Tableau Classroom Training

Desktop I: Fundamentals
Practice Guide

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No part of this document may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any
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Contents
How to Use These Materials iii
For Mac Users iv
1. Introduction to Desktop 1
The Tableau Platform 2
Application Terminology 3
Visual Cues for Fields 4
2. Desktop Workflow 7
Practice: Exploring Tableau and the Data 8
3. Setting Up Connections and Data Sources 11
Practice: Creating a Local Data Connection 12
4. Simplifying and Sorting Your Data 15
Practice: Filtering 16
Practice: Sorting 16
5. Organizing Your Data 19
Practice: Creating Groups and Hierarchies 20
6. Viewing Specific Values 23
Practice: Totals and Aggregation 24
Practice: Highlight Table 25
7. Slicing Your Data by Date 27
Practice: Date Parts and Date Values 28
8. Using Multiple Measures in a View 31
Practice: Combined Axis Chart 32
Practice: Dual Axis Chart 33
9. Showing the Relationship Between Numerical Values 35
Practice: Marketing Expenses Scatter Plot 36
10. Mapping Data Geographically 39
Practice: Airport Geographic Mapping 40
11. Customizing Your Data 43
Practice: Calculations and Aggregations in Profit Ratio 44
Practice: Using Date Calculations 45
12. Analyzing Data with Quick Table Calculations 47
Practice: Running Total of Sales 48
Practice: Year over Year Change 48
13. Showing Breakdowns of the Whole 51
Practice: Percent of Total Sales 52
Practice: Tree Map 52
14. Highlighting Data with Reference Lines 55
Practice: Reference Lines 56

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 15. Making Your Views Available 59
Practice: Building a Dashboard 60
Practice: Creating an Interactive Dashboard 61
16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions 63
17. Appendix B: Bonus Practices (with Solutions) 93
18. Appendix C: Reference 101
Accessibility Compliance 101
Further Assistance 102
Ready to test your skills? 103
Training Feedback Survey 104

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How to Use These Materials
Each practice in this book supports and reinforces the skills presented in class. You won't be assigned to
do a practice until the instructor has gone over the skills you need to complete it.

The practices include specifications on what you are to create or do in Tableau, often with a graphic of
the finished view. (For a challenge, try to complete the practice using just the specification and the
graphic as a guide.) This course also includes starter Tableau .twbx files to use with the practices as well
as completed solution files.

Practice Directions
Follow the general Directions included in each practice. These appear immediately after the graphic of
the finished view. The steps might not include every menu item or mouse click, but they describe what
you need to do to create the specified result.

Step-by-step Solutions
If you need additional help, refer to the detailed Solution steps at the back of this book. The solutions DEMO Open
include every menu item and mouse click you need to complete the practices exactly as specified. and click on t
webpage, whi
Student Files in the Practices Folder
the starter and
The student Practices folder is either located on the desktop of your training computer, or will be
organized in
provided to you as a download link. The Practices folder contains the following:
open the Wor
n Data folder, containing the data sources used in the practices for this course. For some practices, you subfolders, th
may need to connect to data sources in this folder. students how
n Workbooks folder, containing starter files for the practices in each module and completed solution
and solution f
files.
n Workbooks_menu webpage, with links to the starter and solution files in the course, arranged by
module. TIP This webpage is an easy way to open the practice and solution files for each module.
n A brief feedback survey form, which we encourage you to complete at the end of training.

You can also browse to the starter and solution files manually: open the Workbooks folder, open either
the Starters or Solutions subfolder, and then browse to the module subfolder and the specific starter or
solution file you want to view.

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For Mac Users
The instructions and images in this book were created using the Windows operating system, so people
running Tableau Desktop using Mac OS may experience a few differences when doing the activities in
the book.

Keyboard and Mouse Differences

Windows-based instruction Difference on a Mac
CTRL + click Press and hold the Command z key while you click.
When using a mouse with no right-click button, press and hold the
Right-click
control key while you click.
Press the Option U (Alt) key, and hold it down while you click and
Right-click and drag
drag.
Press CTRL Press Command z.
Press CTRL + Left Arrow Press Command z + Control + Left Arrow

Visual Differences
The Windows-based instructions and images in this book may indicate that the X button to close a
dialog box or window is in the top right corner, but on a Mac these buttons may be located in the top left
corner instead.

There may also be small differences in the appearance and location of tabs, drop-down menus, and other
visual features of Tableau Desktop, but the use and functionality of those features is the same in both
operating systems.

Additional Note for Mac Users

When you open multiple workbooks in Tableau Desktop on a Mac, multiple instances of the application
are created, each with its own icon in the Dock. This differs from typical Mac application behavior,
where one instance of the application handles all open files managed by that application.

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 1. Introduction to Desktop

1. Introduction to Desktop
This module contains the following:

The Tableau Platform

Application Terminology

Visual Cues for Fields

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Desktop I Practice Guide

The Tableau Platform

DEMO Use th
overview of T

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 1. Introduction to Desktop

Application Terminology

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Term Description
1 Go to Start Page Toggle between the active sheet and the Desktop Start Page.
Includes dimensions and measures, populated from your
2 Data pane selected data source. May also include calculated fields,
parameters, or sets.
Includes options you can use to apply reference lines, forecasts,
3 Analytics pane
trend lines, to add totals to crosstabs, and to build boxplots.
4 Workbook name The file name of your workbook.
5 View cards Used for modifying the worksheet.
6 Toolbar icons Icons are available for quick access to popular features.
7 Worksheet/View Workspace for building your visualizations.
8 Go to Data Source Returns you to the data source specification page.
9 Worksheet tabs Click to view a specific worksheet, dashboard, or story.
10 New Worksheet, Dashboard, and
Click to create a new Worksheet, Dashboard, or Story.
Story tabs
11 Status bar Displays data about the fields and marks included in the view.

Visual Cues for Fields

Tableau displays the following visual cues in the Data pane and the view.

Modifiers
The following table explains how each of the field icons displayed in the Data pane can be modified by
one of four indicators:

Blue icons indicate that the field is discrete.

Green icons indicate that the field is continuous.

Icons preceded by the equal sign (=) indicate that the field is a user-defined
calculation or a copy of another field.

Fields in the Data pane with an exclamation mark next to them indicate
that the field is invalid.

Fields in the Data Pane

These are the primary fields you will see in the Data pane. For a complete list, see the topic "Visual Cues
and Icons in Tableau Desktop" in the Tableau Desktop Help menu.

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 1. Introduction to Desktop

Icon Description

Boolean (true/false) values

Date and time values

Date only values

Geographic data

Group

Numeric values

Table

Text values

User-defined set

Fields on Shelves
Icon or Visual Cue Description

A blue field on a shelf indicates a discrete field.

A green field on a shelf indicates a continuous field.

A (SORT) icon indicates a sorted field.

The delta icon indicates that the field has a table calculation
applied to it.

The plus and minus controls appear when the field is part of a
hierarchy in which you can drill up or down.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

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 2. Desktop Workflow

2. Desktop Workflow
This module contains the following:

Practice: Exploring Tableau and the Data

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Practice: Exploring Tableau and the Data

In this practice, you will connect to data in a text file. Then, build a sorted bar chart and a text table so
you can find the answer to some questions. Finally, use your views to build an interactive dashboard to
share the data for exploration.

Carnegie Library Exploration

Between 1883 and 1929, Andrew Carnegie, an American businessman and philanthropist, donated $45
million to cities across the United States to build libraries. Use the data set provided to answer these
questions:

n Which state has the most Carnegie public libraries?

n Which state was granted the most money for libraries overall?

Use the data to create a dashboard like this:

NOTE The image is blurred so the state names don't show.

Connect to Data
1. Open Tableau Desktop, and under Connect click Microsoft Excel.
2. Navigate to the Practices folder and open the Data folder.
3. Open the libraries.xlsx file.

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 2. Desktop Workflow

You should now see the data from the Excel file on the lower half of the screen, with the Libraries
Public and Academic sheet in the area above.

4. Click Sheet 1 to go to the worksheet.

Analyze the Data and Build Two Views

Question 1: Which state has the most Carnegie public libraries?

1. Create a bar chart using the dimension State and measure Public libraries.

Drag this field To

Public libraries Columns
State Rows

2. On the toolbar, click the Sort Descending icon . This sorts the values from highest to lowest.
3. Give your worksheet a title. Double-click the tab Sheet 1, and type a name for your view. For
example: Number of public libraries by state

The state with the most Carnegie public libraries: ____________________________

Question 2: Which state was granted the most money to build libraries?

1. Click the New Worksheet tab to add a second worksheet:

2. Create a text table (also referred to as a crosstab):

Drag this field To

The middle of the view, labeled Drop
Total amount of grants
field here
State Rows

3. Add more measures to the view: drag Public libraries to the text table, and when Desktop displays
Show Me, drop the field.
4. Repeat the previous step for the fields Public grants and Academic libraries.
5. On the toolbar, use the drop-down to change from Standard to Fit Width. This expands the view so
you can read the column headings.
6. Hover your pointer over the Total amount of grants column header, and click the Sort Descending

icon that displays.

7. Give your worksheet a title. Double-click the tab Sheet 2, and type a name for your view. For
example: "Total amount of grants"

The state with the highest total amount of grant money: _____________________

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Build a Dashboard
1. Click the New Dashboard tab to add a dashboard.

2. Under Sheets, drag the worksheet Number of public libraries by state to the dashboard on Drop
sheets here.
3. Drag the worksheet Total amount of grants to the bottom half of the dashboard and drop when you
see the gray box.

4. On the Number of public libraries by state sheet, click the Use as Filter button.

5. Use CTRL + click to select both Indiana and New York.

Notice how the Total amount of grants sheet now displays only the results for Indiana and New York.

6. Name the dashboard Carnegie Libraries in the US and on the Dashboard menu, click Show Title.

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Exploring Tableau and the Data" on page 63.

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 3. Setting Up Connections and Data Sources

3. Setting Up Connections and Data

Sources
This module contains the following:

Practice: Creating a Local Data Connection

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Practice: Creating a Local Data Connection

Connect to a data source and edit some data attributes. Save those changes locally so you won't need to
make those changes again during future analysis. Finally, create a visualization.

Create the Connection

1. Open Tableau Desktop.
2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the dialog box that opens, browse to the Data Connection Practice.xlsx data source, located in the
Data folder within the Practices folder and click Open.
4. Double-click the Orders table, and then open Sheet 1.

Change Data Attributes

1. In the Data pane, rename the Row field to Row ID.
2. Change Row ID from a Measure to a Dimension.

NOTE Tableau normally displays fields containing numbers as measures, however, Tableau
recognized that the Customer ID field from the original Excel file should be a dimension because of
the " ID" at the end.

3. Rename the Global Area field to Country, and assign this field a geographic role of Country/Region.
4. Change the Default Properties of both Profit and Sales fields to Currency with 0 decimal places
5. Change the Default Properties of the Discount field to use the Average aggregation, and use
Percentage with 1 decimal place.
6. Add a comment for the Discount field to read “Average Discount Percentage.”

