Tableau Functions (by Category)

Applies to: Tableau Cloud, Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server

The Tableau functions in this reference are organized by category. Click a category to browse its functions. Or press Ctrl+F (Command-F on a Mac) to open a search box that you can use to search the page for a specific function.

Number functions

ABS

Syntax ABS(number)
Output Number (positive)
Definition Returns the absolute value of the given <number>.
Example 
ABS(-7) = 7
ABS([Budget Variance])

The second example returns the absolute value for all the numbers contained in the Budget Variance field.
Notes See also SIGN.

ACOS

Syntax ACOS(number)
Output Number (angle in radians)
Definition Returns the arccosine (angle) of the given <number>.
Example 
ACOS(-1) = 3.14159265358979
Notes The inverse function, COS, takes the angle in radians as the argument and returns the cosine.

ASIN

Syntax ASIN(number)
Output Number (angle in radians)
Definition Returns the arcsine (angle) of a given <number>.
Example 
ASIN(1) = 1.5707963267949
Notes The inverse function, SIN, takes the angle in radians as the argument and returns the sine.

ATAN

Syntax ATAN(number)
Output Number (angle in radians)
Definition Returns the arctangent (angle) of a given <number>.
Example 
ATAN(180) = 1.5652408283942
Notes

The inverse function, TAN, takes the angle in radians as the argument and returns the tangent.

See also ATAN2 and COT.

ATAN2

Syntax ATAN2(y number, x number)
Output Number (angle in radians)
Definition Returns the arctangent (angle) between two numbers (x and y). The result is in radians.
Example 
ATAN2(2, 1) = 1.10714871779409
Notes See also ATAN, TAN, and COT.

CEILING

Syntax CEILING(number)
Output Integer
Definition Rounds a <number> to the nearest integer of equal or greater value.
Example 
CEILING(2.1) = 3
Notes See also FLOOR and ROUND.
Database limitations

CEILING is available through the following connectors: Microsoft Excel, Text File, Statistical File, Published Data Source, Amazon EMR Hadoop Hive, Amazon Redshift, Cloudera Hadoop, DataStax Enterprise, Google Analytics, Google BigQuery, Hortonworks Hadoop Hive, MapR Hadoop Hive, Microsoft SQL Server, Salesforce, Spark SQL.

COS

Syntax COS(number)

The number argument is the angle in radians.

Output Number
Definition Returns the cosine of an angle.
Example 
COS(PI( ) /4) = 0.707106781186548
Notes

The inverse function, ACOS, takes the cosine as the argument and returns the angle in radians.

See also PI. To convert an angle from degrees to radians, use RADIANS.

COT

Syntax COT(number)

The number argument is the angle in radians.

Output Number
Definition Returns the cotangent of an angle.
Example 
COT(PI( ) /4) = 1
Notes See also ATAN, TAN, and PI. To convert an angle from degrees to radians, use RADIANS.

DEGREES

Syntax DEGREES(number)

The number argument is the angle in radians.

Output Number (degrees)
Definition Converts an angle in radians to degrees.
Example 
DEGREES(PI( )/4) = 45.0
Notes

The inverse function, RADIANS, takes an angle in degrees and returns the angle in radians.

See also PI().

DIV

Syntax DIV(integer1, integer2)
Output Integer
Definition Returns the integer part of a division operation, in which <integer1> is divided by <integer2>.
Example 
DIV(11,2) = 5

EXP

Syntax EXP(number)
Output Number
Definition Returns e raised to the power of the given <number>.
Example 
EXP(2) = 7.389
EXP(-[Growth Rate]*[Time])
Notes See also LN.

FLOOR

Syntax FLOOR(number)
Output Integer
Definition Rounds a number to the nearest <number> of equal or lesser value.
Example 
FLOOR(7.9) = 7
Notes See also CEILING and ROUND.
Database limitations

FLOOR is available through the following connectors: Microsoft Excel, Text File, Statistical File, Published Data Source, Amazon EMR Hadoop Hive, Cloudera Hadoop, DataStax Enterprise, Google Analytics, Google BigQuery, Hortonworks Hadoop Hive, MapR Hadoop Hive, Microsoft SQL Server, Salesforce, Spark SQL.

HEXBINX

Syntax HEXBINX(number, number)
Output Number
Definition Maps an x, y coordinate to the x-coordinate of the nearest hexagonal bin. The bins have side length 1, so the inputs may need to be scaled appropriately.
Example 
HEXBINX([Longitude]*2.5, [Latitude]*2.5)
Notes HEXBINX and HEXBINY are binning and plotting functions for hexagonal bins. Hexagonal bins are an efficient and elegant option for visualizing data in an x/y plane such as a map. Because the bins are hexagonal, each bin closely approximates a circle and minimizes variation in the distance from the data point to the center of the bin. This makes the clustering both more accurate and informative.

HEXBINY

Syntax HEXBINY(number, number)
Output Number
Definition Maps an x, y coordinate to the y-coordinate of the nearest hexagonal bin. The bins have side length 1, so the inputs may need to be scaled appropriately.
Example 
HEXBINY([Longitude]*2.5, [Latitude]*2.5)
Notes See also HEXBINX.

LN

Syntax LN(number)
Output

Number

The output is Null if the argument is less than or equal to zero.
Definition Returns the natural logarithm of a <number>.
Example 
LN(50) = 3.912023005
Notes See also EXP and LOG.

LOG

Syntax LOG(number, [base])

If the optional base argument isn't present, base 10 is used.

Output Number
Definition Returns the logarithm of a number for the given base.
Example 
LOG(16,4) = 2
Notes See also POWER LN.

MAX

Syntax MAX(expression) or MAX(expr1, expr2)
Output Same data type as the argument, or NULL if any part of the argument is null.
Definition

Returns the maximum of the two arguments, which must be of the same data type.

MAX can also be applied to a single field as an aggregation.
Example 
MAX(4,7) = 7
MAX(#3/25/1986#, #2/20/2021#) = #2/20/2021# 
MAX([Name]) = "Zander"
Notes

For strings

MAX is usually the value that comes last in alphabetical order.

For database data sources, the MAX string value is highest in the sort sequence defined by the database for that column.

For dates

For dates, the MAX is the most recent date. If MAX is an aggregation, the result will not have a date hierarchy. If MAX is a comparison, the result will retain the date hierarchy.

As an aggregation

MAX(expression) is an aggregate function and returns a single aggregated result. This displays as AGG(expression) in the viz.

As a comparison

MAX(expr1, expr2) compares the two values and returns a row-level value.

See also MIN.

MIN

Syntax MIN(expression) or MIN(expr1, expr2)
Output Same data type as the argument, or NULL if any part of the argument is null.
Definition

Returns the minimum of the two arguments, which must be of the same data type.

MIN can also be applied to a single field as an aggregation.
Example 
MIN(4,7) = 4
MIN(#3/25/1986#, #2/20/2021#) = #3/25/1986#
MIN([Name]) = "Abebi"
Notes

For strings

MIN is usually the value that comes first in alphabetical order.

For database data sources, the MIN string value is lowest in the sort sequence defined by the database for that column.

For dates

For dates, the MIN is the earliest date. If MIN is an aggregation, the result will not have a date hierarchy. If MIN is a comparison, the result will retain the date hierarchy.

As an aggregation

MIN(expression) is an aggregate function and returns a single aggregated result. This displays as AGG(expression) in the viz.

As a comparison

MIN(expr1, expr2) compares the two values and returns a row-level value.

See also MAX.

PI

Syntax PI()
Output Number
Definition Returns the numeric constant pi: 3.14159...
Example 
PI() = 3.14159
Notes Useful for trig functions that take their input in radians. See also RADIANS.

POWER

Syntax POWER(number, power)
Output Number
Definition Raises the <number> to the specified <power>.
Example 
POWER(5,3) = 125
POWER([Temperature], 2)
Notes You can also use the ^ symbol, such as 5^3 = POWER(5,3) = 125

See also EXP, LOG, and SQUARE.

RADIANS

Syntax RADIANS(number)
Output Number (angle in radians)
Definition Converts the given <number> from degrees to radians.
Example 
RADIANS(180) = 3.14159
Notes The inverse function, DEGREES, takes an angle in radians and returns the angle in degrees.

ROUND

Syntax ROUND(number, [decimals])
Output Number
Definition

Rounds <number> to a specified number of digits.

The optional decimals argument specifies how many decimal points of precision to include in the final result. If decimals is omitted, number is rounded to the nearest integer.
Example 
ROUND(1/3, 2) = 0.33
Notes

Some databases, such as SQL Server, allow specification of a negative length, where -1 rounds number to 10's, -2 rounds to 100's, and so on. This is not true of all databases. For example, it is not true of Excel or Access.

Tip: Because ROUND may run into issues due to the underlying floating point representation of numbers—such as 9.405 rounding to 9.40—it may be preferable to format the number to the desired number of decimal points rather than rounding. Formatting 9.405 to two decimal places will yield the expected 9.41.

See also CEILING and FLOOR.

