Basically, the INDEX() function in Tableau returns the position of the current row in the partition, without any sorting with regard to value. With the first-row value starting at 1. Sometimes though, we would like our index to behave in a certain logic that differs from the default behavior. Problems with indexing/ranking can be quite frustrating and I will try to cover a problem I encountered on a recent project. Let us consider the following scenario using the legendary Superstore dataset. You can also check out the workbook on Tableau Public and follow along. In our view, we can see State ..read more

Data visualisation gives a clear idea of what the information means by giving it a visual context through maps or graphs. It is easy for human brain to comprehend thus making it easier to identify patterns, trends and outliers within large data sets Data visualisation pioneer Ben Shneiderman #Source: Google Though data visualization use graphics and images to convey information, Data visualization pioneer Ben Shneiderman says “The purpose of visualisation is not pictures, but insight.” That means turning data into charts far less useful than turning data into something meaningful in the mind o ..read more

In this blog we will describe how you can add custom geocoding in Tableau Desktop. Custom geocoding can be very useful. Especially when your organisation is working with files containing location names. Often, the link to the actual location on the map is missing in Tableau. This is where custom geocoding comes in. Custom geocoding allows you to link location names to actual locations on the map. All of this can be done without any GIS or spatial knowledge. Besides, I will also describe some common errors and mistakes. Use these to get custom geocoding working. First, let’s take a small step b ..read more

For this step-by-step guide, I will go through the actions I have taken to prepare and visualize the data through a Tableau Dashboard. Along the way, I will share insights from the sheets I will create and finally, I will show the final dashboard. The dataset used for this blog post is called “New York City Airbnb Open Data” on Kaggle (Here is the link). The dataset includes listing activities and metrics for Airbnb in New York, USA for 2019. First to see how much cleaning I can do to this dataset, I will dive into Tableau Prep Builder and see what I got… Data Exploration After importing the d ..read more

Using icons are considered to be quite a beneficial tool for web design. They are easy to understand graphics that grabs the user’s attention immediately due to their simplistic visual nature. It is also a great tool to pass language barriers that can arise with plain text. In addition, they add a great deal for navigation as well as adding character to your design. In this blog post, I will be going through how to create interactive icons that can be used in your Tableau dashboards by going through an example dashboard I have posted in my Tableau Public profile which can be found here. For th ..read more

The Information Lab will be providing updates to this blog as we continue to work on vulnerability remediation with our customers. (Last Updated: 15/12/2021 16:49 CET) Overview On December 10th, 2021 our SecOps team became aware of a zero-day Java vulnerability in Log4J2 allowing for remote code execution on the host and the potential for loss of control of the system. Log4J is a Java package used in many software applications for generating log files and is also used by Tableau. Scope of vulnerability Any software product that runs the Log4J2 package The vulnerability condition is disabled b ..read more

Data visualisation gives a clear idea of what the information means by giving it a visual context through maps or graphs. It is easy for human brain to comprehend thus making it easier to identify patterns, trends and outliers within large data sets Data visualisation pioneer Ben Shneiderman #Source: Google Though data visualization use graphics and images to convey information, Data visualization pioneer Ben Shneiderman says “The purpose of visualisation is not pictures, but insight.” That means turning data into charts far less useful than turning data into something meaningful in the mind o ..read more

In this series, I will explore how compositions are different from comparisons, and what chart types you can use to visualise a composition. Start at Part 1 here. We’ve been looking at ways to visualise the composition of library data, using stacked bar charts and pie charts. We visualised genres and sections (the parts) in relation to the bigger whole (all of the books in my library): For simplicity’s sake, we have been ignoring part of our data structure. It’s high time we bring that back. Hierarchical data Our library data is organised into Sections (fiction versus non-fiction) and Ge ..read more

This morning I attended the Tableau Desktop introduction training also know as Tableau 101. On this occasion, the training was hosted by my colleague Erik van de Beek. In this blog, I share some practical information and my personal notes containing lessons learned. By sharing this information, I hope to inspire others to follow this great introduction into Tableau. Target audience You are totally new to Tableau? You just purchased a Tableau Creator license? Do you love to start using your Tableau trial license, and want to move faster? Then this introduction training is perfect for you!  ..read more

1.  What is Reporting? 2. What is Business Intelligence? 3. What is data visualization? 4. What are the common charts of visualisation? What is Reporting? Process of organizing data into informational summaries is called reporting. Reporting shows you what has happened. Analysis focuses on explaining why it happened and what we can do about it. What is Business Intelligence? It refers to technology, applications and practices for the collection,  integration, analysis and presentation of business information. BI systems provide historical, current and predictive views of business ope ..read more