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 3. Setting Up Connections and Data Sources

NOTE Changes to the data attributes do not modify the actual data in the underlying data source.

Save the Data Source and Test the Connection

1. Add Orders (Data Connection Practice) to Saved Data Sources as “My Superstore” and ensure it is
saved in the Data Sources subfolder of the My Tableau Repository folder, which is located in the
Documents folder on your computer.
2. Close the current workbook without saving changes, and then open a new workbook. On the Connect
pane, under Saved Data Sources select the new “My Superstore” data source, and observe the data
attribute changes that were saved.

NOTE A saved data source does not contain the actual data, but rather the information necessary to
connect to the data as well as any data attribute modifications you've made, such as different default
properties.

Create a Visualization
1. Build a bar chart showing the average Discount by Category and Sub-Category.
2. From Measures, drag Profit to Color on the Marks card.
3. Observe that Discount and Profit are displayed with the saved attribute changes.

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Creating a Local Data Connection" on page 65.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

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 4. Simplifying and Sorting Your Data

4. Simplifying and Sorting Your Data

This module contains the following:

Practice: Filtering

Practice: Sorting

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Practice: Filtering

You have a view that shows sales data for all of your inventory. Add filters to the view in order to only
show information for the selected market and within a range of the sum of sales.

EMPHASIZE
the differences
dimensions a

Directions
1. Open Filtering_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters folder).
2. Create a filter for Market, displayed as a single value list, removing the All option, and titled "Select
a Market."
3. Create a filter for Sum of Sales, displayed as a slider, and titled "Adjust view by Sales.".
4. Experiment with the sliders and notice the "AND" logic being used. The results shown are those that
match the criteria of both filters.

SELF CHECK Which Segment / Category had the greatest sales for the EMEA Market when the sum of
sales was between $300K and $800K?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Filtering" on page 66.

Practice: Sorting

You currently have a view that shows sales broken down by product category and sub-category.

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 4. Simplifying and Sorting Your Data

View One
Sort the data in order to make it easier to compare your sales within sub-categories. Manually change the
order of the categories so you can keep an eye on Technology sales.

Directions
1. Open Sorting_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters folder).
2. On the View One worksheet, on the Format menu, click Animations.

3. In the Animations pane, under Workbook Default, do the following:

n Click ON.

n Under Duration, select 1.00 seconds (Slow).

n Under Style, keep the selection set to Simultaneous.

n Close the Animations pane.

4. On the View One worksheet, sort Sub-Category by SUM(Sales) in descending order.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

5. On the View One worksheet, create a manual sort for Category, with values ordered by Technology,
Furniture, and then Office Supplies.

SELF CHECK 1 In Office Supplies, which Sub-Category has slightly higher sales than Supplies? How
do you know?

View Two
Starting with a duplicate of the first worksheet, use color and a computed sort to compare the sum of
profit for the sub-categories.

Directions
1. Duplicate the View One worksheet to create a View Two worksheet.
2. On the View Two worksheet, color encode the bars by Profit, and edit the color palette to Orange-Blue
Diverging.
3. On the View Two worksheet, edit the sort applied to Sub-Category so the field selected is Profit
aggregated by sum.

SELF CHECK 2 Which Sub-Category is the least profitable? Does it have higher or lower sales than the
Furnishings Sub-Category? How do you know?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Sorting" on page 67.

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 5. Organizing Your Data

5. Organizing Your Data

This module contains the following:

Practice: Creating Groups and Hierarchies

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Practice: Creating Groups and Hierarchies

You currently have a view that displays sales broken down by product sub-category. Create a group to
compare the sales of desk supplies with other products in the same category. Then, create a product
hierarchy to drill up and down so you can quickly compare sales by category, sub-category (group), or
sub-category.

EMPHASIZE
difference betw
dimension (gr
the grouped m

Directions
1. Open Creating_Groups_and_Hierarchies_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters
folder).
2. On the worksheet, create a new group from the following items in Sub-Category: Envelopes,
Fasteners, and Labels. (Hint: Group the sub-category labels, not the bars.)
3. In the Data pane, right-click Sub-Category (group), and then click Edit Group.
4. In the Edit Group dialog box, rename the new Envelopes, Fasteners, Labels group to "Desk
Supplies".
5. In the Data pane, create a hierarchy called "Products" in the Data pane organized as follows:
Category

Sub-Category (group)

Sub-Category

Product Name

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 5. Organizing Your Data

6. Drag the new Products hierarchy on top of Sub-Category to overwrite it.

7. In the view, drill down to Sub-Category (group) and then Sub-Category.

SELF CHECK Use the hierarchy in the view to answer the following questions: Which Category has the
greatest sales? What are the total sales for the Desk Supplies group?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Creating Groups and Hierarchies" on page 69.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

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 6. Viewing Specific Values

6. Viewing Specific Values

This module contains the following:

Practice: Totals and Aggregation

Practice: Highlight Table

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Practice: Totals and Aggregation

View One: Total Sales

Create a crosstab that shows total product sales broken down by category, sub-category, and market. Use
your crosstab to compare totals across different dimensions.

Directions for View One

1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source Global Superstore.xlsx (in the
Practices\Data folder).
2. Use the Orders sheet for your analysis.
3. Rename Sheet 1 to Total Sales.
4. On the Total Sales worksheet, create a crosstab that shows the total Sales of each Category and Sub-
Category of product broken down by Market.
5. Show all subtotals.
6. Show all row and column grand totals.

SELF CHECK 1 Which Market had a higher Grand Total for Sales than the entire Furniture Category?

View Two: Maximum Sales

Create a new crosstab that shows maximum product sales, broken down by category, sub-category, and
market.

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 6. Viewing Specific Values

Directions for View Two

1. Create a duplicate crosstab named Maximum Sales.
2. Change Sales to be aggregated using Maximum.
3. Show the row totals on the left and the column totals on the top in the crosstab.

SELF CHECK 2 Which Market had the Maximum Sales for any product? Which Category and Sub-
Category product was responsible for that maximum?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Totals and Aggregation" on page 70.

Practice: Highlight Table

Create a highlight table that shows profit for category and sub-category broken down by market and
region. Include grand totals for the rows in the color encoding to see which sub-categories were the most
and least profitable.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Directions
1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source Global Superstore.xlsx (in the
Practices\Data folder).
2. Use the Orders sheet for your analysis.
3. Create a view that shows Profit as colored text.
Hint: Use the Marks card.

4. Continue making the view by showing profit for Category and Sub-Category.
5. Refine the view by adding in Market and Region.
6. Change the Mark type to Square.
7. Use Show Row Grand Totals.
8. Edit Color on the Marks card to include totals.

SELF CHECK Which product Sub-Category was the most profitable? Which was the least profitable?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Highlight Table" on page 71.

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 7. Slicing Your Data by Date

7. Slicing Your Data by Date

This module contains the following:

Practice: Date Parts and Date Values

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Practice: Date Parts and Date Values

Create a Bar Chart to Show Seasonal Trends

Create a bar chart to show seasonal trends in sales by discrete month of order date. Use your
visualization to determine which months of the year see highest and lowest sales.

SELF CHECK Which format, date part or date value, would better show seasonal trends?

Directions for Seasonal Trends View

1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source Global Superstore.xlsx (in the
Practices\Data folder).
2. Use the Orders sheet for your analysis.
3. Name Sheet 1 "Seasonal Trends."
4. Create a view that shows Sales by Order Date.
5. Change the chart type to Bar. (Hint: Use the Marks card.)
6. Right-click the Order Date and select the Month date part (May) format.
7. On the date on columns, use the plus and minus sign icons to drill down and up to different levels
of detail.

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 7. Slicing Your Data by Date

8. Create a filter for years. Show the filter and observe the results.

SELF CHECK When the most recent year is included, what was the sales total for all years in the
highest selling month? The lowest? Are these results different when the most recent year is excluded?

Create a Timeline to Show Sales Over Time

On Sheet 2, create a line chart to show sales for each month of the order date in a continuous timeline.
Use your visualization to see highs and lows for sales over time and to determine sales for a particular
month and year.

SELF CHECK Which format, date part or date value, would better show sales on a chronological
timeline?

Directions for Sales Timeline View

1. Name Sheet 2 "Sales Timeline."
2. Create a view that shows Sales by Order Date.
3. Right-click the Order Date and select the Month date value (May 2015) format.

NOTE The field for Order Date is now green, indicating it is continuous.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

4. On the Order Date axis, use the plus and minus sign icons to drill down and up to different levels of
detail.

5. Create a filter for years. Show the filter and observe the results.

SELF CHECK When the most recent year is included, which month has had the highest sales so far?
Does this change when the most recent year is excluded? How do these results compare with data
shown on the "Seasonal Trends" visualization?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Date Parts and Date Values" on page 72.

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 8. Using Multiple Measures in a View

8. Using Multiple Measures in a View

This module contains the following:

Practice: Combined Axis Chart

Practice: Dual Axis Chart

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Practice: Combined Axis Chart

Create a bar chart broken down by Segment and Category that shows Profit and Sales on the same axis.
Use your chart to compare measures within dimensions.

Directions
1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source Global Superstore.xlsx (in the DEMO Stacke
Practices\Data folder). Measure Nam
2. Use the Orders sheet for your analysis. Color (withou
3. Create an initial view showing Sales broken down by Category and Segment. Fix by draggin
4. Show Profit on the same vertical axis as Sales.
Measure Nam
Hint: Drop Profit when the mouse icon changes to a double ruler.
drop to the rig
5. Show Sales and Profit in different colors.
Hint: Use Measure Names.
6. Rename the "Value" axis "Dollars."

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 8. Using Multiple Measures in a View

SELF CHECK Which Category looks like it made less Profit for the amount of Sales compared to other
categories?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Combined Axis Chart" on page 74.

Practice: Dual Axis Chart

Create a dual axis chart with synchronized axes in order to compare sales and profit using different
mark types. Use your chart to analyze the measures over time.

Directions
1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source Global Superstore.xlsx (in the BONUS If stu
Practices\Data folder). create a set to
2. Use the Orders sheet for your analysis. US only, and
3. Create an initial view showing Sales by Order Date.
4. Right-click Order Date on Columns and select the Month date value (May 2015) format.
5. Change the mark type to Bar.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

6. Create a dual axis chart using Profit. Hint: use the opposite axis.
7. Change the mark type to Line for the newly-created Profit axis.
8. Synchronize the Profit axis to the Sales axis.
9. Edit the colors so Sales is shown as light gray bars instead of orange. Hint: use the Tableau Classic
20 color palette.

SELF CHECK Which month had the greatest sales? Is this the same month that had the greatest profit?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Dual Axis Chart" on page 76.

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 9. Showing the Relationship Between Numerical Values

9. Showing the Relationship Between

Numerical Values
This module contains the following:

Practice: Marketing Expenses Scatter Plot

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Practice: Marketing Expenses Scatter Plot

Create a scatter plot to compare average sales with average marketing expenses, broken down by area
code and product type. Use a highlighter and Explain Data to examine outliers and to compare specific
marks with others in the data set.