SIGN

Syntax SIGN(number)
Output -1, 0, or 1
Definition Returns the sign of a <number>: The possible return values are -1 if the number is negative, 0 if the number is zero, or 1 if the number is positive.
Example 
SIGN(AVG(Profit)) = -1
Notes See also ABS.

SIN

Syntax SIN(number)

The number argument is the angle in radians.

Output Number
Definition Returns the sine of an angle.
Example 
SIN(0) = 1.0
SIN(PI( )/4) = 0.707106781186548
Notes

The inverse function, ASIN, takes the sine as the argument and returns the angle in radians.

See also PI. To convert an angle from degrees to radians, use RADIANS.

SQRT

Syntax SQRT(number)
Output Number
Definition Returns the square root of a <number>.
Example 
SQRT(25) = 5
Notes See also SQUARE.

SQUARE

Syntax SQUARE(number)
Output Number
Definition Returns the square of a <number>.
Example 
SQUARE(5) = 25
Notes See also SQRT and POWER.

TAN

Syntax TAN(number)

The number argument is the angle in radians.
Output Number
Definition Returns the tangent of an angle.
Example 
TAN(PI ( )/4) = 1.0
Notes See also ATAN, ATAN2,COT, and PI. To convert an angle from degrees to radians, use RADIANS.

ZN

Syntax ZN(expression)
Output Any, or o
Definition

Returns the <expression> if it is not null, otherwise returns zero.

Use this function to replace null values with zeros.
Example 
ZN(Grade) = 0
Notes This is a very useful function when using fields that may contain nulls in a calculation. Wrapping the field with ZN can prevent errors caused by calculating with nulls.
String functions

ASCII

Syntax ASCII(string)
Output Number
Definition Returns the ASCII code for the first character of a <string>.
Example 
ASCII('A') = 65
Notes This is the inverse of the CHAR function.

CHAR

Syntax CHAR(number)
Output String
Definition Returns the character encoded by the ASCII code <number>.
Example 
CHAR(65) = 'A'
Notes This is the inverse of the ASCII function.

CONTAINS

Syntax CONTAINS(string, substring)
Output Boolean
Definition Returns true if the given string contains the specified substring.
Example 
CONTAINS("Calculation", "alcu") = true
Notes See also the logical function(Link opens in a new window) IN as well as supported RegEx in the additional functions documentation(Link opens in a new window).

ENDSWITH

Syntax ENDSWITH(string, substring)
Output Boolean
Definition Returns true if the given string ends with the specified substring. Trailing white spaces are ignored.
Example 
ENDSWITH("Tableau", "leau") = true
Notes See also the supported RegEx in the additional functions documentation(Link opens in a new window).

FIND

Syntax FIND(string, substring, [start])
Output Number
Definition

Returns the index position of substring in string, or 0 if the substring isn't found. The first character in the string is position 1.

If the optional numeric argument start is added, the function ignores any instances of substring that appear before the starting position.

Example 
FIND("Calculation", "alcu") = 2
FIND("Calculation", "Computer") = 0
FIND("Calculation", "a", 3) = 7
FIND("Calculation", "a", 2) = 2
FIND("Calculation", "a", 8) = 0
Notes See also the supported RegEx in the additional functions documentation(Link opens in a new window).

FINDNTH

Syntax FINDNTH(string, substring, occurrence)
Output Number
Definition Returns the position of the nth occurrence of substring within the specified string, where n is defined by the occurrence argument.
Example 
FINDNTH("Calculation", "a", 2) = 7
Notes

FINDNTH is not available for all data sources.

See also the supported RegEx in the additional functions documentation(Link opens in a new window).

LEFT

Syntax LEFT(string, number)
Output String
Definition Returns the left-most <number> of characters in the string.
Example 
LEFT("Matador", 4) = "Mata"
Notes See also MID and RIGHT.

LEN

Syntax LEN(string)
Output Number
Definition Returns the length of the string.
Example 
LEN("Matador") = 7
Notes Not to be confused with the spatial function(Link opens in a new window) LENGTH.

LOWER

Syntax LOWER(string)
Output String
Definition Returns the provided <string> in all lowercase characters.
Example 
LOWER("ProductVersion") = "productversion"
Notes See also UPPER and PROPER.

LTRIM

Syntax LTRIM(string)
Output String
Definition Returns the provided <string> with any leading spaces removed.
Example 
LTRIM(" Matador ") = "Matador "
Notes See also RTRIM.

MAX

Syntax MAX(expression) or MAX(expr1, expr2)
Output Same data type as the argument, or NULL if any part of the argument is null.
Definition

Returns the maximum of the two arguments, which must be of the same data type.

MAX can also be applied to a single field as an aggregation.
Example 
MAX(4,7) = 7
MAX(#3/25/1986#, #2/20/2021#) = #2/20/2021# 
MAX([Name]) = "Zander"
Notes

For strings

MAX is usually the value that comes last in alphabetical order.

For database data sources, the MAX string value is highest in the sort sequence defined by the database for that column.

For dates

For dates, the MAX is the most recent date. If MAX is an aggregation, the result will not have a date hierarchy. If MAX is a comparison, the result will retain the date hierarchy.

As an aggregation

MAX(expression) is an aggregate function and returns a single aggregated result. This displays as AGG(expression) in the viz.

As a comparison

MAX(expr1, expr2) compares the two values and returns a row-level value.

See also MIN.

MID

Syntax (MID(string, start, [length])
Output String
Definition

Returns a string starting at the specified start position. The first character in the string is position 1.

If the optional numeric argument length is added, the returned string includes only that number of characters.
Example 
MID("Calculation", 2) = "alculation"
MID("Calculation", 2, 5) ="alcul"
Notes See also the supported RegEx in the additional functions documentation(Link opens in a new window).

MIN

Syntax MIN(expression) or MIN(expr1, expr2)
Output Same data type as the argument, or NULL if any part of the argument is null.
Definition

Returns the minimum of the two arguments, which must be of the same data type.

MIN can also be applied to a single field as an aggregation.
Example 
MIN(4,7) = 4
MIN(#3/25/1986#, #2/20/2021#) = #3/25/1986#
MIN([Name]) = "Abebi"
Notes

For strings

MIN is usually the value that comes first in alphabetical order.

For database data sources, the MIN string value is lowest in the sort sequence defined by the database for that column.

For dates

For dates, the MIN is the earliest date. If MIN is an aggregation, the result will not have a date hierarchy. If MIN is a comparison, the result will retain the date hierarchy.

As an aggregation

MIN(expression) is an aggregate function and returns a single aggregated result. This displays as AGG(expression) in the viz.

As a comparison

MIN(expr1, expr2) compares the two values and returns a row-level value.

See also MAX.

PROPER

Syntax PROPER(string)
Output String
Definition

Returns the provided <string> with the first letter of each word is capitalized and the remaining letters are in lowercase.

Example 
PROPER("PRODUCT name") = "Product Name"
PROPER("darcy-mae") = "Darcy-Mae"
Notes

Spaces and non-alphanumeric characters such as punctuation are treated as separators.

See also LOWER and UPPER.
Database limitationsPROPER is only available for some flat files and in extracts. If you need to use PROPER in a data source that doesn't otherwise support it, consider using an extract.

REPLACE

Syntax REPLACE(string, substring, replacement
Output String
Definition Searches <string> for <substring> and replaces it with <replacement>. If <substring> is not found, the string is not changed.
Example 
REPLACE("Version 3.8", "3.8", "4x") = "Version 4x"
Notes See also REGEXP_REPLACE in the additional functions documentation(Link opens in a new window).

RIGHT

Syntax RIGHT(string, number)
Output String
Definition Returns the right-most <number> of characters in the string.
Example 
RIGHT("Calculation", 4) = "tion"
Notes See also LEFT and MID.

RTRIM

Syntax RTRIM(string)
Output String
Definition Returns the provided <string> with any trailing spaces removed.
Example 
RTRIM(" Calculation ") = " Calculation"
Notes See also LTRIM and TRIM.

SPACE

Syntax SPACE(number)
Output String (specifically, just spaces)
Definition Returns a string that is composed of the specified number of repeated spaces.
Example 
SPACE(2) = "  "

SPLIT

Syntax SPLIT(string, delimiter, token number)
Output String
Definition Returns a substring from a string, using a delimiter character to divide the string into a sequence of tokens.
Example 
SPLIT ("a-b-c-d", "-", 2) = "b"
SPLIT ("a|b|c|d", "|", -2) = "c"
Notes

The string is interpreted as an alternating sequence of delimiters and tokens. So for the string abc-defgh-i-jkl, where the delimiter character is '-', the tokens are (1) abc, (2) defgh, (3) i, and (4) jlk.

SPLIT returns the token corresponding to the token number. When the token number is positive, tokens are counted starting from the left end of the string; when the token number is negative, tokens are counted starting from the right.

See also supported REGEX in the additional functions documentation(Link opens in a new window).

Database limitations

The split and custom split commands are available for the following data sources types: Tableau data extracts, Microsoft Excel, Text File, PDF File, Salesforce, OData, Microsoft Azure Market Place, Google Analytics, Vertica, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Teradata, Amazon Redshift, Aster Data, Google Big Query, Cloudera Hadoop Hive, Hortonworks Hive, and Microsoft SQL Server.

