Data is rarely perfect, and we know preparation matters – badly prepared data risks being slow or inaccurate. In an ideal world, we’d build our data prep into the data source or in something like Tableau Prep, providing a consistent (and likely faster) data source for Tableau.

But what if you don’t have that option? Maybe you don’t have access to the core database, the team who holds the keys is busy, or you just need something quick for self-service or proof of concept. Lucky for you, Tableau Desktop has a host of ways to help you get your data clean, neat and ready to rumble. Hold tight; we cover a lot of content in this one!

Data Prep in Tableau Desktop

In the video below, you’ll learn about:

• Cleaning Data – Data Interpreter, pivots and data types (changing from strings to dates, etc.)
• Combining Data – joins, unions, blends, relationships and how to resolve issues through join calculations and merging mismatched fields
• Calculations – using zero nulls and calculated fields, including LOD calculations
• Extracts – how taking a local copy of your data can speed up the build process and help you with portability and shareability

Additional Tableau Resources

Want more? Do more discovery with the following resources:

• Set up Data Sources
• Deciding Between Joining Tables & Blending Data
• When to Blend and When to Join
• Extract Your Data
• Get Started with Calculations in Tableau
• Functions in Tableau
• Splitting Fields
• Formatting Functions in Tableau (Plus, How to Nest Calculations)
• Use an LOD Expression to Conquer Database Cardinality Issues
• Comparing Tableau’s New Relationships to Blends and Joins (Tableau 2020.2) | InterWorks

And remember you can always reach out to us here at InterWorks. We’d love to answer your questions, provide premier support or just walk through the data journey alongside you!