The Tableau Data Model

Every data source that you create in Tableau has a data model. You can think of a data model as a diagram that tells Tableau how it should query data in the connected database tables.

The tables that you add to the canvas in the Data Source page create the structure of the data model. A data model can be simple, such as a single table. Or it can be more complex, with multiple tables that use different combinations of relationships, joins, and unions.

The data model has two layers:

  • The default view that you first see in the Data Source page canvas is the logical layer of the data source. You combine data in the logical layer using relationships (or noodles). Think of this layer as the Relationships canvas in the Data Source page. For more information, see Use Relationships for Multi-table Data Analysis.
  • The next layer is the physical layer. You combine data between tables at the physical layer using joins(Link opens in a new window) and unions. Each logical table contains at least one physical table in this layer. Think of the physical layer as the Join/Union canvas in the Data Source page. Double-click a logical table to view or add joins and unions.

Logical Layer   Physical Layer
Noodles = Relationships   Venn diagram = Joins
 
The top-level view of a data source with multiple, related tables. This is the logical layer. Logical tables can be combined using relationships (noodles). They don't use join types. They act like containers for physical tables.   Double-click a logical table to open it and see its physical tables. Physical tables can be combined using joins or unions. In this example, the Book logical table is made of three, joined physical tables (Book, Award, Info).

 

Logical Layer   Physical Layer
Relationships canvas in the Data Source page   Join/Union canvas in the Data Source page
Tables that you drag here are called logical tables   Tables that you drag here are called physical tables
Logical tables can be related to other logical tables   Physical tables can be joined or unioned to other physical tables
Logical tables are like containers for physical tables   Double-click a logical table to see its physical tables
Level of detail is at the row level of the logical table   Level of detail is at the row level of merged physical tables
Logical tables remain distinct (normalized), not merged in the data source   Physical tables are merged into a single, flat table that defines the logical table

Layers of the data model

The top-level view that you see of a data source is the logical layer of the data model. You can also think of it as the Relationships canvas, because you combine tables here using relationships instead of joins.

When you combine data from multiple tables, each table that you drag to the canvas in the logical layer must have a relationship to another table. You do not need to specify join types for relationships; during analysis Tableau automatically selects the appropriate join types based on the fields and context of analysis in the worksheet.

The physical layer of the data model is where you can combine data using joins and unions. You can only use pivots in this canvas. You can think of it as the Join/Union canvas. In previous versions of Tableau, the physical layer was the only layer in the data model. Each logical table can contain one or more physical tables.

Important: You can still create single-table data sources in Tableau that use joins and unions. The behavior of single-table analysis in Tableau has not changed. Your upgraded workbooks will work the same as they did before 2020.2.

Understanding the data model

In previous versions of Tableau, the data model had only the physical layer. In Tableau 2020.2 and later, the data model has the logical (semantic) layer and a physical layer. This gives you more options for combining data using schemas to fit your analysis.

In Tableau 2020.2 and later, a logical layer has been added in the data source. Each logical table contains physical tables in a physical layer.

In previous versions of Tableau, the data model in your data source consisted of a single, physical layer where you could specify joins and unions. Tables added to the physical layer (joined or unioned) create a single, flattened table (denormalized) for analysis.

Previous versions   2020.2 and later
 
In versions of Tableau before 2020.2, the data model has only the physical layer   In 2020.2 and later, the data model has two layers: the logical layer and the physical layer

As of Tableau 2020.2, the data model in your data source includes a new semantic layer above the physical layer—called the logical layer—where you can add multiple tables and relate them to each other. Tables at the logical layer are not merged in the data source, they remain distinct (normalized), and maintain their native level of detail.

Logical tables act like containers for merged physical tables. A logical table can contain a single, physical table. Or it can contain multiple physical tables merged together through joins or unions.

Build a new model

When you add one or more tables to the logical layer, you are essentially building the data model for your data source. A data source can be made of a single, logical table, or you can drag multiple tables to the canvas to create a more complex model.

  • The first table that you drag to the canvas becomes the root table for the data model in your data source.
  • After you drag out the root table, you can drag out additional tables in any order. You will need to consider which tables should be related to each other, and the matching field pairs that you define for each relationship.
  • If you are creating a star schema, it can be helpful to drag the fact table out first, and then relate dimension tables to that table.
  • Deleting a table in the canvas automatically deletes its related descendants as well. If you delete the root table, all other tables in the model are also removed.
  • Each relationship must be made of at least one matched pair of fields. Add multiple field pairs to create a compound relationship. Matched pairs must have the same data type. Changing the data type in the Data Source page does not change this requirement. Tableau will still use the data type in the underlying database for queries.
  • Relationships can be based on calculated fields.
  • You can specify how fields used in the relationships should be compared by using operators when you define the relationship.

For more information about relationships, see Create and define relationships in Relate Your Data.

Multi-table model

  • To create a multi-table model, drag tables to the logical layer of the Data Source page canvas.


Tables that you drag to the logical layer of the Data Source page canvas must be related to each other. When you drag additional tables to the logical layer canvas, Tableau automatically attempts to create the relationship based on existing key constraints and matching fields to define the relationship. If it can't determine the matching fields, you will need to select them.

If no constraints are detected, a Many-to-many relationship is created and referential integrity is set to Some records match. These default settings are a safe choice and provide the most a lot of flexibility for your data source. The default settings support full outer joins and optimize queries by aggregating table data before forming joins during analysis. All column and row data from each table becomes available for analysis.

You can add more data inside any logical table by double-clicking the table. This opens the physical layer of the Data Source page canvas. If you need to use joins or unions, you can drag the tables you want to join or union into the physical layer canvas. The physical tables are merged in their logical table.