Directions
1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source CoffeeChain_Query.xlsx (in the
Practices\Data folder).
2. Create a scatter plot that compares average Marketing expenses with average Sales values.
3. Add Area Code and State to the worksheet's level of detail.
4. Use color to show the Product Type.
5. Add a highlighter for Area Code.
6. Add a linear trend line.

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 9. Showing the Relationship Between Numerical Values

SELF CHECK 1 Which product type has 10 area codes with over $100 in average marketing expenses
while yielding below $500 in average sales?

SELF CHECK 2 Which product type's trend line has the flattest slope? Which has the steepest?

Analyze with the Highlighter and with Explain Data

1. Use the highlighter to select the 530 area code. Note that the espresso Product Type seems to be an
outlier for this area code.
2. Click the mark and select the Explain Data icon in its tooltip.

3. At the top of the Explain Data window, confirm that 530, Espresso, California is the selected mark,
and that AVG(Sales) is the selected measure.
4. Below the AVG(Sales) tab, read the expected value summary, and then mouse over it to read about
the expected value range.
5. Below the summary is a clickable list of possible explanations on the left, and a description of the
selected explanation on the right. Notice that Explain Data only surfaced a single explanation for this
data set. Examine the information shown.
6. If desired, click the AVG(Marketing) tab to see its summary information.

SELF CHECK 3 What is the possible explanation given for the higher than expected average sales value
for espresso in area code 530?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Marketing Expenses Scatter Plot" on page 77.

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 10. Mapping Data Geographically

10. Mapping Data Geographically

This module contains the following:

Practice: Airport Geographic Mapping

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Practice: Airport Geographic Mapping

Create a map of European airports using the three-character (IATA) airport industry codes. Use size and
color to compare the number of passengers for each airport in 2019. Add a filter to the view so you can
easily determine which airports were the busiest.

Directions
1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source European Airports 2019.xlsx (in the
Practices\Data folder).
2. Use the Airports sheet for your analysis.
3. Rename Sheet 1 to European Airports.
4. Create a map by dragging the IATA airport code to Detail. Notice the indicator in the bottom right of
the map. The code for MADMAD was entered incorrectly in the data.
5. Click the 1 unknown notification on the map and edit the location from MADMAD to the airport
code of MAD for Madrid.
6. Label the map with the Airport Name.
7. Add Country to Detail.
8. Show the number of 2019 Passengers using Size and Color.
9. Increase the size of the marks.
10. Edit the color of the marks to set the Opacity to 75%, and add a black Border.
11. Adjust the Map Layers to select the Normal map style and show the Coastline. Clear
Country/Region Names and State/Province Borders to remove those layers from the map.

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 10. Mapping Data Geographically

NOTE You may need to adjust the level of zoom of the map in order to check or clear certain layer
options.

12. Test the levels of zoom, and map selection options on your map.
13. Add a filter to the view with a slider for 2019 Passengers. Test the filter.

SELF CHECK Use the SUM(2019 Passengers) filter slider to answer the following question: Which were
the five busiest airports in 2019?

BONUS Reset the SUM(2019 Passengers) filter slider to show all airports. Then, add a filter for Airport
Name to check your answer to the question: Which were the five busiest airports in 2019?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see " Solution: Airport Geographic Mapping" on page 78.

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 11. Customizing Your Data

11. Customizing Your Data

This module contains the following:

Practice: Calculations and Aggregations in Profit Ratio

Practice: Using Date Calculations

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Practice: Calculations and Aggregations in Profit Ratio

Create a view showing the results of a profit ratio calculation broken down by year and product
category. Experiment with the calculation to see how the aggregation level impacts your results. Use
your visualization to compare the profit ratio of products.

Directions
1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source Global Superstore.xlsx (in the
Practices\Data folder).
2. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).
3. Create a view called "Profit Ratio by Category" that uses Order Date and Category and that shows
Profit as colored text. HINT: Use the Marks card.
4. Use the Calculated Field Editor to create a calculation for Profit Ratio, using the formula: [Profit]/
[Sales].
5. Set the default formatting for the calculation as a percentage with two decimal places.
6. Drag the new calculation to Label to replace the original [Profit] field.
FAQ The calc
SELF CHECK 1 Examine the results of the calculation. Do percentages appear accurate? Why do you
so large becau
think the numbers are so large?
How could you fix the calculation? calculated at t
the sum aggre
7. Edit the calculation to SUM([Profit])/SUM([Sales]).
applied, addin
8. Drag the edited calculation on top of the original Profit Ratio calculation to replace it, and observe
this, use the a
the difference.
determine the
NOTE Because you modified a field that was already in the view with a different level of
aggregation, you must now replace that field with the new computation.

SELF CHECK 2 Which Category has the lowest profit ratio?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Calculation and Aggregation in Profit Ratio" on page 79.

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 11. Customizing Your Data

Practice: Using Date Calculations

Create a calculated field to determine the average number of days it takes for an order to ship. Then,
create a crosstab so you can compare the average days to ship to the average shipping costs by customer
segment and order priority.

Directions
1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source Global Superstore.xlsx (in the
Practices\Data folder).
2. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).
3. Use the DATEDIFF function to create a calculated field named “Days to Ship” that calculates the
number of days between the date an order was placed and the date the order was shipped.
4. Create a crosstab showing Days to Ship broken down by Order Priority and Segment.
5. Change SUM(Days to Ship) to use the Average (AVG) aggregation.
6. Change the number format of Days to Ship to show only one decimal place.
7. Add Shipping Cost to your crosstab.
8. Change SUM(Shipping Cost) to also use the Average (AVG) aggregation.

BONUS Sort the Order Priority panes so that they are ordered: Critical, High, Medium, Low.

SELF CHECK What is the approximate difference between the average Days to Ship for Critical priority
orders compared to Low priority orders? For that same comparison, what is the approximate difference
in average shipping costs?

Solution BONUS Drag

For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Using Date Calculations" on page 80. Medium Orde
pane is betwe

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 12. Analyzing Data with Quick Table Calculations

12. Analyzing Data with Quick Table

Calculations
This module contains the following:

Practice: Running Total of Sales

Practice: Year over Year Change

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Practice: Running Total of Sales

You have a crosstab that shows yearly sales broken down by category and quarter. Add a running total
by quarter, and restart the total for each category. Then use your crosstab to look up specific running
totals.

Directions
1. Open Running_Total_of_Sales_Starter.twbx.
2. Edit Sales to use a Quick Table Calculation so that it shows the Running Total of Sales.

NOTE The Running Total table calculation defaults to run across the rows instead of down the
columns. If the calculation can't run across the rows, then it will default to run down the columns.

3. Edit the table calculation so the Running Total is computed with the total calculated down each
column, restarting for each new Category.
4. Add Sales to the view so that it is before Running Sum of Sales.

SELF CHECK What were the running totals for Furniture in Q3 and Q4 of 2018?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Running Total of Sales" on page 81.

Practice: Year over Year Change

Create a dual axis bar chart that uses color to show the percent difference in year-over-year sales. Add a
filter to the view for sub-category so you can quickly compare the sales of supply products year over
year.

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 12. Analyzing Data with Quick Table Calculations

Directions
1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source Global Superstore.xlsx (in the
Practices\Data folder).
2. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).
3. Create the initial view showing Sales by Order Date.
4. On the Marks card, change the mark type to Bar.
5. Show a Single Value (dropdown) filter for Sub-Category and filter to see only Supplies.
6. Use a Quick Table Calculation to edit Sales to show it as Year over Year Growth.
7. Create a dual axis using Sales.
8. Change the mark type for SUM(Sales) to Circle.
9. Use Show Mark Labels.

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 Desktop I Practice Guide

10. Drag another instance of Sales to Label.

11. Right-click the null indicator (lower-right corner of the viz) and choose Hide Indicator.

SELF CHECK 1 What was the percent difference in year over year sales between 2016 and 2017 for
Labels?

Optional: Formatting
Center the mark labels on the circles, resize the marks, and widen the view as necessary.

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Year over Year Change" on page 82.

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 13. Showing Breakdowns of the Whole

13. Showing Breakdowns of the Whole

This module contains the following:

Practice: Percent of Total Sales

Practice: Tree Map

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Practice: Percent of Total Sales

Create a pie chart to show how sales for each segment compare as a percentage of total sales.

Directions
1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source Global Superstore.xlsx (in the
Practices\Data folder).
2. Use the Orders sheet for your analysis.
3. Change the mark type to Pie.
4. Show each Segment by Color in the pie chart.
5. Use Sales to determine the Angle for each pie section.
6. Label each pie section with the Sales amount.
7. Calculate Sales for each pie section as a Percent of Total. (HINT: use the Sales field on the label).
8. Resize the chart. (HINT: Use the drop-down toolbar to change the view from Standard to Entire
View.)

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Percent of Total Sales" on page 83.

Practice: Tree Map

Create a tree map that uses color for each market and size to visualize sales. Add a highlighter to the
view so you can compare sales for specific sub-categories.

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 13. Showing Breakdowns of the Whole

Directions
1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source Global Superstore.xlsx (in the
Practices\Data folder).
2. Use the Orders sheet for your analysis.
3. Create a tree map with Market on Color and Sales on Size.
4. Label the tree map with Sub-Category and Sales.
5. Show Highlighter for Sub-Category.

SELF CHECK In which market do Appliances have higher sales, EMEA or APAC? What is the
approximate difference?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Tree Map" on page 83.

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 14. Highlighting Data with Reference Lines

14. Highlighting Data with Reference

Lines
This module contains the following:

Practice: Reference Lines

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Practice: Reference Lines

View One
You have a bar chart that shows sales by region. Add a constant reference line that shows the sales
quota, so you can easily see where sales have been slow.

Directions
1. Open Reference_Line_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters folder).
2. Add a dark red and bold reference line for the entire table, with a constant value type of $600,000 and
a custom label that reads "Quota is $600,000".

View Two
Starting with a duplicate of the first worksheet, delete the quota reference line. Change the view to show
sales for each region broken down by segment. Then, add a new reference line so you can compare the
average sales.

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 14. Highlighting Data with Reference Lines

Directions
1. Duplicate the View One worksheet and name the new worksheet View Two.
2. Remove the Quota reference line.
3. Change the bar chart to show SUM (Sales) by Region, broken down by Segment.
4. Use the Analytics pane to add an Average Reference Line by Pane to the view.
5. Edit the Reference Line to be black and display the value of the Average as a label.
6. Select a custom tooltip and type "Average sales value is " in the text box and then insert Value from
the menu.

7. Click OK.
8. Observe how the reference line recaculates when a region in the view is selected. Hover over a
reference line to see its tooltip.

SELF CHECK Which Region consistently has the highest above average sales in every Segment?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Reference Lines" on page 84.

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 15. Making Your Views Available

15. Making Your Views Available

This module contains the following:

Practice: Building a Dashboard

Practice: Creating an Interactive Dashboard

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Practice: Building a Dashboard

Create a dashboard for laptops that shows all of the worksheets in the starter workbook. Remove
unnecessary legends, and change the market filter to apply to all of the worksheets. Then, use the pie
chart as a filter for the rest of the dashboard.

