Use Show Me to Start a View

Show Me creates a view based on the fields already used in the view and any fields you’ve selected in the Data pane. Open Show Me by clicking Show Me on the toolbar .

Start a view based on fields that you select

To use Show Me, select the fields you want to analyze in the Data pane, and then select the type of view you want to create in the Show Me pane. Tableau automatically evaluates the selected fields and gives you the option of several types of views that would be appropriate for those fields. Show Me also highlights the visualization type that best matches the data.

  1. In the Data pane, select the fields that you want to analyze. Hold the Ctrl key (Command key on a Mac) to make multiple selections.

  2. Click Show Me on the toolbar and then select the type of view you want to create.

    Any view type that is not gray will generate a view of your data. As you hover over each view type, the description at the bottom shows the minimum requirements. In this example, Stacked Bars is selected.

  3. View the Result. Tableau automatically creates a view of the data.

    Create a Line Chart with Show Me

    In this example, you use Show Me to create a line chart that displays profit as a function of time.

    1. In the Data pane, select [Order Date] and Profit. Hold down the Ctrl key (or the command key on a Mac) as you select the fields.

    2. Click Show Me on the toolbar to display the Show Me card, if it isn't already displayed.

    3. In the Show Me pane, see what type of view Tableau suggests.

      Because a date dimension and a measure are selected, Tableau suggests you build a line view. A line is often the optimal way to look at how measure values change over time.

    The view below shows the resulting chart. Each point on the line represents the sum of profit for the corresponding year.

    You can more easily see the points by clicking the Show Mark Labels button on the toolbar.

    Create a Scatter Plot with Show Me

    In this example you use Show Me to build a scatter plot to show sales versus profit for each product and customer.

    1. In the Data pane, select the Customer Name and Product Name dimension fields, and the Profit and Sales measure fields. To select multiple fields, hold down the Ctrl key (or the command key on a Mac) as you click fields.

    2. Click Show Me on the toolbar.

    3. Select the scatter plot chart type from Show Me.

    Tableau creates a scatter plot using the fields you selected. You can drag fields to further refine the view.

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