Some data sources impose limits on splitting strings. See SPLIT function limitations later in this topic.

STARTSWITH

Syntax STARTSWITH(string, substring)
Output Boolean
Definition Returns true if string starts with substring. Leading white spaces are ignored.
Example 
STARTSWITH("Matador, "Ma") = TRUE
Notes See also CONTAINS, as well as supported REGEX in the additional functions documentation(Link opens in a new window).

TRIM

Syntax TRIM(string)
Output String
Definition Returns the provided <string> with leading and trailing spaces removed.
Example 
TRIM(" Calculation ") = "Calculation"
Notes See also LTRIM and RTRIM.

UPPER

Syntax UPPER(string)
Output String
Definition Returns the provided <string> in all uppercase characters.
Example 
UPPER("Calculation") = "CALCULATION"
Notes See also PROPER and LOWER.
Date functions

Many date functions in Tableau take the argument date_part, which is a string constant that tells the function what part of a date to consider, such as day, week, quarter, etc.The valid date_part values that you can use are:

date_part Values
'year' Four-digit year
'quarter' 1-4
'month' 1-12 or "January", "February", and so on
'dayofyear' Day of the year; Jan 1 is 1, Feb 1 is 32, and so on
'day' 1-31
'weekday' 1-7 or "Sunday", "Monday", and so on
'week' 1-52
'hour' 0-23
'minute' 0-59
'second' 0-60
'iso-year' Four-digit ISO 8601 year
'iso-quarter' 1-4
'iso-week' 1-52, start of week is always Monday
'iso-weekday' 1-7, start of week is always Monday

Note: Date functions do not take account of the configured fiscal year start. See Fiscal Dates.

DATE

Type conversion function that changes string and number expressions into dates, as long as they are in a recognizable format.

Syntax DATE(expression)
Output Date
Definition Returns a date given a number, string, or date <expression>.
Example 
DATE([Employee Start Date])
DATE("September 22, 2018") 
DATE("9/22/2018")
DATE(#2018-09-22 14:52#)
Notes

Unlike DATEPARSE, there is no need to provide a pattern as DATE automatically recognizes many standard date formats. If DATE does not recognize the input, however, try using DATEPARSE and specifying the format.

MAKEDATE is another similar function, but MAKEDATE requires the input of numeric values for year, month, and day.

DATEADD

Adds a specified number of date parts (months, days, etc) to the starting date.

Syntax DATEADD(date_part, interval, date)
Output Date
Definition Returns the <date> with the specified number <interval> added to the specified <date_part> of that date. For example, adding three months or 12 days to a starting date.
Example

Push out all due dates by one week

DATEADD('week', 1, [due date])

Add 280 days to the date February 20, 2021

DATEADD('day', 280, #2/20/21#) = #November 27, 2021#
Notes Supports ISO 8601 dates.

DATEDIFF

Returns the number of date parts (weeks, years, etc) between two dates.

Syntax DATEDIFF(date_part, date1, date2, [start_of_week])
Output Integer
Definition Returns the difference between <date1> and <date2n> expressed in units of <date_part>. For example, subtracting the dates someone entered and left a band to see how long they were in the band.
Example

Number of days between March 25, 1986 and February 20, 2021 

DATEDIFF('day', #3/25/1986#, #2/20/2021#) = 12,751

How many months someone was in a band 

DATEDIFF('month', [date joined band], [date left band])
Notes Supports ISO 8601 dates.

DATENAME

Returns the name of the specified date part as a discrete string.

Syntax DATENAME(date_part, date, [start_of_week])
Output String
Definition Returns <date_part> of <date> as a string.
Example 
DATENAME('year', #3/25/1986#) = "1986"
DATENAME('month', #1986-03-25#) = "March"
Notes

Supports ISO 8601 dates.

A very similar calculation is DATEPART, which returns the value of the specified date part as a continuous integer. DATEPART can be faster because it is a numerical operation.

By changing the attributes of the calculation’s result (dimension or measure, continuous or discrete) and the date formatting, the results of DATEPART and DATENAME can be formatted to be identical.

An inverse function is DATEPARSE, which takes a string value and formats it as a date.

DATEPARSE

Returns specifically formatted strings as dates.

Syntax DATEPARSE(date_format, date_string)
Output Date
Definition The <date_format> argument describes how the <date_string> field is arranged. Because of the variety of ways the string field can be ordered, the <date_format> must match exactly. For a full explanation, see Convert a Field to a Date Field(Link opens in a new window).
Example 
DATEPARSE('yyyy-MM-dd', "1986-03-25") = #March 25, 1986#
Notes

DATE is a similar function that automatically recognizes many standard date formats. DATEPARSE may be a better option if DATE does not recognize the input pattern.

MAKEDATE is another similar function, but MAKEDATE requires the input of numeric values for year, month, and day.

Inverse functions, which take dates apart and return the value of their parts, are DATEPART (integer output) and DATENAME (string output).

Database limitations

DATEPARSE is available through the following connectors: non-legacy Excel and text file connections, Amazon EMR Hadoop Hive, Cloudera Hadoop, Google Sheets, Hortonworks Hadoop Hive, MapR Hadoop Hive, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and Tableau extracts. Some formats may not be available for all connections.

DATEPARSE is not supported on Hive variants. Only Denodo, Drill, and Snowflake are supported.

DATEPART

Returns the name of the specified date part as an integer.

Syntax DATEPART(date_part, date, [start_of_week])
Output Integer
Definition Returns <date_part> of <date> as an integer.
Example 
DATEPART('year', #1986-03-25#) = 1986
DATEPART('month', #1986-03-25#) = 3
Notes

Supports ISO 8601 dates.

A very similar calculation is DATENAME, which returns the name of the specified date part as a discrete string. DATEPART can be faster because it is a numerical operation. By changing the attributes of the field (dimension or measure, continuous or discrete) and the date formatting, the results of DATEPART and DATENAME can be formatted to be identical.

An inverse function is DATEPARSE, which takes a string value and formats it as a date.

DATETRUNC

This function can be thought of as date rounding. It takes a specific date and returns a version of that date at the desired specificity. Because every date must have a value for day, month, quarter, and year, DATETRUNC sets the values as the lowest value for each date part up to the date part specified. Refer to the example for more information.

Syntax DATETRUNC(date_part, date, [start_of_week])
Output Date
Definition Truncates the <date> to the accuracy specified by the <date_part>. This function returns a new date. For example, when you truncate a date that is in the middle of the month at the month level, this function returns the first day of the month.
Example 
DATETRUNC('day', #9/22/2018#) = #9/22/2018#
DATETRUNC('iso-week', #9/22/2018#) = #9/17/2018#

(the monday of the week containing 9/22/2018)

DATETRUNC(quarter, #9/22/2018#) = #7/1/2018#

(the first day of the quarter containing 9/22/2018)

Note: For week and iso-week, the start_of_week comes into play. ISO-weeks always start on Monday. For the locale of this example, an unspecified start_of_week means the week starts on Sunday.
Notes

Supports ISO 8601 dates.

You shouldn't use DATETRUNC to, for example, stop showing the time for a datetime field in a viz. If you want to truncate the display of a date rather than round its accuracy, adjust the formatting(Link opens in a new window).

For example, DATETRUNC('day', #5/17/2022 3:12:48 PM#), if formatted in the viz to display seconds, would display as 5/17/2022 12:00:00 AM.

DAY

Returns the day of the month (1-31) as an integer.

Syntax DAY(date)
Output Integer
Definition Returns the day of the given <date> as an integer.
Example 
Day(#September 22, 2018#) = 22
Notes See also WEEK, MONTH, QUARTER, YEAR, and the ISO equivalents.

ISDATE

Checks if the string is a valid date format.

Syntax ISDATE(string)
Output Boolean
Definition Returns true if a given <string> is a valid date.
Example 
ISDATE(09/22/2018) = true
ISDATE(22SEP18) = false
Notes The required argument must be a string. ISDATE cannot be used for a field with a date data type—the calculation will return an error.

ISOQUARTER

Syntax ISOQUARTER(date)
Output Integer
Definition Returns the ISO8601 week-based quarter of a given <date> as an integer.
Example 
ISOQUARTER(#1986-03-25#) = 1
Notes See also ISOWEEK, ISOWEEKDAY, ISOYEAR, and the non-ISO equivalents.

ISOWEEK

Syntax ISOWEEK(date)
Output Integer
Definition Returns the ISO8601 week-based week of a given <date> as an integer.
Example 
ISOWEEK(#1986-03-25#) = 13
Notes See also ISOWEEKDAY, ISOQUARTER, ISOYEAR, and the non-ISO equivalents.

ISOWEEKDAY

Syntax ISOWEEKDAY(date)
Output Integer
Definition Returns the ISO8601 week-based weekday of a given <date> as an integer.
Example 
ISOWEEKDAY(#1986-03-25#) = 2
Notes See also ISOWEEK, ISOQUARTER, ISOYEAR, and the non-ISO equivalents.

