Tableau Essentials: Calculated Fields – Type Conversion

Data

Tableau Essentials: Calculated Fields – Type Conversion

Not everyone is a Tableau guru, at least not yet. To help Tableau rookies, we’re starting from square one with the Tableau Essentials blog series. The series is intended to be an easy-to-read reference on the basics of using Tableau Software, particularly Tableau Desktop. Since there are so many cool features to cover in Tableau, the series will include several different posts.

In our next Tableau Essentials article on functions, we’ll examine Type Conversion Functions. This group of functions allow you to take the result of any expression and convert it to another specific data type. These are important for preparing some fields for calculation or in the case that the underlying data source needs a little bit of preparation to get the most out of your visualization.

These are pretty straight forward, so let’s just jump right in!

DATE Function

DATE(expression)

The Date function converts a number, string or date expression into a date. Here’s an example:

DATE(“10 January 2015”) = #January 15, 2015#

DATETIME Function

DATETIME(expression)

Similar to the Date function above, the Datetime function takes it a step further by returning a time component. Again, you can return a datetime from a date, number or string. Here’s an example:

DATETIME(“10 January 2015”) = #January 15, 2015 12:00:00 AM#

FLOAT Function

FLOAT(expression)

The Float function converts its argument into a floating point number. Here’s an example:

FLOAT(3) = 3.000

INT Function

INT(expression)

The INT function returns its argument as an integer. For expressions, the INT function truncates results to the closest integer towards zero. Here’s an example:

INT(-10.7) = -10

STR Function

STR(expression)

This function will return the argument as the string data type. Here’s an example:

 STR(45) = “45”

Using these functions, you can convert different arguments to different data types. If you need to ensure that all of the values in a date field are indeed considered date or datetime data types, then you can use the Date or Datetime function to do so.

Calculated Fields

Calculated fields can add a whole new layer of insight to your Tableau dashboards. The possibilities are practically endless, but we’ll be covering the fundamentals, especially functions, to help you build a foundational understanding of how and when to use them. Check back for more posts covering:

Introduction

  1. Logical Functions
  2. Number Functions
  3. Date Functions
  4. String Functions
  5. Type Conversion
  6. Aggregate Functions
  7. User Functions

Another great resource for functions is Dan Murray’s best-selling guidebook, “Tableau Your Data!” It features a whole section devoted the functions we’ll be covering in this series and much, much more.

More Tableau Essentials

Want to learn more about Tableau? We have several posts outlining all of Tableau’s fantastic features. Check out the full list on our Tableau Essentials blog channel.

As always, let us know if you have any questions or comments about this post or Tableau in general. If you’re looking for personalized training or help with something bigger, contact us directly!

Want More Tableau Essentials

  1. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Introduction
  2. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – The Text Table
  3. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Heat Map
  4. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Highlight Table
  5. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Symbol Map
  6. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Filled Map
  7. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Pie Chart
  8. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Horizontal Bar Chart
  9. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Stacked Bar Chart
  10. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Side-by-Side Bar Chart
  11. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Treemap
  12. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Circle View
  13. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Side-by-Side Circle View
  14. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Line Charts (Continuous & Discrete)
  15. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Dual-Line Chart (Non-Synchronized)
  16. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Area Charts (Continuous & Discrete)
  17. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Scatter Plot
  18. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Histogram
  19. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Box-and-Whisker Plot
  20. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Gantt Chart
  21. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Bullet Graph
  22. Tableau Essentials: Chart Types – Packed Bubbles
  23. Tableau Essentials: Formatting Tips – Introduction
  24. Tableau Essentials: Formatting Tips – Custom Shapes
  25. Tableau Essentials: Formatting Tips – Labels
  26. Tableau Essentials: Formatting Tips – Color
  27. Tableau Essentials: Formatting Tips – Tooltips
  28. Tableau Essentials: Formatting Tips – Maps
  29. Tableau Essentials: Calculated Fields – Introduction
  30. Tableau Essentials: Calculated Fields – Logical Functions
  31. Tableau Essentials: Calculated Fields – Number Functions
  32. Tableau Essentials: Calculated Fields – Date Functions
  33. Tableau Essentials: Calculated Fields – String Functions
  34. Tableau Essentials: Calculated Fields – Type Conversion
  35. Tableau Essentials: Calculated Fields – Aggregate Functions
  36. Tableau Essentials: Calculated Fields – User Functions

More About the Author

Robert Curtis

Managing Director, APAC
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