3m 5s
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Pills: Challenge38s
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Pills: Solution1m 30s
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2. Connect and Extract Data
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Connect to data2m 44s
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How to create a data extract3m 35s
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Filter extract3m 34s
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Extract: Solution1m 28s
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3. Transform Data
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Clean and prep your data2m 49s
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Split fields3m 16s
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Pivoting the data3m 28s
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Merge data using unions2m 32s
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Cross database joins2m 46s
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Join transformations3m 25s
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Join: Challenge42s
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Join: Solution2m 33s
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4. Analytics
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Colors to highlight data4m 7s
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Visual highlighter1m 52s
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The Analytics pane3m 47s
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Cross-database filtering1m 53s
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Analytics: Solution1m 11s
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5. Map Your Data
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When to map your data4m 1s
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Create new maps using MapBox2m 38s
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Create custom territories2m 31s
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Mapping: Solution1m 12s
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6. Parameters
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Top N analysis1m 43s
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Parameters: Solution1m 49s
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7. Dashboard Design
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Dashboard layout tips3m 15s
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Layout containers3m 9s
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Filter actions3m 19s
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Highlight actions2m 5s
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URL actions2m 22s
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Formats2m 3s
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Tooltips2m 32s
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Device-specific dashboards1m 43s
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Dashboard: Solution3m 27s
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8. Useful Calculations
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Convert strings to dates1m 49s
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Calculate time durations2m 30s
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9. Tableau 10.2 Updates
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Conclusion
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Next steps34s
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Video: Clean and prep your data