ISOYEAR

Syntax ISOYEAR(date)
Output Integer
Definition Returns the ISO8601 week-based year of a given <date> as an integer.
Example 
ISOYEAR(#1986-03-25#) = 1,986
Notes See also ISOWEEK, ISOWEEKDAY, ISOQUARTER, and the non-ISO equivalents.

MAKEDATE

Syntax MAKEDATE(year, month, day)
Output Date
Definition Returns a date value constructed from the specified <year>, <monthg>, and <day>.
Example 
MAKEDATE(1986,3,25) = #1986-03-25#
Notes

Note: Incorrectly entered values will be adjusted into a date, such as MAKEDATE(2020,4,31) = May 1, 2020 rather than returning an error that there is no 31st day of April.

Available for Tableau Data Extracts. Check for availability in other data sources.

MAKEDATE requires numerical inputs for the parts of a date. If your data is a string that should be a date, try the DATE function. DATE automatically recognizes many standard date formats. If DATE does not recognize the input try using DATEPARSE.

MAKEDATETIME

Syntax MAKEDATETIME(date, time)
Output Datetime
Definition Returns a datetime that combines a <date> and a <time>. The date can be a date, datetime, or a string type. The time must be a datetime.
Example 
MAKEDATETIME("1899-12-30", #07:59:00#) = #12/30/1899 7:59:00 AM#
MAKEDATETIME([Date], [Time]) = #1/1/2001 6:00:00 AM#
Notes

This function is available only for MySQL-compatible connections (which for Tableau are MySQL and Amazon Aurora).

MAKETIME is a similar function available for Tableau Data Extracts and some other data sources.

MAKETIME

Syntax MAKETIME(hour, minute, second)
Output Datetime
Definition Returns a date value constructed from the specified <hour>, <minute>, and <second>.
Example 
MAKETIME(14, 52, 40) = #1/1/1899 14:52:40#
Notes

Because Tableau does not support a time data type, only datetime, the output is a datetime. The date portion of the field will be 1/1/1899.

Similar function to MAKEDATETIME, which is only available for MYSQL-compatible connections.

MAX

Syntax MAX(expression) or MAX(expr1, expr2)
Output Same data type as the argument, or NULL if any part of the argument is null.
Definition

Returns the maximum of the two arguments, which must be of the same data type.

MAX can also be applied to a single field as an aggregation.
Example 
MAX(4,7) = 7
MAX(#3/25/1986#, #2/20/2021#) = #2/20/2021# 
MAX([Name]) = "Zander"
Notes

For strings

MAX is usually the value that comes last in alphabetical order.

For database data sources, the MAX string value is highest in the sort sequence defined by the database for that column.

For dates

For dates, the MAX is the most recent date. If MAX is an aggregation, the result will not have a date hierarchy. If MAX is a comparison, the result will retain the date hierarchy.

As an aggregation

MAX(expression) is an aggregate function and returns a single aggregated result. This displays as AGG(expression) in the viz.

As a comparison

MAX(expr1, expr2) compares the two values and returns a row-level value.

See also MIN.

MIN

Syntax MIN(expression) or MIN(expr1, expr2)
Output Same data type as the argument, or NULL if any part of the argument is null.
Definition

Returns the minimum of the two arguments, which must be of the same data type.

MIN can also be applied to a single field as an aggregation.
Example 
MIN(4,7) = 4
MIN(#3/25/1986#, #2/20/2021#) = #3/25/1986#
MIN([Name]) = "Abebi"
Notes

For strings

MIN is usually the value that comes first in alphabetical order.

For database data sources, the MIN string value is lowest in the sort sequence defined by the database for that column.

For dates

For dates, the MIN is the earliest date. If MIN is an aggregation, the result will not have a date hierarchy. If MIN is a comparison, the result will retain the date hierarchy.

As an aggregation

MIN(expression) is an aggregate function and returns a single aggregated result. This displays as AGG(expression) in the viz.

As a comparison

MIN(expr1, expr2) compares the two values and returns a row-level value.

See also MAX.

MONTH

Syntax MONTH(date)
Output Integer
Definition Returns the month of the given <date> as an integer.
Example 
MONTH(#1986-03-25#) = 3
Notes See also DAY, WEEK, QUARTER, YEAR, and the ISO equivalents

NOW

Syntax NOW()
Output Datetime
Definition Returns the current local system date and time.
Example 
NOW() = 1986-03-25 1:08:21 PM
Notes

NOW does not take an argument.

See also TODAY, a similar calculation that returns a date instead of a datetime.

If the data source is a live connection, the system date and time could be in another timezone. For more information on how to address this, see the Knowledge Base.

QUARTER

Syntax QUARTER(date)
Output Integer
Definition Returns the quarter of the given <date> as an integer.
Example 
QUARTER(#1986-03-25#) = 1
Notes See also DAY, WEEK, MONTH, YEAR, and the ISO equivalents

TODAY

Syntax TODAY()
Output Date
Definition Returns the current local system date.
Example 
TODAY() = 1986-03-25
Notes

TODAY does not take an argument.

See also NOW, a similar calculation that returns a datetime instead of a date.

If the data source is a live connection, the system date could be in another timezone. For more information on how to address this, see the Knowledge Base.

WEEK

Syntax WEEK(date)
Output Integer
Definition Returns the week of the given <date> as an integer.
Example 
WEEK(#1986-03-25#) = 13
Notes See also DAY, MONTH, QUARTER, YEAR, and the ISO equivalents

YEAR

Syntax YEAR(date)
Output Integer
Definition Returns the year of the given <date> as an integer.
Example 
YEAR(#1986-03-25#) = 1,986
Notes See also DAY, WEEK, MONTH, QUARTER, and the ISO equivalents
Logical functions

AND

Syntax <expr1> AND <expr2>
Definition Performs a logical conjunction on two expressions. (If both sides are true, the logical test returns true.)
Output Boolean (true or false)
Example 
IF [Season] = "Spring" AND "[Season] = "Fall" 
THEN "It's the apocalypse and footwear doesn't matter" 
END

"If both (Season = Spring) and (Season = Fall) are true simultaneously, then return It's the apocalypse and footwear doesn't matter."

Notes

Often used with IF and IIF. See also NOT and OR.

If both expressions are TRUE (that is, not FALSE or NULL), then the result is TRUE. If either expression is NULL, then the result is NULL. In all other cases, the result is FALSE.

If you create a calculation in which the result of an AND comparison is displayed on a worksheet, Tableau displays TRUE and FALSE. If you would like to change this, use the Format area in the format dialog.

Note: The AND operator employs short circuit evaluation. This means that if the first expression is evaluated to be FALSE, then the second expression is not evaluated at all. This can be helpful if the second expression results in an error when the first expression is FALSE, because the second expression in this case is never evaluated.

CASE

Syntax CASE <expression>
WHEN <value1> THEN <then1>
WHEN <value2> THEN <then2>
...
[ELSE <default>]
END
Output Depends on data type of the <then> values.
Definition

Evaluates the expression and compares it to the specified options (<value1>, <value2>, etc.). When a value that matches expression is encountered, CASE returns the corresponding return. If no match is found, the (optional) default is returned. If there is no default and no values match, then Null is returned.
Example 
CASE [Season] 
WHEN 'Summer' THEN 'Sandals' 
WHEN 'Winter' THEN 'Boots' 
ELSE 'Sneakers' 
END

"Look at the Season field. If the value is Summer, then return Sandals. If the value is Winter, then return Boots. If none of the options in the calculation match what is in the Season field, return a Sneakers."

Notes

See also IF and IIF.

Used with WHEN, THEN, ELSE, and END.

Tip: Many times you can use a group to get the same results as a complicated CASE function, or use CASE to replace native grouping functionality, such as in the previous example. You may want to test which is more performant for your scenario.

ELSE

Syntax CASE <expression>
WHEN <value1> THEN <then1>
WHEN <value2> THEN <then2>
...
[ELSE <default>]
END
Definition An optional piece of an IF or CASE expression used to specify a default value to return if none of the tested expressions are true.
Example 
IF [Season] = "Summer" THEN 'Sandals' 
ELSEIF [Season] = "Winter" THEN 'Boots' 
ELSE 'Sneakers' 
END
CASE [Season] 
WHEN 'Summer' THEN 'Sandals' 
WHEN 'Winter' THEN 'Boots' 
ELSE 'Sneakers' 
END
Notes

Used with CASE, WHEN, IF, ELSEIF, THEN, and END

ELSE is optional with CASE and IF. In a calculation where ELSE is not specified, if none of the <test>are true, the overall calculation will return null.

ELSE does not require a condition (such as [Season] = "Winter") and can be thought of as a form of null handling.

ELSEIF

Syntax [ELSEIF <test2> THEN <then2>]
Definition An optional piece of an IF expression used to specify additional conditions beyond the initial IF.
Example 
IF [Season] = "Summer" THEN 'Sandals' 
ELSEIF [Season] = "Winter" THEN 'Boots' 
ELSEIF [Season] = "Spring" THEN 'Sneakers' 
ELSEIF [Season] = "Autumn" THEN 'Sneakers'
ELSE 'Bare feet' 
END
Notes

Used with IF, THEN, ELSE, and END

ELSEIF can be thought of as additional IF clauses. ELSEIF is optional and can be repeated multiple times.

