Creating a calculated field on a shelf

- [Narrator] One of the relatively new capabilities in Tableau is to create a custom field by adding a formula to one of the shelves in the program window. In this movie I will show you how to build a formula and a field at the same time using a very quick technique. My sample file is the shelf workbook, and you can find it in the chapter four folder of your exercise files collection. What I want to do is to create a quick calculation that will allow me to add a value to my current sheet, but that won't take up room within the workbook.

To do that I can make sure that all of my data's in place and then go to the marks card, which is here, and double click, so I'm double clicking just on a blank spot within the marks card. When I do an empty editing area opens up and I can define my calculation. I want to base my calculation on the values in two fields, and they are over here, quantity and price. So I will type a left square bracket, and then I'll start typing quantity, and that field name pops up.

I want to calculate total revenue, so I need to multiply quantity by price, so I'll type an asterisk, and then another left square bracket and price. That's the end of my calculation. I'm multiplying quantity by price, and now as the tool tip says I can apply it by pressing control + enter, and clicking away to finish completing the pill. And there you can see that I have created a new calculation, it is the sum of quantity times price.

And if I drag that pill to the data area, then I see my calculation. The total amount spent on adjustable wrenches was $1100, alarm clocks 39.15, and so on. Note; however, that the calculation I just created is not in the measures area. I only have my original quantity and price. In another movie I showed you how to create a calculated field. Rather than create a calculated field which will stay part of your workbook for as long as you have it, creating a quick calculation on the shelf gives you the data that you need but it doesn't add a field to your data collection.