The Blog

Ideas, inspiration, creativity & understanding

At The Data School we believe that sharing knowledge and expertise is key to driving innovation and growth in the data community. Posts cover all topics across the Tableau, Alteryx and PowerBI communities.

We make blogging a cornerstone of each consultant's time at The Data School with the aim to solidify their own learning while giving back to the community. Our goal is to empower you with the knowledge and skills you need to succeed in the ever-evolving world of data analysis. So, explore our blog today and join the conversation!

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Mon 19 Aug 2024 | Kate Crawford
A Guide to Measure Names and Measure Values
Knowing the difference between measure names and measure values is helpful to making more complex charts in Tableau. The Data pane generates these fields, which can be used in different ways: * Measure Values are continuous fields that create an axis in the view
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Fri 28 Jun 2024 | Mel Niere
Data School Blog Roundup - June 2024
Compiled by Dylan Moore, Intern General 1. What is data? by Tim Jeffries 2. Overcoming Adversity by Dillon Thomas 3. It's gonna get so much harder (A quick reflection on the first week of training) by Tim Jeffries 4. "So which do you prefer?" by Tim Jeffries 5
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Fri 14 Jun 2024 | Cecily Santiago
Dynamic Zone Visibility Without Calculated Fields
There is a known issue in some versions of Tableau where when using calculated fields from an extract with dynamic zone visibility or dynamic axis titles, refresh extracts fail. If you come across that bug, you might want to use dynamic zone visibility (DZV) without using calculated fields
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Fri 14 Jun 2024 | Cecily Santiago
Chart Swapping Without DZV in Tableau
There is a known issue in some versions of Tableau where when using calculated fields from an extract with dynamic zone visibility or dynamic axis titles, refresh extracts fail. If you come across that bug, you might want to swap charts without using dynamic zone visibility (DZV)
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Wed 25 Oct 2023 | Aaron Potts
Going Further: Cleaning Up Your Measures Through Calculated Fields
When your swappable metrics have different units, getting those units to display right is hard. Learn how to use calculated fields to display units properly in labels and tooltips.
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Sun 10 Sep 2023 | Samantha Fitzsimmons
Unlocking the Palette: Deciphering Calculated Fields and Colors in Tableau
What is a Calculated Field? Calculated fields are a place for the Tableau user to build calculations based on existing data. Calculations can modify data types and formats, aggregate numerical data, and create new fields, which lead to creating more impactful visualizations
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Wed 16 Aug 2023 | Lisa Hitch
9 Ways to Create Calculated Fields in Tableau
Did you know that there are 9 different ways to create a calculated field in Tableau? Read on to find all the ways how to create calculated fields in Tableau
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Wed 16 Aug 2023 | Adam Sultanov
Using Calculated Fields to Work With Strings in Tableau
There are a ton of functions in Tableau for working with strings in calculated fields. This is a list of all the functions you might want to use, with brief descriptions for each and some examples to make things clear. ASCII() returns the ASCII code value of the first character in a string
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Thu 27 Jul 2023 | Jessica Kwan
Max and Min Functions on a String in Tableau: How does it work?
Earlier on in the week, I was shadowing an enablement session on Introduction to Calculated Fields in Tableau and someone asked a great question about two specific string functions: MAX and MIN. Pause. MAX and MIN on a string? That can’t be a thing
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Tue 20 Jun 2023 | Tabitha Diaz
Colors in Calculated Fields (Tableau)
As our first week diving into Alteryx comes to a close, I have developed an appreciation for Tableau's coloring within calculated fields. Something so simple and something I have consistently taken advantage of isn't available within most of Alteryx, except within the Formula Tool
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Thu 23 Feb 2023 | Vivian Ng
A (Measure) Switch (Parameter) in Time Saves Nine (Visualizations)
[on Parameters & Calculated Fields] I didn’t realize until I was building my DSNY application dashboard just how powerful calculated fields used in conjunction with parameters can be (e.g., chart swap section titled “Breaching for America”)
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Sun 05 Feb 2023 | Mohammed Uddin
BENCH BLOG 2 - Concepts That Gave Me Headaches, But I Finally Understood and Now You Can Too: LODs
   LOD’s or level of detail in Tableau always gave me nightmares. To be completely honest, anything with calculated fields fills me with dread. Although, I feel that's due to negative assumptions from fear; like bad news creating hysteria about something without proper research
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