Directions
1. Open Building_a_Dashboard_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters folder).
2. Use the Format menu on the Sales by Market sheet to open the animations pane.
3. On the animations pane, under Workbook Default, click the On button, and then select the duration
of 0.50 seconds (Medium).
4. Close the animations pane.
5. Add a Dashboard sheet and name it “Sales Dashboard.”
6. Change the settings for size to Laptop Browser, and select Show Title.
7. Drag the three worksheets onto the dashboard space as shown, or in another way that is visually
appealing.
8. Set the top two views to fit the Entire View within their layout containers.
9. Set Sales by Market to Standard fit.
10. Remove unnecessary legend items, or move them closer to the view they reference.

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 15. Making Your Views Available

11. To each view (Sales by Segment, Plot of Sales, and Sales by Market), add a black border, a light
gray background, and set inner padding to "10".
12. To the Market filter, set the top inner padding to "40" and the left inner padding to "15".
13. Make the Market filter global (that is, the filter applies to all worksheets using this data source).
14. Make the pie chart interactive by choosing Use as Filter.

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Building a Dashboard" on page 85.

Practice: Creating an Interactive Dashboard

Create a dashboard for a custom screen size that shows all of the worksheets in the starter workbook.
Add dashboard filters to support the following interactions:

n Filter all other worksheets when you select a mark on the map.
n Filter the text table when you select a mark on the bar chart.
n Show a web page with more information about individual Olympic sports and athletes when you
click on a tooltip context menu link.

Then, add instructive text and field name references to titles to support user interaction.

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Create the Dashboard

1. Open Creating_an_Interactive_Dashboard_Starter.twbx (in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters folder).
2. Add a new dashboard tab named "2014 Sochi Olympics Results."
3. Change the dashboard size to Custom, with a width = 900, height = 600.
4. Drag the three worksheets onto the dashboard space as shown, or in another way that is visually
appealing.
5. Adjust the fit of the views, as desired.

Add Dashboard Actions

1. Add a dashboard filter action to the map that runs when a mark is selected and targets all other
worksheets. Change the settings so that clearing the selection will show all values again.
2. Create a similar filter action for the bar chart that targets the text table.
3. Test both dashboard filter actions.
4. Create a dashboard URL action to look up a specific sport on Wikipedia from the tooltip context
menu on the bar chart and the text table:
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<Sport>"

NOTE A field value can be referenced by surrounding the field name with the "<" and ">" symbols.

5. Add another URL action to look up a specific athlete from the tooltip context menu on the text table:
"http://www.bing.com/search?q='<Athlete>' +Olympics"
6. Test both URL actions.

Edit Titles to Support User Interaction

1. Show the dashboard title.
2. Edit the title for the map to add instructive text:
Click a country
and format to fit, as needed.
3. Similarly, edit the bar chart title to add instructive text:
Next, choose a sport to see the list of athletes
and format to fit, as needed.
4. Edit the title for the bar chart to leave the reference for the sheet name, and add a reference for the
country:
"<Sheet Name> for <Country>"
5. Similarly, edit the title for the text table to read:
"<Sheet Name> for <Sport>"
6. Test the interactive titles.

SELF CHECK 1 How many medals did Canada win in Speed Skating? Which athlete(s) won those
medals?

SELF CHECK 2 If the list of all athletes is taking longer to load than desired, how can you improve the
dashboard performance by only displaying athletes for selected events?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Solution: Creating an Interactive Dashboard" on page 89.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

This section contains the solutions for all practices contained in this training manual.

Solution: Exploring Tableau and the Data

The following is a solution to "Practice: Exploring Tableau and the Data" on page 8.

Connect to Data
1. Open Tableau Desktop, and under Connect click Microsoft Excel.
2. Navigate to the Practices folder and open the Data folder.
3. Select the libraries.xlsx file and click Open.

You should now see the data from the Excel file on the lower half of the screen, with the Libraries
Public and Academic sheet in the area above.

4. In the bottom left corner, click Sheet 1 tab to go to the worksheet.

Analyze the Data and Build Two Views

Question 1: Which state has the most Carnegie public libraries?

1. Create a bar chart using the dimension State and measure Public libraries.

Drag this field To

From the Data pane, under Measures: Public
Columns
libraries
From the Data pane, under Dimensions: State Rows

2. On the toolbar, click the Sort Descending icon . This sorts the values from highest to lowest.
3. Double-click the tab Sheet 1, and type a name for your view. For example: "Number of public
libraries by state"

The state with the most Carnegie public libraries: Indiana.

Question 2: Which state was granted the most money to build libraries?

1. Click the New Worksheet tab to add a second worksheet:

2. Create a text table (also referred to as a crosstab):

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Drag this field To

From the Data pane, under Measures: Total The middle of the view, labeled Drop
amount of grants field here
From the Data pane, under Dimensions: State Rows

3. From the Data pane, add more measures to the view: drag Public libraries to the text table, and when
Desktop displays Show Me, drop the field.
4. Repeat the previous step for the fields Public grants and Academic libraries.
5. On the toolbar, use the drop-down to change from Standard to Fit Width. This expands the view so
you can read the column headings.
6. Hover your pointer over the Total amount of grants column header, and click the Sort Descending

icon that displays.

7. Give your worksheet a title. Double-click the tab Sheet 2, and type a name for your view. For
example: "Total amount of grants"

The state with the highest total amount of grant money: New York.

Build a Dashboard
1. Click the New Dashboard tab to add a dashboard.

2. Under Sheets, drag the worksheet Number of public libraries by state to the dashboard on Drop
sheets here.
3. Drag the worksheet Total amount of grants to the bottom half of the dashboard and drop when you
see the gray box.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

4. Click the Number of public libraries by state sheet to select it, and then click the Use as Filter button.

5. Use CTRL + click to select both Indiana and New York.

Notice how the Total amount of grants sheet now displays only the results for Indiana and New York.

6. Name the dashboard Carnegie Libraries in the US and, on the Dashboard menu, click Show Title.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Exploring Tableau and the Data
Solution.twbx.

Solution: Creating a Local Data Connection

The following is a solution to "Practice: Creating a Local Data Connection" on page 12.

Create the Connection

1. Open Tableau Desktop.
2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the dialog box that opens, browse to the Data Connection Practice.xlsx data source, located in the
Data folder within the Practices folder and click Open.
4. Double-click the Orders table, and then open Sheet 1.

Change the Metadata

1. Click and hold the Row field, and rename the field Row ID.
2. In the Data pane, drag the Row ID field from Measures (below the gray line) to Dimensions (above
the gray line).
3. Click and hold the Global Area field, and rename the field Country.
4. To the left of the Country field, click the icon, choose Geographic Role, and then select
Country/Region.
5. In the Data pane, right-click the Profit field, select Default Properties, and choose Number Format.
n On the Default Number Format screen, select Currency (Custom), set Decimal place to 0 (zero),

and click OK.

6. Repeat step 5 for the Sales field.
7. In the Data pane, on the Discount field:
n Right-click Discount, select Default Properties, and for Aggregation, choose Average.

n Right-click Discount again, select Default Properties and choose Number Format.

n On the Default Number Format screen, select Percentage, set the Decimal place to 1, and click

OK.
n Right-click Discount again, select Default Properties, and choose Comment.
n In the Edit Comment dialog box, type "Average Discount Percentage" and click OK.

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Save the Data Source and Test the Connection

1. In the Data pane, right-click Orders (Data Connection Practice), and then click Add to Saved Data
Sources.
2. Name the data source "My Superstore" and save it in My Tableau Repository\Datasources, located in
the Documents folder of your computer.
3. On the File menu, click Close, and close the workbook without saving any changes.
4. On the Start page, under Saved Data Sources, select the new My Superstore data source, and
observe the metadata changes for the fields that were saved.

Create a Visualization
1. Build the bar chart:
Drag this field To
Discount Columns
Category Rows
Sub-Category Rows (place it to the right of Category)
Profit Color on the Marks card

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Creating_a_Local_Data_Connection_

Solution.twbx.

Solution: Filtering
The following is a solution to "Practice: Filtering" on page 16.

1. Open Filtering_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters folder).

2. On the Data pane, right-click Market, and click Show Filter.
3. On the Market filter in the view, click the drop-down arrow, and choose Single Value (List).
4. Click the drop-down arrow for the Market filter in the view again, select Customize, and clear the
check mark next to Show "All" Value.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

5. Click the drop-down arrow for the Market filter in the view again, and choose Edit Title.
6. Name the filter "Select a Market" and then click OK to close the dialog box.
7. From Measures, drag Sales to Filters.
8. In the Filter Field dialog box, click Sum, click Next, and then click OK.
9. Right-click the SUM(Sales) filter, and choose Show Filter.
10. Click the drop-down arrow for the SUM(Sales) filter in the view, and choose Edit Title.
11. Name the filter "Adjust View by Sales" and click OK.
12. Experiment with the sliders and notice the "AND" logic being used. The results shown are those that
match the criteria of both filters.

SELF CHECK ANSWER Consumer Furniture had the greatest sales for the EMEA Market when the
sum of sales was between $300K and $800K.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Filtering_Solution.twbx.

Solution: Sorting
The following is a solution to "Practice: Sorting" on page 16.

View One
1. Open Sorting_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters folder).
2. On the View One worksheet, on the Format menu, click Animations.

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3. In the Animations pane, under Workbook Default, do the following:

n Click ON.

n Under Duration, use the dropdown menu to select 1.00 seconds (Slow).

n Under Style, keep the selection set to Simultaneous.

n In the top right corner of the Animations pane, click the X to close it.

4. Hover on the Sales axis, and click the Sort icon to toggle between the default sort (Data source
order), and an ascending or descending sort by Sum of Sales. Leave it as a descending sort.
5. In the view, drag the Technology category header so it is first, before Furniture.

SELF CHECK 1 ANSWER In Office Supplies, the Paper Sub-Category has slightly higher sales than
Supplies, which can be seen in the view since the data is sorted descending by Sales.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

View Two
1. Right-click the View One worksheet tab, and then click Duplicate.
2. Right-click the View One (2) worksheet tab, click Rename, type "View Two" and press the ENTER
key.
3. From Measures, drag Profit to Color on the Marks card.
4. On the SUM(Profit) legend, click the drop-down arrow, click Edit Colors, and, on the Edit Colors
dialog box, choose Orange-Blue Diverging from the Palette drop-down. Click OK.
5. In the view, right-click the Sub-Category label, and click Sort.
6. In the Sort dialog box, under Sort By, select Field, and then choose Profit with an aggregation of
Sum. Click the X to close the dialog box.

SELF CHECK 2 ANSWER The Tables Sub-Category is the least profitable, which you can see using the
color of the bars. It has higher sales than the Furnishings Sub-Category, which you can see because the
length of the bar is longer.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Sorting_Solution.twbx.

Solution: Creating Groups and Hierarchies

The following is a solution to "Practice: Creating Groups and Hierarchies" on page 20.

1. Open Creating_Groups_and_Hierarchies_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters

folder).
2. On the worksheet, near the bottom of the vertical axis, CTRL + click to select these items by label:
Envelopes, Fasteners, and Labels. (Be sure to select the sub-category labels, not the bars that
represent their sales amounts.)
3. Hover over the selected items, and then, in the tooltip menu, click the Group ( ) icon.
4. In the Data pane, right-click Sub-Category (group), and then click Edit Group.