Unlike ELSE, ELSEIF requires a condition (such as [Season] = "Winter").

END

Definition Used to close an IF or CASE expression.
Example 
IF [Season] = "Summer" THEN 'Sandals' 
ELSEIF [Season] = "Winter" THEN 'Boots' 
ELSE 'Sneakers' 
END

"If Season = Summer, then return Sandals. If not, look at the next expression. If Season = Winter, then return Boots. If neither of the expressions are true, return Sneakers." 

CASE [Season] 
WHEN 'Summer' THEN 'Sandals' 
WHEN 'Winter' THEN 'Boots' 
ELSE 'Sneakers' 
END

"Look at the Season field. If the value is Summer, then return Sandals. If the value is Winter, then return Boots. If none of the options in the calculation match what is in the Season field, return a Sneakers."

Notes

Used with CASE, WHEN, IF, ELSEIF, THEN, and ELSE.

IF

Syntax IF <test1> THEN <then1>
[ELSEIF <test2> THEN <then2>...]
[ELSE <default>]
END
Output Depends on data type of the <then> values.
Definition

Tests a series of expressions and returns the <then> value for the first true <test>.
Example 
IF [Season] = "Summer" THEN 'Sandals' 
ELSEIF [Season] = "Winter" THEN 'Boots' 
ELSE 'Sneakers' 
END

"If Season = Summer, then return Sandals. If not, look at the next expression. If Season = Winter, then return Boots. If neither of the expressions are true, return Sneakers."

Notes

See also IF and IIF.

Used with ELSEIF, THEN, ELSE, and END

IFNULL

Syntax IFNULL(expr1, expr2)
Output Depends on the data type of the <expr> values.
Definition

Returns <expr1> if it's non-null, otherwise returns <expr2>.
Example 
IFNULL([Assigned Room], "TBD")

"If the Assigned Room field isn't null, return its value. If the Assigned room field is null, return TBD instead."

Notes

Compare with ISNULL. IFNULL always returns a value. ISNULL returns a boolean (true or false).

See also ZN.

IIF

Syntax IIF(<test>, <then>, <else>, [<unknown>])
Output Depends on the data type of the values in the expression.
Definition Checks whether a condition is met (<test>), and returns <then>if the test is true, <else> if the test is false, and an optional value for <unknown> if the test is null. If the optional unknown isn't specified, IIF returns null.
Example 
IIF([Season] = 'Summer', 'Sandals', 'Other footwear')

"If Season = Summer, then return Sandals. If not, return Other footwear" 

IIF([Season] = 'Summer', 'Sandals', 
   IIF('Season' = 'Winter', 'Boots',  'Other footwear')
)

"If Season = Summer, then return Sandals. If not, look at the next expression. If Season = Winter, then return Boots. If neither are true, return Sneakers." 

IIF('Season' = 'Summer', 'Sandals', 
   IIF('Season' = 'Winter', 'Boots',  
      IIF('Season' = 'Spring', 'Sneakers', 'Other footwear')
   )
)

"If Season = Summer, then return Sandals. If not, look at the next expression. If Season = Winter, then return Boots. If none of the expressions are true, return Sneakers."

Notes

See also IF andCASE.

IIF doesn't have an equivalent to ELSEIF (like IF) or repeated WHEN clauses (like CASE). Instead, multiple tests can be evaluated sequentially by nesting IIF statements as the <unknown> element. The first (outermost) true is returned.

That is to say, in the calculation below, the result will be Red, not Orange, because the expression stops being evaluated as soon as A=A is evaluated as true:

IIF('A' = 'A', 'Red', IIF('B' = 'B', 'Orange', IIF('C' = 'D', 'Yellow', 'Green')))

IN

Syntax <expr1> IN <expr2>
Output Boolean (true or false)
Definition Returns TRUE if any value in <expr1> matches any value in <expr2>.
Example 
SUM([Cost]) IN (1000, 15, 200)

"Is the value of the Cost field 1000, 15, or 200?" 

[Field] IN [Set]

"Is the value of the field present in the set?"

Notes

The values in <expr2> can be a set, list of literal values, or combined field.

See also WHEN.

ISDATE

Syntax ISDATE(string)
Output Boolean (true or false)
Definition Returns true if a <string> is a valid date. The input expression must be a string (text) field.
Example 
ISDATE("2018-09-22")

"Is the string 2018-09-22 a properly formatted date?"

Notes

What is considered a valid date depends on the locale(Link opens in a new window) of the system evaluating the calculation. For example:

In the USA:

  • ISDATE("2018-09-22") = TRUE
  • ISDATE("2018-22-09") = FALSE

In the UK:

  • ISDATE("2018-09-22") = FALSE
  • ISDATE("2018-22-09") = TRUE

ISNULL

Syntax ISNULL(expression)
Output Boolean (true or false)
Definition

Returns true if the <expression> is NULL (does not contain valid data).
Example 
ISNULL([Assigned Room])

"Is the Assigned Room field null?"

Notes

Compare with IFNULL. IFNULL always returns a value. ISNULL returns a boolean.

See also ZN.

MAX

Syntax MAX(expression) or MAX(expr1, expr2)
Output Same data type as the argument, or NULL if any part of the argument is null.
Definition

Returns the maximum of the two arguments, which must be of the same data type.

MAX can also be applied to a single field as an aggregation.
Example 
MAX(4,7) = 7
MAX(#3/25/1986#, #2/20/2021#) = #2/20/2021# 
MAX([Name]) = "Zander"
Notes

For strings

MAX is usually the value that comes last in alphabetical order.

For database data sources, the MAX string value is highest in the sort sequence defined by the database for that column.

For dates

For dates, the MAX is the most recent date. If MAX is an aggregation, the result will not have a date hierarchy. If MAX is a comparison, the result will retain the date hierarchy.

As an aggregation

MAX(expression) is an aggregate function and returns a single aggregated result. This displays as AGG(expression) in the viz.

As a comparison

MAX(expr1, expr2) compares the two values and returns a row-level value.

See also MIN.

MIN

Syntax MIN(expression) or MIN(expr1, expr2)
Output Same data type as the argument, or NULL if any part of the argument is null.
Definition

Returns the minimum of the two arguments, which must be of the same data type.

MIN can also be applied to a single field as an aggregation.
Example 
MIN(4,7) = 4
MIN(#3/25/1986#, #2/20/2021#) = #3/25/1986#
MIN([Name]) = "Abebi"
Notes

For strings

MIN is usually the value that comes first in alphabetical order.

For database data sources, the MIN string value is lowest in the sort sequence defined by the database for that column.

For dates

For dates, the MIN is the earliest date. If MIN is an aggregation, the result will not have a date hierarchy. If MIN is a comparison, the result will retain the date hierarchy.

As an aggregation

MIN(expression) is an aggregate function and returns a single aggregated result. This displays as AGG(expression) in the viz.

As a comparison

MIN(expr1, expr2) compares the two values and returns a row-level value.

See also MAX.

NOT

Syntax NOT <expression>
Output Boolean (true or false)
Definition Performs logical negation on an expression.
Example 
IF NOT [Season] = "Summer" 
THEN 'Don't wear sandals' 
ELSE 'Wear sandals' 
END

"If Season doesn't equal Summer, then return Don't wear sandals. If not, return Wear sandals."

Notes

Often used with IF and IIF. See also DATE and OR.

OR

Syntax <expr1> OR <expr2>
Output Boolean (true or false)
Definition Performs a logical disjunction on two expressions.
Example 
IF [Season] = "Spring" OR [Season] = "Fall" 
THEN "Sneakers" 
END

"If either (Season = Spring) or (Season = Fall) is true, then return Sneakers."

Notes

Often used with IF and IIF. See also DATE and NOT.

If either expression is TRUE, then the result is TRUE. If both expressions are FALSE, then the result is FALSE. If both expressions are NULL, then the result is NULL.

If you create a calculation which displays the result of an OR comparison on a worksheet, Tableau displays TRUE and FALSE. If you would like to change this, use the Format area in the format dialog.

Note: The OR operator employs short circuit evaluation. This means that if the first expression is evaluated to be TRUE, then the second expression is not evaluated at all. This can be helpful if the second expression results in an error when the first expression is TRUE, because the second expression in this case is never evaluated.

THEN

Syntax IF <test1> THEN <then1>
[ELSEIF <test2> THEN <then2>...]
[ELSE <default>]
END
Definition A required part of an IF, ELSEIF, or CASE expression, used to define what result to return if a specific value or test is true.
Example 
IF [Season] = "Summer" THEN 'Sandals' 
ELSEIF [Season] = "Winter" THEN 'Boots' 
ELSE 'Sneakers' 
END

"If Season = Summer, then return Sandals. If not, look at the next expression. If Season = Winter, then return Boots. If neither of the expressions are true, return Sneakers." 

