Flashcards 1 — Fundamentals

Define parameters in Tableau and their working.

A parameter is a single user-controlled value — a number, date, string or boolean — that sits outside the data. On its own it does nothing. A parameter only has an effect once something references it: a calculated field, a filter, a reference line, or a set. That indirection is the point, because one control can then drive several… Read the lesson

State limitations of parameters in Tableau.

The main limitations are: - A classic parameter holds one value at a time. There is no multi-select. - It is not data-aware. The list of allowable values is fixed when you create it, so new members appearing in the data do not show up automatically. - It does nothing on its own. Until a calculation, filter or reference line references… Read the lesson

Name the file extensions in Tableau.

The ones worth knowing: - .twb — workbook. XML describing sheets, dashboards and connections. No data. - .twbx — packaged workbook. A zip containing the .twb plus extracted data and any local images or custom shapes. - .tds — data source. Connection details, joins, field renames and formatting, without the data. - .tdsx — packaged data… Read the lesson

Explain the difference between .twb and .twbx

A .twb is an XML file describing the workbook — which fields sit on which shelves, how things are formatted, where the data lives. It contains no data at all. Open one on a machine that cannot reach the source and you get the layout with nothing in it. A .twbx is a packaged workbook: a zip holding the .twb together with a copy of the… Read the lesson

How to view underlying SQL Queries in Tableau?

Two routes, depending on why you are asking. Performance recording — Help → Settings and Performance → Start Performance Recording. Interact with the workbook, stop the recording, and Tableau opens a workbook showing each query with its execution time and full text. The log files — `My Tableau Repository\Logs`, principally `log.txt`.… Read the lesson

What is Page shelf?

The Pages shelf splits a view into a sequence of pages, one per member of the field you place on it, showing a single page at a time along a common axis. It comes with a control offering forward, back, and an automatic play through the sequence at a chosen speed, with an option to show a trail of previous positions. The usual use is… Read the lesson

How to add Custom Color to Tableau?

Custom palettes are defined in Preferences.tps, a small XML file in My Tableau Repository. Open it in a text editor and add a palette inside the `preferences` element, giving each colour as a hex code: - `type="regular"` for categorical palettes - `type="ordered-sequential"` for a single-hue ramp - `type="ordered-diverging"` for a… Read the lesson

What different products Tableau provide?

The main products are: - Tableau Desktop — the authoring tool, on Windows and macOS. - Tableau Server — self-hosted distribution, permissions and scheduling. - Tableau Cloud — the same, hosted and managed by Tableau. - Tableau Public — free hosting, with everything published visible to anyone. - Tableau Reader — free desktop application… Read the lesson

Can parameters have dropdown list?

Yes. When you create a parameter, set Allowable values to List, and the control renders as a dropdown. The list can be typed in by hand, pasted from a clipboard, or populated From Field, which reads the current values of a dimension. The catch with From Field on a classic parameter is that it takes a snapshot. New members appearing in… Read the lesson

What are the differences between twb and twbx?

A .twb holds the workbook definition only — sheets, dashboards, formatting, calculations and the connection details. No data travels with it. A .twbx is that same file zipped together with a copy of the data and any local resources such as images or custom shapes. The consequences are practical. A .twb is small and stays current, because… Read the lesson

What are the differences between groups and sets?

A group merges dimension members into higher-level categories — twenty subcategories into five buckets, or several spellings of the same city into one. The result is a new dimension whose members are your buckets. Membership is by name, so a new member that appears later lands in Other until you edit it. A set is a binary classification:… Read the lesson

What is Pages shelf?

The Pages shelf breaks a view into a series of pages, one per member of the field placed on it, and shows one at a time on a fixed axis. It provides a playback control — forward, back, and automatic play at a chosen speed — along with an option to show a trail of previous positions. Because the axis stays constant across pages, movement… Read the lesson

How do you add custom color to Tableau?

For a single colour, open the colour legend, click Edit Colors, select the data item, choose More Colors and enter a hex value. For a palette you want available everywhere, edit Preferences.tps in My Tableau Repository. Add a palette element with a name, a type, and a list of hex colours, then restart Desktop. The palette then appears in… Read the lesson

What is the difference between discrete and continuous in Tableau?

Discrete fields take distinct, separate values and Tableau draws them as headers — one label or pane per value. They appear blue. Continuous fields can take any value in a range and Tableau draws them as an axis. They appear green. This is a different axis of classification from dimension versus measure, which is where the confusion… Read the lesson

Explain and implement a serialization of a binary tree.

This is a general programming question rather than a Tableau one, and it turns up in data roles where some engineering is expected. Serialising a binary tree means converting it to a string that can be stored or transmitted, in a form that can be turned back into the identical tree. The straightforward approach is a pre-order traversal… Read the lesson

What is a data Source page?

The data source page is the screen you land on after connecting, where the data is prepared before any charting happens. It has four areas: the connections pane on the left listing your sources; the canvas at the top where you drag tables and define joins, unions or relationships; the metadata grid listing every field with its type; and… Read the lesson

What is a format pane in Tableau?

The Format pane is the panel that opens on the left when you choose Format from the menu or right-click something and select Format. It controls how the view looks rather than what it shows. It works in three scopes, shown as tabs: Sheet, Rows and Columns. Within each, you set fonts, alignment, shading, borders and lines — and settings… Read the lesson

What is Tableau Reader?