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 Desktop I Practice Guide

5. Click the new Envelopes, Fasteners, Labels group and then click Rename.

6. Type "Desk Supplies" as the name, and then click OK.

7. In the Data pane, select and drag Sub-Category (group) onto Category to create a hierarchy. The
Create Hierarchy dialog box appears.
n In the Create Hierarchy dialog box, type "Products" and click OK.

8. Click and drag Sub-Category into the Products hierarchy, placing it below Sub-Category (group).
9. Click and drag Product Name into the Products hierarchy, placing it below Sub-Category.
10. Drag the Products hierarchy to Rows, placing it on top of Sub-Category.
11. On Rows, click the plus (+) next to Sub Category (group) to expand to Sub-Category.

SELF CHECK ANSWER The Technology category has the greatest sales. The total sales for the Desk
Supplies group are $327,551.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Creating_Groups_and_Hierarchies_

Solution.twbx.

Solution: Totals and Aggregation

The following is a solution to "Practice: Totals and Aggregation" on page 24.

View One
1. Open Tableau Desktop.
2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open Global
Superstore.xlsx.
4. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

5. Click Sheet 1 to select it, and then double-click it to rename it to Total Sales.
6. Use the worksheet named Total Sales and create the following view:
Drag this field To
Market Columns
Category Rows
Sub-Category Rows to the right of Category
Sales Text on the Marks card

7. On the Analysis menu:

n Choose Totals, and click Show Row Grand Totals.

n Choose Totals again, and click Show Column Grand Totals.

n Choose Totals again, and click Add All Subtotals.

SELF CHECK ANSWER 1 The EMEA Market had a higher Grand Total for Sales of $4,528,024 than the
entire Furniture Category which made $4,110,874.

View Two
1. Right-click the Total Sales worksheet tab and choose Duplicate.
2. Double-click the new worksheet tab, and then type "Maximum Sales" to rename it.
3. On the Marks card, click the SUM(Sales) drop-down arrow, select Measure (Sum), and click
Maximum.
4. On the Analysis menu:
n Choose Totals, and click Row Totals to Left.

n Choose Totals, and click Column Totals to Top.

SELF CHECK ANSWER 2 The USCA Market had the Maximum Sales of $22,638 for the Machines
product in the Technology Category.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Crosstabs_and_Totals_Solution.twbx.

Solution: Highlight Table

The following is a solution to "Practice: Highlight Table" on page 25.

1. Open Tableau Desktop.

2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open Global
Superstore.xlsx.
4. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).
5. Create the starting view:

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Drag this field To

Profit Text on the Marks card
Profit Color on the Marks card
Category Rows
Sub-Category Rows (to right of Category)
Market Columns
Region Columns (to the right of Market)

6. On the Marks card, change the mark type to Square.

7. On the Analysis menu, choose Totals, and click Show Row Grand Totals.
8. On the Marks card, click Color, and then click Edit Colors.
9. In the Edit Colors dialog, select Include Totals, and then click OK.

SELF CHECK ANSWER The Copiers product Sub-Category was the most profitable with a total profit
of $258,568. Tables was the least profitable product with a total profit of -$64,083.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Highlight_Table_Solution.twbx.

Solution: Date Parts and Date Values

The following is a solution to "Practice: Date Parts and Date Values" on page 28.

Create a Bar Chart to Show Seasonal Sales Trends

SELF CHECK 1 ANSWER The date part format would better show seasonal trends.

Directions for Seasonal Trends View

1. Open Tableau Desktop.
2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open Global
Superstore.xlsx.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

4. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).
5. Verify that Sheet 1 is selected.
6. Right-click the Sheet 1 worksheet tab, click Rename, type "Seasonal Trends" and press the ENTER
key.
7. Build the view:
Drag this field To
Sales Rows
Order Date Columns

8. On the Marks card, click the mark type drop-down list and change it from Automatic to Bar.
9. On Columns, right-click Order Date, and select the Month date part format (May), as shown below.

10. On the date on columns, use the plus and minus sign icons to drill down and up to different levels
of detail.

11. From Dimensions, drag Order Date to Filters.

12. In the Filter Field window, select Years and click Next.
13. In the Filter [Year of Order Date] dialog box, select All and press OK.
14. On the Filters shelf, right-click Year(Order Date) and select Show Filter.

SELF CHECK 2 ANSWER In the Filter card, select the check box for All. December has the highest total
sales for all years at $1,580,781 while February has the lowest total sales for all years at $543,739. In the
Filter card, deselect the check box for 2019. December still has the highest total sales for all years at
$1,077,637 while February remains the lowest selling month for all years at $358,902.

Create a Timeline to Show Sales Over Time

SELF CHECK 3 ANSWER The date value format would better show sales on a chronological timeline.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

1. Select Sheet 2.
2. Right-click the Sheet 2 worksheet tab, click Rename, type "Sales Timeline" and press the ENTER key.
3. Build the view:
Drag this field To
Sales Rows
Order Date Columns

4. On Columns, right-click Order Date, and select the Month date value format (May 2015), as shown
below:

5. On the Order Date axis, click the plus and minus sign icons to drill down and up to different levels
of detail.
6. From Dimensions, drag Order Date to Filters.
7. In the Filter Field window, select Years and click Next.
8. In the Filter [Year of Order Date] dialog box, select All and press OK.
9. On the Filters shelf, right-click Year(Order Date) and select Show Filter.

SELF CHECK 4 ANSWER In the Filter card, select the check box for All. November 2019 has the highest
sales so far at $555,279. Comparatively, the month of December has the highest total sales for all years.
In the Filter card, deselect the check box for 2019. December 2018 has the highest sales so far at $405,454.
Comparatively, the month of December also has the highest total sales for all years.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Using_Discrete_and_Continuous_

Dates_Solution.twbx.

Solution: Combined Axis Chart

The following is a solution to "Practice: Combined Axis Chart" on page 32.

1. Open Tableau Desktop.

2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open Global
Superstore.xlsx.
4. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).
5. Create an initial view showing Sales broken down by Category and Segment:
Drag this field To
Sales Rows
Category Rows
Segment Columns

6. From Measures, drag Profit to the vertical Sales axis.

Drop the field when the mouse icon changes into a double ruler.

7. From Dimensions, drag Measure Names to Color on the Marks card.

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8. On the axis marked Value, right-click, select Edit Axis, in the Title box, type "Dollars" and then click
X to close the dialog box.
9. Save your workbook.

SELF CHECK ANSWER Compare the height of the bars to see that the Furniture Category looks like it
made less Profit for the amount of Sales compared to other categories.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Combined Axis Chart _Solution.twbx.

Solution: Dual Axis Chart

The following is a solution to "Practice: Dual Axis Chart" on page 33.

1. Open Tableau Desktop.

2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open Global
Superstore.xlsx.
4. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).
5. Create the following view:
Drag this field To
Sales Rows
Order Date Columns

6. On Columns, right-click YEAR(Order Date) and select the Month date value (May 2015) format.
7. On the Marks card, select Bar from the mark type drop-down list.
8. From Measures, drag Profit to the right side of the view, opposite Sales, to create another vertical
axis on the right side.

9. On the Marks card, select SUM(Profit), and, on the mark type drop-down list, select Line.
10. Right-click the Profit axis, and select Synchronize Axis.

NOTE You can only synchronize the second axis to the first.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

11. Click the Measure Names color legend drop-down arrow, and choose Edit Colors.
12. Under Select Data Item, click Sales.
13. In the Select Color Palette drop-down list, select Tableau Classic 20, and then select the light gray
color.
14. Click OK.

SELF CHECK ANSWER September 2019 had the greatest profit and November 2019 had the greatest
sales.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Dual Axis Chart_Solution.twbx.

Solution: Marketing Expenses Scatter Plot

The following is a solution to "Practice: Marketing Expenses Scatter Plot" on page 36.

1. Open Tableau Desktop.

2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open CoffeeChain_
Query.xlsx.
4. From Measures, drag Marketing to Columns.
5. From Measures, drag Sales to Rows.
6. Right-click the SUM(Marketing) field on Columns, point to Measure (Sum), and click Average.
7. Right-click the SUM(Sales) field on Rows, point to Measure (Sum), and click Average.
8. From Dimensions, drag Area Code to Detail on the Marks card.
9. From Dimensions, drag State to Detail on the Marks card.
10. From Dimensions, drag Product Type to Color on the Marks card.
11. Right-click Area Code on the Marks card, and choose Show Highlighter.
12. Click the Analytics tab to open the Analytics pane.
13. From the Analytics pane, drag Trend Line into the view and drop it on the Linear icon.

SELF CHECK 1 ANSWER Espresso.

SELF CHECK 2 ANSWER Espresso has the flattest slope of all the product types. Coffee has the
steepest slope.

14. In the Highlighter drop down, select 530.

15. Click the mark for espresso and select the Explain Data icon in its tooltip.

16. In the upper left of the Explain Data window, confirm that 530, Espresso, California is the selected
mark, and that AVG(Sales) is the selected measure.

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17. Below the AVG(Sales) tab, read the expected value summary, and then mouse over it to read about
the expected value range.
18. Below the summary is a clickable list of possible explanations on the left, and a description of the
selected explanation on the right. Notice that Explain Data only surfaced a single explanation for this
data set. Examine the information shown.
19. In the upper left of the Explain Data window, click the AVG(Marketing) tab and repeat this process,
if desired.

SELF CHECK 3 ANSWER One record with a value of 628 is increasing the average of Sales.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Marketing_Expenses_Scatter_Plot_

Solution.twbx.

Solution: Airport Geographic Mapping

The following is a solution to "Practice: Airport Geographic Mapping" on page 40.

1. Open Tableau Desktop.

2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open European
Airports 2019.xlsx.
4. Click Sheet 1 to select it, and then double-click it and rename it to European Airports.
5. From Dimensions, drag the IATA airport code to Detail on the Marks card.
6. Click the 1 unknown notification on the map, click Edit Locations, and correct the misspelled
location MADMAD by selecting (or typing) the correct MAD on the Matching Location drop-down
list. Click OK.
7. Update the view using the following table:
Drag this Here
Airport Name Label on the Marks card
Country Detail on the Marks card
2019 Passengers Size on the Marks card
2019 Passengers Color on the Marks card

8. On the Marks card, click Size, and move the slider to increase the size of the marks.
9. On the Marks card, click Color:
n Set the Opacity to 75%.

n On the Border drop-down list, select the black color square.

10. On the Map menu, click Map Layers and in the Map Layers window, set the following options:

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

Section Option
Background In the Style drop-down menu, select Normal.
Map Layers Check Coastline.
Map Layers Clear Country/Region Names.
Map Layers Clear State/Province Borders.

NOTE You may need to adjust the level of zoom of the map in order to check or clear certain layer
options.

11. Click X to close the Map Layers window.

12. Use the Zoom controls to select and zoom in to see more details on the map.
13. From Measures, right-click 2019 Passengers and choose Show Filter.