CASE [Season] 
WHEN 'Summer' THEN 'Sandals' 
WHEN 'Winter' THEN 'Boots' 
ELSE 'Sneakers' 
END

"Look at the Season field. If the value is Summer, then return Sandals. If the value is Winter, then return Boots. If none of the options in the calculation match what is in the Season field, return a Sneakers."

Notes

Used with CASE, WHEN, IF, ELSEIF, THEN, ELSE, and END

WHEN

Syntax CASE <expression>
WHEN <value1> THEN <then1>
WHEN <value2> THEN <then2>
...
[ELSE <default>]
END
Definition A required part of a CASE expression. Finds the first <value> that matches <expression> and returns the corresponding <then>.
Example 
CASE [Season] 
WHEN 'Summer' THEN 'Sandals' 
WHEN 'Winter' THEN 'Boots' 
ELSE 'Sneakers' 
END

"Look at the Season field. If the value is Summer, then return Sandals. If the value is Winter, then return Boots. If none of the options in the calculation match what is in the Season field, return a Sneakers."

Notes

Used with CASE, THEN, ELSE, and END.

CASE also supports WHEN IN construction, such as:

CASE <expression> 
WHEN IN <set1> THEN <then1> 
WHEN IN <combinedfield> THEN <then2> 
... 
ELSE <default> 
END

The values that WHEN IN compare to must be a set, list of literal values, or combined field. See also IN.

ZN

Syntax ZN(expression)
Output Depends on the data type of the <expression>, or 0.
Definition Returns <expression> if it isn't null, otherwise returns zero.
Example 
ZN([Test Grade])

"If the test grade isn't null, return its value. If the test grade is null, return 0."

Notes

ZN is a specialized case of IFNULL where alternative if the expression is null is always 0 rather than being specified in the calculation.

ZN is especially useful when performing additional calculations and a null would render the entire calculation null. However, use caution interpreting these results as null is not always synonymous with 0 and could represent missing data.

See also ISNULL.

Aggregate functions

ATTR

Syntax ATTR(expression)
Definition Returns the value of the expression if it has a single value for all rows. Otherwise returns an asterisk. Null values are ignored.

AVG

Syntax AVG(expression)
Definition Returns the average of all the values in the expression. Null values are ignored.
Notes AVG can only be used with numeric fields.

COLLECT

Syntax COLLECT(spatial)
Definition An aggregate calculation that combines the values in the argument field. Null values are ignored.
Notes COLLECT can only be used with spatial fields.

CORR

Syntax CORR(expression1, expression2)
Output Number from -1 to 1
Definition Returns the Pearson correlation coefficient of two expressions.
Example 
example
Notes

The Pearson correlation measures the linear relationship between two variables. Results range from -1 to +1 inclusive, where 1 denotes an exact positive linear relationship, 0 denotes no linear relationship between the variance, and −1 is an exact negative relationship.

The square of a CORR result is equivalent to the R-Squared value for a linear trend line model. See Trend Line Model Terms(Link opens in a new window).

Use with table scoped LOD expressions:

You can use CORR to visualize correlation in a disaggregated scatter using a table-scoped level of detail expression(Link opens in a new window). For example:

{CORR(Sales, Profit)}

With a level of detail expression, the correlation is run over all rows. If you used a formula like CORR(Sales, Profit) (without the surrounding brackets to make it a level of detail expression), the view would show the correlation of each individual point in the scatter plot with each other point, which is undefined.
Database limitations

CORR is available with the following data sources: Tableau data extracts, Cloudera Hive, EXASolution, Firebird (version 3.0 and later), Google BigQuery, Hortonworks Hadoop Hive, IBM PDA (Netezza), Oracle, PostgreSQL, Presto, SybaseIQ, Teradata, Vertica.

For other data sources, consider either extracting the data or using WINDOW_CORR. See Table Calculation Functions(Link opens in a new window).

COUNT

Syntax COUNT(expression)
Definition Returns the number of items. Null values are not counted.

COUNTD

Syntax COUNTD(expression)
Definition Returns the number of distinct items in a group. Null values are not counted.

COVAR

Syntax COVAR(expression1, expression2)
Definition Returns the sample covariance of two expressions.
Notes

Covariance quantifies how two variables change together. A positive covariance indicates that the variables tend to move in the same direction, as when larger values of one variable tend to correspond to larger values of the other variable, on average. Sample covariance uses the number of non-null data points n - 1 to normalize the covariance calculation, rather than n, which is used by the population covariance (available with the COVARP function). Sample covariance is the appropriate choice when the data is a random sample that is being used to estimate the covariance for a larger population.

If <expression1> and <expression2> are the same, for example COVAR([profit], [profit]), COVAR returns a value that indicates how widely values are distributed.

The value of COVAR(X, X) is equivalent to the value of VAR(X) and also to the value of STDEV(X)^2.
Database limitations

COVAR is available with the following data sources: Tableau data extracts, Cloudera Hive, EXASolution, Firebird (version 3.0 and later), Google BigQuery, Hortonworks Hadoop Hive, IBM PDA (Netezza), Oracle, PostgreSQL, Presto, SybaseIQ, Teradata, Vertica.

For other data sources, consider either extracting the data or using WINDOW_COVAR. See Table Calculation Functions(Link opens in a new window).

COVARP

Syntax COVARP(expression 1, expression2)
Definition Returns the population covariance of two expressions.
Notes

Covariance quantifies how two variables change together. A positive covariance indicates that the variables tend to move in the same direction, as when larger values of one variable tend to correspond to larger values of the other variable, on average. Population covariance is sample covariance multiplied by (n-1)/n, where n is the total number of non-null data points. Population covariance is the appropriate choice when there is data available for all items of interest as opposed to when there is only a random subset of items, in which case sample covariance (with the COVAR function) is appropriate.

If <expression1> and <expression2> are the same, for example COVARP([profit], [profit]), COVARP returns a value that indicates how widely values are distributed. Note: The value of COVARP(X, X) is equivalent to the value of VARP(X) and also to the value of STDEVP(X)^2.
Database limitations

COVARP is available with the following data sources: Tableau data extracts, Cloudera Hive, EXASolution, Firebird (version 3.0 and later), Google BigQuery, Hortonworks Hadoop Hive, IBM PDA (Netezza), Oracle, PostgreSQL, Presto, SybaseIQ, Teradata, Vertica

For other data sources, consider either extracting the data or using WINDOW_COVAR. See Table Calculation Functions(Link opens in a new window).

MAX

Syntax MAX(expression) or MAX(expr1, expr2)
Output Same data type as the argument, or NULL if any part of the argument is null.
Definition

Returns the maximum of the two arguments, which must be of the same data type.

MAX can also be applied to a single field as an aggregation.
Example 
MAX(4,7) = 7
MAX(#3/25/1986#, #2/20/2021#) = #2/20/2021# 
MAX([Name]) = "Zander"
Notes

For strings

MAX is usually the value that comes last in alphabetical order.

For database data sources, the MAX string value is highest in the sort sequence defined by the database for that column.

For dates

For dates, the MAX is the most recent date. If MAX is an aggregation, the result will not have a date hierarchy. If MAX is a comparison, the result will retain the date hierarchy.

As an aggregation

MAX(expression) is an aggregate function and returns a single aggregated result. This displays as AGG(expression) in the viz.

As a comparison

MAX(expr1, expr2) compares the two values and returns a row-level value.

See also MIN.

MEDIAN

Syntax MEDIAN(expression)
Definition Returns the median of an expression across all records. Null values are ignored.
Notes MEDIAN can only be used with numeric fields.
Database limitations

MEDIAN is not available for the following data sources: Access, Amazon Redshift, Cloudera Hadoop, HP Vertica, IBM DB2, IBM PDA (Netezza), Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, SAP HANA, Teradata.

For other data source types, you can extract your data into an extract file to use this function. See Extract Your Data(Link opens in a new window).

MIN

Syntax MIN(expression) or MIN(expr1, expr2)
Output Same data type as the argument, or NULL if any part of the argument is null.
Definition

Returns the minimum of the two arguments, which must be of the same data type.

MIN can also be applied to a single field as an aggregation.
Example 
MIN(4,7) = 4
MIN(#3/25/1986#, #2/20/2021#) = #3/25/1986#
MIN([Name]) = "Abebi"
Notes

For strings

MIN is usually the value that comes first in alphabetical order.

For database data sources, the MIN string value is lowest in the sort sequence defined by the database for that column.

For dates

For dates, the MIN is the earliest date. If MIN is an aggregation, the result will not have a date hierarchy. If MIN is a comparison, the result will retain the date hierarchy.

As an aggregation

MIN(expression) is an aggregate function and returns a single aggregated result. This displays as AGG(expression) in the viz.

As a comparison

MIN(expr1, expr2) compares the two values and returns a row-level value.

See also MAX.

PERCENTILE

Syntax PERCENTILE(expression, number)
Definition Returns the percentile value from the given expression corresponding to the specified <number>. The <number> must be between 0 and 1 (inclusive) and must be a numeric constant.
Example 
PERCENTILE([Score], 0.9)
Notes  
Database limitations

This function is available for the following data sources: Non-legacy Microsoft Excel and Text File connections, Extracts and extract-only data source types (for example, Google Analytics, OData, or Salesforce), Sybase IQ 15.1 and later data sources, Oracle 10 and later data sources, Cloudera Hive and Hortonworks Hadoop Hive data sources, EXASolution 4.2 and later data sources.