Follow the steps in Create and define relationships to combine multiple tables.

Single-table model

  • To create a single-table model, drag a table into the logical layer canvas of the Data Source page. You can then use the fields from that table in the Data pane for analysis.

Single-table model that contains other tables

You can add more data inside the single, logical table by double-clicking the table. This opens the physical layer of the Data Source page canvas. If you need to use joins or unions, you can drag the tables you want to join or union into the physical layer canvas. The physical tables are merged in their logical table.

This example shows the Book table in the Relationships canvas (logical layer) of the data source. Double-clicking the Book logical table opens the Join/Union canvas (physical layer).

In this example, the joins merge the Award and Info tables with the Book table. In this case, the join between Book and Award will be one-to-many, at the level of detail of awards. This would duplicate measure values for Book and Info. To avoid duplication, you could relate Award and Info to Book instead of joining them inside of the Book logical table.

Supported data model schemas

The data modeling capabilities introduced to Tableau in 2020.2 are designed to make analysis over common multi-table data scenarios—including star and snowflake data models—easy. The following types of models are supported in Tableau data sources.

Single-table

Analysis over a single logical table that contains a mixture of dimensions and measures works just as in Tableau pre-2020.2. You can build a logical table using a combination of joins, unions, custom SQL, and so on.

Star and snowflake

In enterprise data warehouses, it is common to have data structured in star or snowflake schemas where measures are contained in a central fact table and dimensions are stored separately in independent dimension tables. This organization of data supports many common analysis flows including rollup and drill down.

These models can be directly represented with relationships in the data modeling capabilities available starting with Tableau 2020.2.

Drag the fact table into the model first and then relate the dimension tables to the fact table (in a star schema) or to other dimension tables (in a snowflake).

Typically, in a well-modeled star or snowflake schema, the relationships between the fact table and the dimension tables will be many-to-one. If this information is encoded in your data warehouse, Tableau will automatically use this to set the relationship’s Performance Options. If not, you can set this information yourself. For more information, see Optimize Relationship Queries Using Performance Options.

In a well-modeled star or snowflake schema, every row in the fact table will have a matching entry in each of the dimension tables. If this is true and captured in your data warehouse integrity constraints, Tableau will automatically use this information to set the referential integrity setting in Performance Options. If some fact table rows do not have a matching row in a dimension table (sometimes called “late-arriving dimensions” or “early-arriving facts”), Tableau will default to retaining all rows when computing measures, but may drop values when showing dimension headers. For more information, see Optimize Relationship Queries Using Performance Options.

Star and snowflake with measures in more than one table

In some star or snowflake schemas, all the measures for your analysis are contained in the fact table. However, it is often true that additional measures of interest may be related to the dimension tables in your analysis. Even if the dimension tables do not contain measures, it is common in analysis to want to count or otherwise aggregate dimension values. In these cases, the distinction between fact tables and dimension tables is less clear. To create clarity when viewing your data model, we recommended adding the finest grain table to the data source canvas first, and then relating all other tables to that first table.

If you were to join these tables together into a single logical table, the measures in the dimension tables would be replicated, resulting in distorted aggregates unless you took precautions to deduplicate the values using LOD calculations or COUNT DISTINCT. However, if you instead create relationships between these tables, Tableau will aggregate measures before performing joins, avoiding the problem of unnecessary duplication. This relieves you of the need to carefully track the level of detail of your measures.

Multi-fact analysis

Tableau’s data modeling capabilities support some forms of multi-fact analysis. Additional fact tables (containing measures) can be added to any of the previously mentioned models as long as they only relate to a single dimension table. For example, you can bring two or more fact tables together to analyze a shared dimension, such as in Customer 360-like analyses. These fact tables can be at a different level of detail than the dimension table, or from each other. They can also have a many-to-many relationship with the dimension table. In these scenarios, Tableau will ensure that values are not replicated before aggregation.

If you don’t have a shared dimension table that relates your fact tables, you can sometimes dynamically build one using custom SQL or by using joins or unions of other dimension tables.

Two fact tables can be related directly to each other on a common dimension. This type of analysis works best when one of the fact tables contains a superset of the common dimension.

Unsupported models

  • Multiple fact tables related to multiple shared dimension tables. In some use cases it is common to have multiple fact tables related to multiple shared dimension tables. For example, you might have two fact tables, Store Sales and Internet Sales, related to two common dimension tables, Date and Customer. Typically, such scenarios would require creating a circular relationship in your data model. Circular relationships are not currently supported.

    You can approximate this type of model by merging some of the tables in the physical layer. For example, you might be able to union Store Sales and Internet Sales into a single table, which can then be related to Date and Customer. Alternatively, you might be able to cross-join Date and Customer to create a single dimension table which can then be related to Store Sales and Internet Sales.

  • Directly relating 3 or more fact tables on shared dimensions. While it is possible to build this model in the logical layer, you might see unwanted results, unless you only use dimensions from a single table.

Requirements for relationships in a data model

  • When relating tables, the fields that define the relationships must have the same data type. Changing the data type in the Data Source page does not change this requirement. Tableau will still use the data type in the underlying database for queries.
  • You can't define relationships based on geographic fields.
  • Circular relationships aren't supported in the data model.
  • You can't define relationships between published data sources.
  • Dirty data in tables (i.e. tables that weren't created with a well-structured model in mind and contain a mix of measures and dimensions in multiple tables) can make multi-table analysis more complex.
  • Using data source filters will limit Tableau's ability to do join culling in the data. Join culling is a term for how Tableau simplifies queries by removing unnecessary joins.
  • Tables with a lot of unmatched values across relationships.
  • Interrelating multiple fact tables with multiple dimension tables (attempting to model shared or conformed dimensions).
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