SELF CHECK ANSWER Use the SUM(2019 Passengers) filter slider to determine the five busiest
airports in 2019: London Heathrow, Paris CDG (Charles de Gaulle), Amsterdam, Istanbul Ataturk, and
Frankfurt.

BONUS Reset the SUM(2019 Passengers) filter slider to show all airports. Then, add a filter for Airport
Name using Top 5 by the SUM of the 2019 Passengers field. Verify that the five busiest airports in 2019
were: London Heathrow, Paris CDG (Charles de Gaulle), Amsterdam, Istanbul Ataturk, and Frankfurt.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see European Airports Solution.twbx.

Solution: Calculation and Aggregation in Profit Ratio

The following is a solution to "Practice: Calculations and Aggregations in Profit Ratio" on page 44.

Create the View

1. Open Tableau Desktop.
2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open Global
Superstore.xlsx.
4. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).
5. Right-click the Sheet 1 worksheet tab, click Rename, type "Profit Ratio by Category" and press the
ENTER key.
6. Create the starting view:
Drag this field To
Order Date Rows
Category Columns
Profit Color on the Marks card
Profit Text on the Marks card

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Desktop I Practice Guide

7. On the Marks card, change the mark type to Square.

Add a Calculation to the View

1. On the Analysis menu, select Create Calculated Field.
2. Name the calculated field "Profit Ratio" and, in the white space, type the following formula:
[Profit]/[Sales]
TIP You can also right-click on white space in the Data pane and select Create Calculated Field.
3. Click OK to complete the calculation.
TIP Apply applies the calculation, but allows you to continue revising the calculation until you click
OK.
4. From Measures, drag Profit Ratio to Label on the Marks card.
5. Under Measures, right-click the Profit Ratio field, select Default Properties and then click Number
Format.
6. In the Default Number Format dialog box, select Percentage and confirm that decimal places are set
to 2. Press OK.

SELF CHECK ANSWER 1 The Profit Ratio numbers are so large because Tableau is evaluating SUM
(Profit/Sales). This means the ratio is being calculated at the row level, and then the Sum aggregation
is being applied, adding up the ratios.
To fix this, use the aggregated sums to determine the ratio, for example: SUM(Profit)/SUM(Sales).

7. Under Measures, right-click the Profit Ratio field and select Edit.
8. In the Calculated Field editor, revise the calculation to SUM([Profit])/SUM([Sales]) and then
click OK.
9. From Measures, drag the edited calculation on top of the Profit Ratio calculation on the Marks card
to replace it.

SELF CHECK ANSWER 2 The Furniture Category has the lowest profit ratio.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Calculations and Aggregations Profit
Ratio Solution.twbx.

Solution: Using Date Calculations

The following is a solution to "Practice: Using Date Calculations" on page 45.

1. Open Tableau Desktop.

2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open Global
Superstore.xlsx.
4. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).
5. In Dimensions, right-click the Order Date field, and choose Create and then click Calculated Field.
6. In the Calculated Field dialog box, build the following calculation, and name it "Days to Ship":
DATEDIFF ('day', [Order Date], [Ship Date])
7. Click OK.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

8. Create a crosstab:
Drag this field To
Order Priority Rows
Segment Rows to the right of Order Priority
Days to Ship Text on the Marks card

9. On the Marks card, right-click SUM(Days to Ship), point to Measure (Sum), and select Average.
10. In the Data pane, right-click the Days to Ship field, select Default Properties, and choose Number
Format. In the Default Number Format dialog box, select Number (Custom), set Decimal places to 1,
and click OK.
11. From Measures, drag Shipping Cost into the view, and drop it over the existing Avg. Days to Ship
measure when Show Me appears.
12. On the Marks card, right-click SUM(Shipping Costs), point to Measure (Sum), and select Average.

BONUS: In the view, drag the header for the Medium Order Priority field so that its pane is between
High and Low.

SELF CHECK ANSWER The approximate difference between the average Days to Ship for Critical
priority orders compared to Low priority orders is about four and a half days. For that same comparison,
the approximate difference in average shipping costs is about $30.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Using_Date_Calculations_

Solution.twbx.

Solution: Running Total of Sales

The following is a solution to "Practice: Running Total of Sales" on page 48.

1. Open Running_Total_of_Sales_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters folder) and

use the Quarterly Sales by Category worksheet.
2. On the Marks card, right-click the SUM(Sales) field, select Quick Table Calculation, and click
Running Total. Note that the calculation defaults to computing across the table.
3. Right-click on the Sales field, select Compute Using, and then click Pane (Down).
4. From the Data Pane, drag another instance of Sales and drop it into the center of the view.
5. On the Measure Values legend, move the SUM(Sales) field with the table calculation icon
underneath SUM(Sales).

6. On Columns, move the Measure Names field to the right of the YEAR(Order Date) field.

SELF CHECK ANSWER The running totals for Furniture were $762,399 and $1,117,724 for Q3 and Q4
in 2018.

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NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Running_Total_of_Sales_

Solution.twbx.

Solution: Year over Year Change

The following is a solution to "Practice: Year over Year Change" on page 48.

1. Open Tableau Desktop.

2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open Global
Superstore.xlsx.
4. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).
5. Create the initial view:
Drag this field To
Sales Rows
Order Date Columns

6. On the Marks card, change the mark type to Bar.

7. From Dimensions, right-click Sub-Category and select Show Filter.
8. In the Sub-Category filter in the view:
n Click the drop-down menu and select Single Value (dropdown).

n Choose to show only Supplies.

9. On Rows, click the drop-down arrow on SUM(Sales), select Quick Table Calculation, and choose
Year over Year Growth.
10. From Measures, drag another instance of Sales to right side of the view, opposite % Difference in
SUM(Sales), to create a dual axis.
11. On the Marks card, change the mark type for SUM(Sales) to Circle.
12. On the Analysis menu, choose Show Mark Labels.
13. Right-click the null indicator (lower-right corner of the viz) and choose Hide Indicator.

SELF CHECK ANSWER 1 The percent difference in year-over-year sales between 2016 and 2017 for
Labels was 13.97%.

Optional: Formatting
1. On the Marks card for SUM(Sales), click Label and do the following:
n Under Label Appearance, choose Alignment. In the Alignment drop-down menu, do the

following:
n Under Horizontal, choose Center.

n Under Vertical, choose Center.

2. On the Marks card for SUM(Sales), click Size. Drag the slider to resize the circles to encompass their
mark labels.
3. On the Marks card for SUM(Sales)r, click Size. Drag the slider to resize the bars.
4. In the view, drag the right margin of the chart to make it wider.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Year_Over_Year_Change_

Solution.twbx.

Solution: Percent of Total Sales

The following is a solution to "Practice: Percent of Total Sales" on page 52.

1. Open Tableau Desktop.

2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open Global
Superstore.xlsx.
4. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).
5. On the Marks card, click the drop-down list of marks, and choose Pie.
6. Create the initial view:
Drag this field To
Segment Color on the Marks card
Sales Angle on the Marks card
Sales Label on the Marks card

7. On the Marks card, right-click the SUM(Sales) field that is a label, point to Quick Table Calculations
and click Percent of Total.
8. On the toolbar, use the drop-down to change from Standard to Entire View. This will resize the chart.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Percent_of_Total_Solution.twbx.

Solution: Tree Map

The following is a solution to "Practice: Tree Map" on page 52.

1. Open Tableau Desktop.

2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open Global
Superstore.xlsx.
4. On the Data Source tab, in the left pane under Sheets, double-click Orders (or drag and drop it onto
the Drag tables here area).

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Desktop I Practice Guide

5. Create the Tree Map:

Drag this field To
Market Color on the Marks card
Sales Size on the Marks card
Sub-Category Labels on the Marks card
Sales Labels on the Marks card

6. Right-click Sub-Category in the Marks card, and choose Show Highlighter.

SELF CHECK ANSWER Use the highlighter on Sub-Category to see that Appliances sales are about
$100K higher in EMEA than APAC.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Tree_Map_Solution.twbx.

Solution: Reference Lines

The following is a solution to "Practice: Reference Lines" on page 56.

View One
1. Open Reference_Line_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters folder).
2. Right-click the vertical axis (Sales) and select Add Reference Line.
3. Set the values (as shown below) in the Add Reference, Line, Band, or Box dialog box:
n Reference Type: Line

n Scope: Entire Table

n Line Value: 600,000 Constant.

To type a value in the Value: text box, first select Constant in the drop-down list to the right of the
text box
n Line Label: Custom "Quota is <Value>".
For the Label, type "Quota is" in the text box and then select <Value> in the list that is exposed by
the right facing arrow next to the text box
n Formatting: Thick Red Line, no fill above or below.
4. Click OK.

View Two
1. On the View One worksheet tab, right-click and choose Duplicate.
2. On the new worksheet tab, double-click to activate editing and type "View Two".
3. Right-click the Quota reference line and choose Remove.
4. From Dimensions, drag Segment to Columns and drop it to the left of Region.
5. From Columns, drag Region to Rows.
6. From Rows, drag SUM(Sales) to Columns, to the right of Segment.
7. From the Analytics pane, drag Average Line to the view, and drop it on Pane.
8. Right-click on the Average Reference line (any of them will work) and click Edit.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

9. In the Edit Reference Line, Band or Box dialog box, edit the following:
n Under Line, click the Label drop-down and select Value.

n Under Line, click the Tooltip drop-down and select Custom.

n In the text box to the right of the Tooltip drop-down, type "Average sales value is "

n Click the menu to the right of the text box and select Value.

n Under Formatting, click the Line drop-down, and choose the black color for the line.

10. Click OK.

11. To compare average sales for each segment by region, select Region labels. Hover over a reference
line to see its tooltip.

SELF CHECK ANSWER Select Region labels to see the West consistently has the highest above average
sales in every Segment.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Reference_Line_Solution.twbx.

Solution: Building a Dashboard

The following is a solution to "Practice: Building a Dashboard" on page 60.

Create the Dashboard

1. Open Building_a_Dashboard_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters folder).
2. On the Sales by Market worksheet, on the Format menu, click Animations.

3. In the Animations pane, under Workbook Default, do the following:

n Click On.

n Under Duration, use the dropdown menu to select 0.50 seconds (Medium).

n Under Style, keep the selection set to Simultaneous.

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 Desktop I Practice Guide

n In the top right corner of the Animations pane, click the X to close it.

4. In the View, on the bottom of the screen, click the New Dashboard tab to add a new dashboard sheet.

5. Double-click the new dashboard tab to activate editing, and type "Sales Dashboard".
6. In the Dashboard pane, click the Size drop-down menu, and then click the drop-down arrow to the
right of Desktop Browser (1000 x 800) and choose Laptop Browser (800 x 600).
7. At the bottom of the Dashboard pane, select Show Dashboard title.
8. Drag and drop each worksheet onto the dashboard, in the following order:
n Sales by Market. This will take up the whole dashboard until you place the other worksheets.

n Sales by Segment, place above Sales by Market.

n Plot of Sales, placed to the right of Sales by Segment.