For other data source types, you can extract your data into an extract file to use this function. See Extract Your Data(Link opens in a new window).

STDEV

Syntax STDEV(expression)
Definition Returns the statistical standard deviation of all values in the given expression based on a sample of the population.

STDEVP

Syntax STDEVP(expression)
Definition Returns the statistical standard deviation of all values in the given expression based on a biased population.

SUM

Syntax SUM(expression)
Definition Returns the sum of all values in the expression. Null values are ignored.
Notes SUM can only be used with numeric fields.

VAR

Syntax VAR(expression)
Definition Returns the statistical variance of all values in the given expression based on a sample of the population.

VARP

Syntax VARP(expression)
Definition Returns the statistical variance of all values in the given expression on the entire population.
User functions

FULLNAME( )

Syntax FULLNAME( )
Output String
Definition

Returns the full name for the current user.

Example 
FULLNAME( )

This returns the full name of the signed in user, such as "Hamlin Myrer".

[Manager] = FULLNAME( )

If manager "Hamlin Myrer" is signed in, this example returns TRUE only if the Manager field in the view contains "Hamlin Myrer".

Notes

This function checks:

  • Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server: the full name of the signed-in user
  • Tableau Desktop: the local or network full name for the user

User filters

When used as a filter, a calculated field such as [Username field] = FULLNAME( ) can be used to create a user filter that only shows data that is relevant to the person signed in to the server.

ISFULLNAME

Syntax ISFULLNAME("User Full Name")
Output Boolean
Definition

Returns TRUE if the current user's full name matches the specified full name or FALSE if it does not match.
Example 
ISFULLNAME("Hamlin Myrer")
Notes

The <"User Full Name"> argument must be a literal string, not a field.

This function checks:

  • Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server: the full name of the signed-in user
  • Tableau Desktop: the local or network full name for the user

ISMEMBEROF

Syntax ISMEMBEROF("Group Name")
Output Boolean or null
Definition

Returns TRUE if the person currently using Tableau is a member of a group that matches the given string, FALSE if they're not a member, and NULL if they're not signed in.

Example 
ISMEMBEROF('Superstars')
ISMEMBEROF('domain.lan\Sales')
Notes

The <"Group Full Name"> argument must be a literal string, not a field.

If the user is signed in to Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server, group membership is determined by Tableau groups. The function will return TRUE if the given string is "All Users"

The ISMEMBEROF( ) function will also accept Active Directory domains. The Active Directory domain must be declared in the calculation with the group name.

If a change is made to a user's group membership, the change in the data that is based on the group membership is reflected in a workbook or view with a new session. The existing session will reflect stale data.

ISUSERNAME

Syntax ISUSERNAME("username")
Output Boolean
Definition Returns TRUE if the current user's username matches the specified username or FALSE if it does not match.
Example 
ISUSERNAME("hmyrer")
Notes

The <"username"> argument must be a literal string, not a field.

This function checks:

  • Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server: the username of the signed-in user
  • Tableau Desktop: the local or network username for the user

USERDOMAIN( )

Syntax USERDOMAIN( )
Output String
Definition Returns the domain for the current user .
Notes

This function checks:

  • Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server: the user domain of the signed-in user
  • Tableau Desktop: the local domain if the user is on a domain

USERNAME( )

Syntax USERNAME( )
Output String
Definition Returns the username for the current user.
Example 
USERNAME( )

This returns the username of the signed in user, such as "hmyrer".

[Manager] = USERNAME( )

If manager "hmyrer" is signed in, this example returns TRUE only if the Manager field in the view contains "hmyrer".

Notes

This function checks:

  • Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server: the username of the signed-in user
  • Tableau Desktop: the local or network username for the user

User filters

When used as a filter, a calculated field such as [Username field] = USERNAME( ) can be used to create a user filter that only shows data that is relevant to the person signed in to the server.

USERATTRIBUTE

Note: For embedding workflows in Tableau Cloud only. For more information, see Authentication and Embedded Views(Link opens in a new window).

Syntax USERATTRIBUTE('attribute_name')
Output String or null
Definition

If <'attribute_name'> is part of the JSON web token (JWT) passed to Tableau, the calculation returns the first value of <'attribute_name'>.

Returns null if <'attribute_name'> does not exist.
Example

Suppose "Region" is the user attribute included in the JWT and passed to Tableau (using the connected app already configured by your site admin).

As the workbook author, you can set up your visualization to filter data based on a specified region. In that filter, you can reference the following calculation.

[Region] = USERATTRIBUTE("Region")

When User2 from the West region views the embedded visualization, Tableau shows the appropriate data for the West region only.
Notes You can use the USERATTRIBUTEINCLUDES function if you expect <'attribute_name'> to return multiple values.

USERATTRIBUTEINCLUDES

Note: For embedding workflows in Tableau Cloud only. For more information, see Authentication and Embedded Views(Link opens in a new window).

Syntax USERATTRIBUTEINCLUDES('attribute_name', 'expected_value')
Output Boolean
Definition

Returns TRUE if both of the following are true:

  • <'attribute_name'> is part of the JSON web token (JWT) passed to Tableau
  • one of <'attribute_name'> values equals <'expected_value'> .

Returns FALSE otherwise.
Example

Suppose "Region" is the user attribute included in the JWT and passed to Tableau (using the connected app already configured by your site admin).

As the workbook author, you can set up your visualization to filter data based on a specified region. In that filter, you can reference the following calculation.

USERATTRIBUTEINCLUDES('Region', [Region])

If User2 from the West region accesses the embedded visualization, Tableau checks if the Region user attribute matches one of [Region] field values. When true, the visualization shows the appropriate data.

When User3 from the North region accesses the same visualization, she’s unable to see any data because there’s no match with [Region] field values.
Table calculations

FIRST( )

Returns the number of rows from the current row to the first row in the partition. For example, the view below shows quarterly sales. When FIRST() is computed within the Date partition, the offset of the first row from the second row is -1.

Example

When the current row index is 3, FIRST() = -2.

INDEX( )

Returns the index of the current row in the partition, without any sorting with regard to value. The first row index starts at 1. For example, the table below shows quarterly sales. When INDEX() is computed within the Date partition, the index of each row is 1, 2, 3, 4..., etc.

Example

For the third row in the partition, INDEX() = 3.

LAST( )

Returns the number of rows from the current row to the last row in the partition. For example, the table below shows quarterly sales. When LAST() is computed within the Date partition, the offset of the last row from the second row is 5.

Example

When the current row index is 3 of 7, LAST() = 4.

LOOKUP(expression, [offset])

Returns the value of the expression in a target row, specified as a relative offset from the current row. Use FIRST() + n and LAST() - n as part of your offset definition for a target relative to the first/last rows in the partition. If offset is omitted, the row to compare to can be set on the field menu. This function returns NULL if the target row cannot be determined.

The view below shows quarterly sales. When LOOKUP (SUM(Sales), 2) is computed within the Date partition, each row shows the sales value from 2 quarters into the future.

Example

LOOKUP(SUM([Profit]), FIRST()+2) computes the SUM(Profit) in the third row of the partition.

MODEL_EXTENSION_BOOL (model_name, arguments, expression)

Returns the boolean result of an expression as calculated by a named model deployed on a TabPy external service.

Model_name is the name of the deployed analytics model you want to use.

Each argument is a single string that sets the input values that the deployed model accepts, and is defined by the analytics model.

Use expressions to define the values that are sent from Tableau to the analytics model. Be sure to use aggregation functions (SUM, AVG, etc.) to aggregate the results.

When using the function, the data types and order of the expressions must match that of the input arguments.

Example

MODEL_EXTENSION_BOOL ("isProfitable","inputSales", "inputCosts", SUM([Sales]), SUM([Costs]))

MODEL_EXTENSION_INT (model_name, arguments, expression)

Returns an integer result of an expression as calculated by a named model deployed on a TabPy external service.

Model_name is the name of the deployed analytics model you want to use.

Each argument is a single string that sets the input values that the deployed model accepts, and is defined by the analytics model.

Use expressions to define the values that are sent from Tableau to the analytics model. Be sure to use aggregation functions (SUM, AVG, etc.) to aggregate the results.

When using the function, the data types and order of the expressions must match that of the input arguments.

Example

MODEL_EXTENSION_INT ("getPopulation", "inputCity", "inputState", MAX([City]), MAX ([State]))

MODEL_EXTENSION_REAL (model_name, arguments, expression)

Returns a real result of an expression as calculated by a named model deployed on a TabPy external service.

Model_name is the name of the deployed analytics model you want to use.

Each argument is a single string that sets the input values that the deployed model accepts, and is defined by the analytics model.

Use expressions to define the values that are sent from Tableau to the analytics model. Be sure to use aggregation functions (SUM, AVG, etc.) to aggregate the results.

When using the function, the data types and order of the expressions must match that of the input arguments.