Tableau Reader is a free desktop application that opens packaged workbooks (.twbx) and lets you interact with them — filter, sort, hover for tooltips, drill through actions. What it cannot do is create or edit. There is no connecting to data, no building sheets, and no publishing. It is the answer to sharing an interactive workbook with… Read the lesson

Can we have multiple value selection in parameter?

Not with a standard parameter. A parameter holds a single value at a time, which is one of its defining limitations. When you need multi-select, the usual answers are a filter, which is natively multi-select, or a set, which classifies members as In or Out and can be driven by a set action from a dashboard. There are workarounds where a… Read the lesson

What is a Dimension?

A dimension is a field holding qualitative information — names, categories, dates, geography. Tableau shows dimensions in blue in the Data pane. Placing one on a shelf segments the view: it creates headers or splits marks into groups rather than producing a number. Dimensions answer *what are we looking at*, where measures answer *how… Read the lesson

What is a Measure?

A measure is a field holding quantitative data that can be aggregated — sales, profit, quantity. Tableau shows measures in green. Placing one on a shelf aggregates it automatically, because each mark can only display a single value. You see this in the pill: `SUM(Sales)` rather than `Sales`. The aggregation is changeable from the field's… Read the lesson

What does the extension .twbx represent in Tableau?

A .twbx is a packaged workbook — a zip archive containing the .twb workbook file along with a copy of the data extract and any local resources such as background images or custom shapes. The point of it is portability. Because the data travels inside the file, it opens on a machine that has no access to the original source, and it is… Read the lesson

What is marks card in Tableau?

The Marks card is the panel controlling how the marks in a view look. The dropdown at the top sets the mark type — bar, line, area, square, circle, shape, text, map, pie, Gantt, polygon, density — or Automatic, which lets Tableau choose from the fields in play. Below it sit the property targets. Colour splits marks into a colour legend… Read the lesson

What are shelves in Tableau?

Shelves are the named drop targets around the view where you place fields to build it. Columns and Rows define the structure — a field on Columns spreads data horizontally, one on Rows stacks it vertically. Between them they determine what kind of chart you get. Filters restricts which data appears. Pages breaks the view into a sequence… Read the lesson

What is a Tableau workbook?

A workbook is the file that holds your work — worksheets, dashboards, stories, data connections, calculated fields, parameters and formatting. It saves as .twb, which is XML describing all of that but containing no data, or .twbx, which packages the same thing together with a copy of the data. Structurally it is a container: sheets hold… Read the lesson

In Tableau what is a worksheet?

A worksheet, or sheet, is a single canvas holding one view. You build it by dragging fields onto shelves and choosing a mark type. One sheet produces one visualisation. Where you want several together, you build them as separate sheets and combine them on a dashboard. Sheets are what dashboard actions connect — a filter action passes a… Read the lesson

What is an alias in Tableau?

An alias is an alternative display name for a member of a dimension — the values, not the field. Right-click the dimension → Aliases, and you can rename each member. `NY` becomes `New York`, `1` becomes `Active`. The underlying data is untouched, so filters and joins still work on the real values. Aliases apply to discrete dimensions… Read the lesson

What is a page shelf in Tableau?

The Pages shelf divides a view into a sequence of pages — one per member of the field you place on it — displaying one at a time against a fixed axis. It adds a control with forward and back buttons, an automatic play at adjustable speed, and an option to show a trail of previous positions. Because the axis does not move between pages,… Read the lesson

What is Connect live?

A live connection queries the source directly every time the view changes, rather than using a stored copy of the data. The benefit is currency — the workbook always reflects the source as it is now, which matters for operational dashboards where a few hours of lag would be misleading. The cost is that performance depends entirely on the… Read the lesson

What is Import all data feature in Tableau?

It is the option that brings the entire data source into an extract, rather than a filtered or aggregated subset. The alternatives in the same dialog are importing some data — applying filters, hiding unused fields, aggregating to visible dimensions, or taking a top-N sample. Importing everything is the simple choice and fine for a small… Read the lesson

What is a Tableau data pane?

The Data pane is the panel on the left of a worksheet listing every field in the connected data source. Fields are split into dimensions (blue, qualitative) and measures (green, quantitative), along with any parameters and sets you have created. Tableau also generates some fields itself — Measure Names, Measure Values, Number of Records,… Read the lesson

How to check the meatadata of a table?

Connect to the data source and open the data source page. The metadata grid — the toggle sits above the preview — lists every field with its data type, the table it came from, and its remote field name. From there you can rename fields, change data types, hide columns you will not use, and reset any of those changes, all without touching… Read the lesson

How to create a column Alias?

There are two things people mean by this, and it is worth separating them. To rename the field, double-click it in the Data pane or in the metadata grid on the data source page and type a new name. The underlying column is untouched; only the display name changes. To rename the values inside a dimension, right-click it and choose… Read the lesson

How to show the top 5 and bottom 5 sales in Tableau?

The clean approach is two sets combined into one. Create a set on the dimension with a Top condition — top 5 by `SUM(Sales)` — and a second with a Bottom condition on the same measure. Then select both in the Data pane, right-click and choose Create Combined Set, taking all members of both. Put the combined set on Rows and the measure on… Read the lesson