9. Select Sales by Segment, click the drop-down arrow on the view's toolbar, and then choose Fit and
Entire View on the menu.
10. Repeat Step 6 for Plot of Sales.
11. To remove the Profit, Sales, and Segment legends: click to select, and then click X on the legend's
toolbar.

Add Padding, Borders, and Background Colors Around Items

1. Select Sales by Segment, and then do the following in the Layout tab on the left:
n Click the drop-down arrow to the right of Border, and then select a black line. Click the drop-down

arrow again to close the line menu.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

n Click the round color sample to the right of Background, and then select a light gray. Click the
round color sample again to close the color menu.

n Click the drop-down arrow to the right of Inner Padding, and then, with All sides equal selected,
enter "10" into one of the specifiers (for example, top). This will cause all of the specifiers to
display 10.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

2. Repeat Step 1 for Plot of Sales and Sales by Market.

3. Select the Market filter, and in the Layout tab on the left, do the following steps:
n Click the drop-down arrow to the right of Inner Padding, and then clear the All sides equal check

box.
n For top, enter "40".
n For left, enter "15".

Create the Dashboard Filters

1. On the Market filter in the view, click the drop-down arrow on the filter's toolbar, select Apply to
Worksheets, and click All Using this Data Source.

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

2. Click the Sales by Segment view to select it, and then click the Use as Filter button.

3. On the toolbar, click the Presentation Mode icon and test the filters in the dashboard.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Building_a_Dashboard_Solution.twbx.

Solution: Creating an Interactive Dashboard

The following is a solution to "Practice: Creating an Interactive Dashboard" on page 61.

Create the Dashboard

1. Open Creating_an_Interactive_Dashboard_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters
folder).

2. Click the New Dashboard tab .

3. Double-click the new dashboard tab and name it "2014 Sochi Olympics Results".
4. From the Size drop-down list, select Custom, and set Width to 900 and Height to 600.
5. Drag the Medals by Country worksheet onto the dashboard.
6. In the Dashboard window, click Vertical and drag a vertical layout container to the far right of the
dashboard, and drop it when you see a vertical gray area from top to bottom on the far right.
7. Drag the Total Medals by Sport worksheet into the layout container.
8. Drag the Medals by Athlete worksheet into the layout container beneath Total Medals by Sport.
9. Click the Medals by Country map, and resize it to occupy just over half the dashboard space.
10. Click to select the Medals by Athlete view. On its toolbar, click the drop-down arrow, select Fit, and
then choose Fit Width.

Add Dashboard Filter Actions

1. On the Dashboard menu at the top of the screen, click Actions, then click Add Action, and choose
Filter.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

2. Use the following settings for the map filter:

Setting Value
Name "Map Filter"
2014 Sochi Olympics Results
Source Sheets
dashboard / Medals by Country
Run action on Select
Ensure that all available sheets are
Target Sheets
selected.
Clearing the selection will Show all values

3. Click OK.
4. Create another filter action for the bar chart with the following settings:
Setting Value
Name "Filter for Athletes"
Source Sheets Total Medals by Sport
Run action on Select
Target Sheets Medals by Athlete
Clearing the selection will Show all values

5. Click OK, and then click OK again to close the Actions dialog box.
6. Test the filter actions you just added:
n Click on the map to filter the other views.

n Click a blank area in the map to show all values.

n Click on a sport in the bar chart to build a list of athletes.

n Click a blank area in the bar chart to show all values.

Add Dashboard URL Actions

1. On the Dashboard menu, choose Actions.
2. Click Add Action, and choose Go to URL.
3. Create a URL action with these settings:
Setting Value
Name Look up information about <Sport>
Source Sheets Medals by Athlete and Total Medals by Sport
Run Action On Menu
URL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/<Sport>

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 16. Appendix A: Practice Solutions

4. Repeat these steps to create another URL action with the following settings:
Setting Value
Name Look up information about <Athlete>
Source Sheets Medals by Athlete
Run Action On Menu
URL http://www.bing.com/search?q='<Athlete>' +Olympics
URL Options URL Encode Data Values

5. Test the URL actions you just added:

n Click on a sport in the bar chart, then click on the URL link in the tooltip context menu to test.

n Click on an athlete in the text table, then click on the URL link in the tooltip context menu to test.

Edit Titles to Support User Interaction

1. On the Dashboard menu, click Show Title.
2. Right-click the title for Medals by Country, click Edit Title, and on the next line below the title, type
"Click a country", and then format the font to size 10. Click OK.
3. Right-click the title for Total Medals by Sport, and choose Edit Title.
4. Leave the reference for the sheet name, and then add "for <Country>", so the title looks like this:
<Sheet Name> for <Country>
5. Press ENTER and on the next line, type:
"Next, choose a sport to see the list of athletes" and format to font size 10.
6. Use the same method for the title for Medals by Athlete to read: <Sheet Name> for <Sport>.
7. Test the titles you just edited:
n Click on a mark for a country in the map to check the title on the bar chart.

n Click on a sport in the bar chart to check the title on the text table.

SELF CHECK ANSWER 1 Canada won two medals, a silver and a bronze, in Speed Skating. Denny
Morrison won both of those medals.

SELF CHECK ANSWER 2 To improve the dashboard performance by only displaying athletes for
selected events, change the sports event filter to Exclude All Values in the Clearing the selection will
setting.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Creating_an_Interactive_Dashboard_

Solution.twbx.

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 17. Appendix B: Bonus Practices (with Solutions)

17. Appendix B: Bonus Practices (with

Solutions)
This section contains bonus practices and solutions.

Bonus Practice: Custom Dates

Practice creating custom dates, then build a hierarchy to control and simplify your view so you only see
sales by the date parts you need for more efficient analysis.

Discrete Custom Dates

Create a bar chart that shows sales by order date using a custom discrete date in quarters.

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Directions
1. Open Custom_Dates_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Data folder).
2. On the sheet named Discrete Quarters, create a custom date with a date value of quarters, change to
Date Part, and name this field "Order Date (Discrete Quarters)".
3. Remove the date field on the Columns shelf, and drag this new field to Columns.
4. Change the mark type to Bar.

Discrete Year to Quarters Hierarchy

Create a bar chart that shows sales by order date using a custom discrete date hierarchy of years to
quarters.

Directions
1. On the sheet named Year to Quarter Custom Date Hierarchy, create a custom date with a date value
of years, change to Date Part, and name this field "Order Date (Discrete Years)".
2. In the Data pane, drag Order Date (Discrete Quarters) on top of Order Date (Discrete Years) to
create a hierarchical group, and name the group "Order Date (Discrete Years to Quarters)".
3. On Columns, drag MONTH(Order Date) off of the view.
4. Drag the hierarchical group you just created to Columns, and then expand to show both years and

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 17. Appendix B: Bonus Practices (with Solutions)

quarters.
5. Change the mark type to Bar.

SELF CHECK 1 What are the total sales in all of 2019? What are the total sales in Q4 of 2019?

SELF CHECK 2 What trends over time can you see in the sales data?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Bonus Solution: Custom Dates" on page 95.

Bonus Solution: Custom Dates

The following is a solution to "Bonus Practice: Custom Dates" on page 93.

Discrete Custom Dates

1. Open Custom_Dates_Starter.twbx (found in the Practices\Workbooks\Starters folder).
2. Switch to the sheet named Discrete Quarters.
3. In the Data pane, right-click on Order Date, click Create, and then click Custom Date.
4. In the Create Custom Date dialog box, name the custom date "Order Date (Discrete Quarters)", select
Quarters from the Detail drop-down list, select Date Part, and then click OK.
5. Drag the newly created Order Date (Discrete Quarters) to Columns, and remove the other instance
of Order Date from Columns.
6. On the Marks card, change the mark type to Bar.

Discrete Custom Date Hierarchy (Years to Quarters)

1. Switch to the sheet named Year to Quarter Custom Date Hierarchy.
2. In the Data pane, right-click Order Date, click Create, and then click Custom Date.
3. In the Create Custom Date dialog box, name the custom date "Order Date (Discrete Years)", select
Years from the Detail drop-down list, select Date Part, and then click OK.
4. In the Data pane, drag Order Date (Discrete Quarters) on top of Order Date (Discrete Years) to
create a hierarchical group.
5. Double-click the hierarchical group name and type "Order Date (Discrete Years to Quarters)".
6. On Columns, replace MONTH(Order Date) with the newly created hierarchy Order Date (Discrete
Years to Discrete Quarters), and expand to show both years and quarters.
7. On the Marks card, change the mark type to Bar.

SELF CHECK ANSWER 1 Use the custom date hierarchy to drill up and down to determine the total
sales in all of 2019 is $4,299,866, and the total sales in Q4 of 2019 is $1,481,189.

SELF CHECK ANSWER 2 Possible answers include: Sales are increasing over time; sales increase over
each complete quarter within each year.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Custom_Dates_Solution.twbx.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Bonus Practice: Creating Geographic Groups

Use geographic groups to show the total number of schools in custom sales territories for your company
in Washington state. Use your map to explore whether you should consider splitting one of your
territories.

Create a Map
1. Open Tableau Desktop and connect to the Excel data source school data.xlsx (in the Practices\Data
folder).
2. Rename Sheet 1 to Geographic Groups.
3. Change the Data Type of Schools to Number (Whole), and convert Schools to a Measure.
4. Create a map with State and County Name, labeled with the number of Schools for each county.

Create Geographic Groups

1. Use the map selection tools or CTRL+click to select counties for the first geographic group. TIP: Geograph
2. On the toolbar, use the Group icon with All Dimensions to create custom sales territories using easily created
geographic groups. on the toolbar
Note that a new group named County Name & State (group) appears in the Data pane. right-clicking
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to create the territories as shown.

NOTE It is not necessary to create the territories exactly as shown. A reasonable resemblance will
suffice.

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 17. Appendix B: Bonus Practices (with Solutions)

See Number of Schools by Geographic Group

1. Use Edit Group to rename the territories as shown.
2. Remove County Name from the view to show only the territories. Note that the number of schools is
now aggregated for each territory and when you click on the map, each territory acts as a
geographical group.
3. Add a copy of the group to Label on the Marks card.

SELF CHECK If you were the regional sales manager for Washington state, which territory would you
consider splitting? Why?

Solution
For the solution to this practice, see "Bonus Solution: Creating Geographic Groups" on page 97.

Bonus Solution: Creating Geographic Groups

The following is a solution to "Bonus Practice: Creating Geographic Groups" on page 96.

Create a Map
1. Open Tableau Desktop.
2. In the Connect pane, under To a File, click Microsoft Excel.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Data folder (in the Practices folder) and open school
data.xlsx.
4. Click the Sheet 1 tab to select it, and then double-click it to rename it to Geographic Groups.
5. Change the Data Type of Schools to Number (Whole), and convert Schools to a Measure.
6. Create the view using the following table:
Drag this To
State Detail on the Marks card
County Name Detail on the Marks card
Schools Label on the Marks card

7. On the Marks card, click the mark type drop-down list and change it from Automatic to Map.

Create Geographic Groups

1. Use the map selection tools or CTRL+click to select counties on the map for the Eastern geographic
group.
2. On the toolbar, with these counties selected, click the Group icon ( ) and then select All Dimensions
so that the group uses both State and County Name as the level of detail.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to create the other geographic groups.

NOTE It is not necessary to create the territories exactly as shown. A reasonable resemblance will
suffice.

See Number of Schools by Geographic Group

1. In Dimensions in the Data pane, right-click County Name & State (group), and choose Edit Group.
2. In the Edit Group dialog box, change the Field Name to "Custom Territories."
3. In the Edit Group dialog box, select the first group, and click Rename.
4. In the activated text box for the group, type in the name of the sales territory as shown.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to rename all of the territories. TIP: If a territ
6. Click OK. county and is
7. Drag County Name off of the Marks card to remove the dimension from the view. students edit
Note that the number of schools is now aggregated for each territory and when you click on the map,
each territory acts as a geographical group.
8. Drag Custom Territories from Dimensions to Label on the Marks card.

SELF CHECK ANSWER Sample: Consider splitting the Central territory because it has many more
schools than the other territories. Note that you may have a different answer if your groups are different.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Geographic_Groups_Solution.twbx.

Bonus Practice: Calculations and Aggregations in Profit Ratio

Use Profitability Ratio in a Logic Calculation

In the "Calculations and Aggregations in Profit Ratio" practice and solution, now that you have
demonstrated the profit ratios for categories, create a second visualization that shows the profitability for

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 17. Appendix B: Bonus Practices (with Solutions)

sub-categories using a simple logic calculation.

NOTE Some of the image is blurred so some of the sub-category names don't show.

Directions
1. Open Calculations and Aggregations Profit Ratio Bonus Starter.twbx.
2. Create a new worksheet called "Profitable Sub-Categories" and then make a bar chart using Sales and
Sub-Category.
3. Use a descending sort by Sum of Sales.
4. Create a new calculated field called Profitable Sub-Category?
IF [Profit Ratio] > 0 THEN "Profitable"

ELSE "Unprofitable"

END

5. Drag Profitable Sub-Category? to Color on the Marks card.

6. Edit the title of the legend to KPI.
7. Format Sales and Profit for currency to thousands and no decimals and format the tooltip to include
Profit and Profit Ratio.
8. Save the workbook.
FAQ The calc
BONUS SELF CHECK Which sub-category is the least profitable? How does this relate to the data
so large becau
shown on the Profit Ratio by Category worksheet?
calculated at t
Solution the sum aggre
For the solution to this practice, see "Bonus Solution: Calculation and Aggregation in Profit Ratio" on applied, addin
page 99. this, use the a
determine the

Bonus Solution: Calculation and Aggregation in Profit Ratio

The following is a solution to "Bonus Practice: Calculations and Aggregations in Profit Ratio" on page 98.

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 Desktop I Practice Guide

1. Open Calculations and Aggregations Profit Ratio Bonus Starter.twbx.

2. Click the New Worksheet button.
3. Right-click the Sheet Two worksheet tab, click Rename, type "Profitable Sub-Categories" and press
the ENTER key.
4. Create the starting view:
Drag this field To
Sub-Category Rows
Sales Columns

5. On the toolbar, click the Sort Descending icon .

6. On the Analysis menu, click Create Calculated Field.
7. In the Calculated Field editor do the following:
n Name the calculation "Profitable Sub-category?"

n In the white space, type this formula:

IF [Profit Ratio] > 0 THEN "Profitable"

ELSE "Unprofitable"

END

n Click OK.

8. From Measures, drag Profitable Sub-Category? to Color on the Marks card.

9. On the AGG(Profitable Sub-Category?) legend, click the drop-down arrow and select Edit Title.
10. In the Edit Legend dialog box do the following:
n Delete everything, and then type "KPI".

n Click OK.

11. Right-click the Sales axis and select Format.

12. In the Format pane, on the Axis tab, click the Numbers drop-down list, select Currency (Custom), set
Decimal places to 0, and set Display Units to Thousands (K).
13. Click the X to close the Format pane.
14. Under Measures, right-click the Profit field, select Default Properties and then click Number Format.
15. In the Default Number Format dialog box, select Currency (Custom), set Decimal places to 0, and
set Display Units to Thousands (K).
16. From Measures, drag Profit and Profit Ratio to Tooltip on the Marks card.
17. Save the workbook.

BONUS SELF CHECK ANSWER The Tables Sub-Category is the only sub-category with a negative
(or unprofitable) profit ratio of (8.46%). This provides insight as to why the Furniture Category has
the lowest profit ratio.

NOTE For an example of a complete solution to this practice, see Calculations and Aggregations Profit
Ratio Bonus Solution.twbx.

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 18. Appendix C: Reference

18. Appendix C: Reference

Accessibility Compliance
Accessibility typically describes how easily someone with a disability can use or access a system, such as FAQ The mos
a website or a software application. Incorporating good design practices (listed below) into your such as tabs,
visualizations can benefit all users, regardless of ability, and can help make your workbooks and single and mu
dashboards more effective and easy to use.
categorical leg
However, to create views that are compliant with accessibility requirements, for example, the Web page, and the
Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0 AA) and U.S. Section 508 requirements, you must follow compliant. M
these steps: See the online
1. Create views in Tableau Desktop following best practice guidelines. to-date inform
2. Publish the views to Tableau Server or Tableau Online. controls supp
3. Embed the views in an accessibility-compliant web page for users to access the content.
NOTE Twbxs
These embedded views will be accessible to users who operate assistive technology, such as screen
compliant. As
readers, and/or use accessibility techniques such as keyboard-only navigation.
readers, and k
Accessibility Principles ONLY work i
The WCAG principles help support authors to create accessible visualizations. accessibility-c

WCAG 2.0 AA Principle Description

FAQ To be co
Information and user interface components must be presented to users in created in Des
Perceivable a way that they can perceive. Consider including text alternatives and
toolbar must b
alternate ways to present the content.
embedded vie
The user interface components and navigation must be accessible to users than 1000 ma
from the different devices or methods that they use to interact with the client-side ren
view.
Operable
This is accomplished by publishing your view to Tableau Server or The process fo
Tableau Online and then embedding your view in an accessibility
embedding vi
compliant web page.
Tableau Serve
The information presented in the view must be understandable to your
Understandable users. For example, using clear names and labels for different elements
shown in your view.

Best Practices
When creating your views, follow these guidelines:

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Guidelines Principles Technique Examples

Limit the number of marks.

Keep it simple Understandable Orient labels and headers horizontally for legibility.

Limit the number of colors and shapes.

Provide descriptive text in titles and captions to
provide context.
Show more text and Perceivable,
make it helpful Understandable Use mark labels.

Add explanatory text.

Select the color-blind palette for dimensions or
discrete marks. Use the blue or orange-blue
Use color diverging palette with stepped color for measures or
Perceivable, continuous marks.
thoughtfully and
Understandable
provide contrast Use contrast analyzer tools to select the text and
color backgrounds with sufficient contrast ratios of
4.5:1 (large text 3:1)
Use additional encoding, such as size and shape, to
differentiate marks.

Identify spatial relationships of marks using

Provide visual cues Perceivable, location, for example, with reference lines, trend
beyond color Understandable lines, calculated fields to identify quadrants.

Add mark labels to help distinguish marks, for

example line endpoints and/or minimum and
maximum values.

More Information
For more information on these topics and the common keystrokes for navigation in a Tableau embedded
view, please search for "accessibility compliant" in the Tableau Online Help.

Further Assistance NOTE Studen

Want to learn more? Tableau offers a variety of training and enablement solutions designed to meet the questions, suc
needs of your organization. obtaining a V
Product Acces
eLearning should be dire
With guided, role-based learning paths, Tableau eLearning allows you to easily educate your team in a sales reps or s
consistent and scalable way. Learning paths help users learn the ins and outs of Tableau at their own
pace, when their schedules allow. Skills assessments, knowledge checks, and hands-on activities ensure
that information is retained.

To find out more, visit tableau.com/learn/learning-paths.

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 18. Appendix C: Reference

Classroom Training
Classroom training offers in-depth learning experiences with expert instructors. Training is offered across
the globe, at your location or in virtual classrooms.

To find out more, visit tableau.com/learn/classroom.

Consulting
Tableau consultants deliver a wide range of services, including remote coaching sessions, on-site rapid
deployments, and ongoing consulting to enable Tableau adoption at your organization.

To find out more, visit tableau.com/support/consulting.

Other resources
Knowledge Base—Access a compilation of the top online resources for different topical areas at
tableau.com/support/knowledgebase.

Community Forums—Explore a place to connect with other users and find answers to your Tableau-
related questions at tableau.com/community.

Tableau Blueprint—Discover an enablement framework for becoming a data-driven organization at

tableau.com/blueprint.

Whitepapers—Access a library of whitepapers covering data visualization, best practices and industry
trends at tableau.com/learn/whitepapers.

Tableau Viz Gallery —See the possibilities when visualizing data in Tableau at
tableau.com/solutions/gallery.

Tableau Public—Explore how users are building unique, informative stories with their data with
Tableau Public. Visit public.tableau.com/s/.

Sample workbooks—Access workbooks through Tableau Desktop by clicking on the Help menu and
selecting Sample workbooks.

Technical Support—Search for an answer in the support resources and if you don’t find an answer,
create a support case at tableau.com/support.

Ready to test your skills?

Show off your Tableau knowledge and experience by earning badges. Our skills assessments and
certification programs test a wide range of skills, whether you're just beginning or an expert.

Skills Assessments
Skills Assessments help determine whether you have the necessary skills to be productive in your
Tableau role. You can access skills assessments through Tableau’s eLearning platform. Users in every
Tableau role in your organization can pass one of these low-stakes assessments and earn a Role Badge
to build confidence in their skills.

To find out more, visit tableau.com/learn/learning-paths.

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Desktop I Practice Guide

Certification
Build your resume, advance your career, and showcase your skills by becoming #CertifiablyTableau.
Tableau Certification allows you to communicate your skills confidently and clearly and to join a
community of skilled Tableau users. We offer multiple levels of exams for Tableau Desktop and Tableau
Server.

Exam Exam Focus

Tableau Desktop Specialist Foundational functionality and product comprehension
Tableau Desktop Certified Associate Comprehensive functionality and product expertise
Tableau Desktop Certified Advanced functionality and application of visual best
Professional practices
Tableau Server Certified Associate Administrative functionality and platform knowledge
Tableau Server Certified Professional Architectural knowledge and platform integration expertise

To learn more about the exams, visit tableau.com/learn/certification.

Training Feedback Survey

Our training team relies on customer feedback from students to evaluate performance and help improve
our educational offerings. Please take five minutes after class to complete a brief but important online
survey to share your thoughts on the instructor, the training facility, and the learning materials.

Survey Link
To open the survey on your computer, either click the Training Feedback Survey link in the Practices
folder, or navigate to: https://www.tableau.com/training-csat

NOTE Be sure to enter the class code provided by your instructor, and the email address you used to
register for the class.

For Mobile Devices NOTE QR cod

To complete the survey on a mobile device, point your device's camera at the QR code below. option for ons
where studen
restricted inte
sure they actu
form later.

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 18. Appendix C: Reference

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