Example

MODEL_EXTENSION_REAL ("profitRatio", "inputSales", "inputCosts", SUM([Sales]), SUM([Costs]))

MODEL_EXTENSION_STRING (model_name, arguments, expression)

Returns the string result of an expression as calculated by a named model deployed on a TabPy external service.

Model_name is the name of the deployed analytics model you want to use.

Each argument is a single string that sets the input values that the deployed model accepts, and is defined by the analytics model.

Use expressions to define the values that are sent from Tableau to the analytics model. Be sure to use aggregation functions (SUM, AVG, etc.) to aggregate the results.

When using the function, the data types and order of the expressions must match that of the input arguments.

Example

MODEL_EXTENSION_STR ("mostPopulatedCity", "inputCountry", "inputYear", MAX ([Country]), MAX([Year]))

MODEL_PERCENTILE(target_expression, predictor_expression(s))

Returns the probability (between 0 and 1) of the expected value being less than or equal to the observed mark, defined by the target expression and other predictors. This is the Posterior Predictive Distribution Function, also known as the Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF).

This function is the inverse of MODEL_QUANTILE. For information on predictive modeling functions, see How Predictive Modeling Functions Work in Tableau.

Example

The following formula returns the quantile of the mark for sum of sales, adjusted for count of orders.

MODEL_PERCENTILE(SUM([Sales]), COUNT([Orders]))

MODEL_QUANTILE(quantile, target_expression, predictor_expression(s))

Returns a target numeric value within the probable range defined by the target expression and other predictors, at a specified quantile. This is the Posterior Predictive Quantile.

This function is the inverse of MODEL_PERCENTILE. For information on predictive modeling functions, see How Predictive Modeling Functions Work in Tableau.

Example

The following formula returns the median (0.5) predicted sum of sales, adjusted for count of orders.

MODEL_QUANTILE(0.5, SUM([Sales]), COUNT([Orders]))

PREVIOUS_VALUE(expression)

Returns the value of this calculation in the previous row. Returns the given expression if the current row is the first row of the partition.

Example

SUM([Profit]) * PREVIOUS_VALUE(1) computes the running product of SUM(Profit).

RANK(expression, ['asc' | 'desc'])

Returns the standard competition rank for the current row in the partition. Identical values are assigned an identical rank. Use the optional 'asc' | 'desc' argument to specify ascending or descending order. The default is descending.

With this function, the set of values (6, 9, 9, 14) would be ranked (4, 2, 2, 1).

Nulls are ignored in ranking functions. They are not numbered and they do not count against the total number of records in percentile rank calculations.

For information on different ranking options, see Rank calculation.

Example

The following image shows the effect of the various ranking functions (RANK, RANK_DENSE, RANK_MODIFIED, RANK_PERCENTILE, and RANK_UNIQUE) on a set of values. The data set contains information on 14 students (StudentA through StudentN); the Age column shows the current age of each student (all students are between 17 and 20 years of age). The remaining columns show the effect of each rank function on the set of age values, always assuming the default order (ascending or descending) for the function.

RANK_DENSE(expression, ['asc' | 'desc'])

Returns the dense rank for the current row in the partition. Identical values are assigned an identical rank, but no gaps are inserted into the number sequence. Use the optional 'asc' | 'desc' argument to specify ascending or descending order. The default is descending.

With this function, the set of values (6, 9, 9, 14) would be ranked (3, 2, 2, 1).

Nulls are ignored in ranking functions. They are not numbered and they do not count against the total number of records in percentile rank calculations.

For information on different ranking options, see Rank calculation.

RANK_MODIFIED(expression, ['asc' | 'desc'])

Returns the modified competition rank for the current row in the partition. Identical values are assigned an identical rank. Use the optional 'asc' | 'desc' argument to specify ascending or descending order. The default is descending.

With this function, the set of values (6, 9, 9, 14) would be ranked (4, 3, 3, 1).

Nulls are ignored in ranking functions. They are not numbered and they do not count against the total number of records in percentile rank calculations.

For information on different ranking options, see Rank calculation.

RANK_PERCENTILE(expression, ['asc' | 'desc'])

Returns the percentile rank for the current row in the partition. Use the optional 'asc' | 'desc' argument to specify ascending or descending order. The default is ascending.

With this function, the set of values (6, 9, 9, 14) would be ranked (0.00, 0.67, 0.67, 1.00).

Nulls are ignored in ranking functions. They are not numbered and they do not count against the total number of records in percentile rank calculations.

For information on different ranking options, see Rank calculation.

RANK_UNIQUE(expression, ['asc' | 'desc'])

Returns the unique rank for the current row in the partition. Identical values are assigned different ranks. Use the optional 'asc' | 'desc' argument to specify ascending or descending order. The default is descending.

With this function, the set of values (6, 9, 9, 14) would be ranked (4, 2, 3, 1).

Nulls are ignored in ranking functions. They are not numbered and they do not count against the total number of records in percentile rank calculations.

For information on different ranking options, see Rank calculation.

RUNNING_AVG(expression)

Returns the running average of the given expression, from the first row in the partition to the current row.

The view below shows quarterly sales. When RUNNING_AVG(SUM([Sales]) is computed within the Date partition, the result is a running average of the sales values for each quarter.

Example

RUNNING_AVG(SUM([Profit])) computes the running average of SUM(Profit).

RUNNING_COUNT(expression)

Returns the running count of the given expression, from the first row in the partition to the current row.

Example

RUNNING_COUNT(SUM([Profit])) computes the running count of SUM(Profit).

RUNNING_MAX(expression)

Returns the running maximum of the given expression, from the first row in the partition to the current row.

Example

RUNNING_MAX(SUM([Profit])) computes the running maximum of SUM(Profit).

RUNNING_MIN(expression)

Returns the running minimum of the given expression, from the first row in the partition to the current row.

Example

RUNNING_MIN(SUM([Profit])) computes the running minimum of SUM(Profit).

RUNNING_SUM(expression)

Returns the running sum of the given expression, from the first row in the partition to the current row.

Example

RUNNING_SUM(SUM([Profit])) computes the running sum of SUM(Profit)

SIZE()

Returns the number of rows in the partition. For example, the view below shows quarterly sales. Within the Date partition, there are seven rows so the Size() of the Date partition is 7.

Example

SIZE() = 5 when the current partition contains five rows.

SCRIPT_BOOL

Returns a Boolean result from the specified expression. The expression is passed directly to a running analytics extension service instance.

In R expressions, use .argn (with a leading period) to reference parameters (.arg1, .arg2, etc.).

In Python expressions, use _argn (with a leading underscore).

Examples

In this R example, .arg1 is equal to SUM([Profit]):

SCRIPT_BOOL("is.finite(.arg1)", SUM([Profit]))

The next example returns True for store IDs in Washington state, and False otherwise. This example could be the definition for a calculated field titled IsStoreInWA.

SCRIPT_BOOL('grepl(".*_WA", .arg1, perl=TRUE)',ATTR([Store ID]))

A command for Python would take this form:

SCRIPT_BOOL("return map(lambda x : x > 0, _arg1)", SUM([Profit]))

SCRIPT_INT

Returns an integer result from the specified expression. The expression is passed directly to a running analytics extension service instance.

In R expressions, use .argn (with a leading period) to reference parameters (.arg1, .arg2, etc.)

In Python expressions, use _argn (with a leading underscore).

Examples

In this R example, .arg1 is equal to SUM([Profit]):

SCRIPT_INT("is.finite(.arg1)", SUM([Profit]))

In the next example, k-means clustering is used to create three clusters:

SCRIPT_INT('result <- kmeans(data.frame(.arg1,.arg2,.arg3,.arg4), 3);result$cluster;', SUM([Petal length]), SUM([Petal width]),SUM([Sepal length]),SUM([Sepal width]))

A command for Python would take this form:

SCRIPT_INT("return map(lambda x : int(x * 5), _arg1)", SUM([Profit]))

SCRIPT_REAL

Returns a real result from the specified expression. The expression is passed directly to a running analytics extension service instance. In

R expressions, use .argn (with a leading period) to reference parameters (.arg1, .arg2, etc.)

In Python expressions, use _argn (with a leading underscore).

Examples

In this R example, .arg1 is equal to SUM([Profit]):

SCRIPT_REAL("is.finite(.arg1)", SUM([Profit]))

The next example converts temperature values from Celsius to Fahrenheit.

SCRIPT_REAL('library(udunits2);ud.convert(.arg1, "celsius", "degree_fahrenheit")',AVG([Temperature]))

A command for Python would take this form:

SCRIPT_REAL("return map(lambda x : x * 0.5, _arg1)", SUM([Profit]))

SCRIPT_STR

Returns a string result from the specified expression. The expression is passed directly to a running analytics extension service instance.

In R expressions, use .argn (with a leading period) to reference parameters (.arg1, .arg2, etc.)

In Python expressions, use _argn (with a leading underscore).

Examples

In this R example, .arg1 is equal to SUM([Profit]):

SCRIPT_STR("is.finite(.arg1)", SUM([Profit]))

The next example extracts a state abbreviation from a more complicated string (in the original form 13XSL_CA, A13_WA):

SCRIPT_STR('gsub(".*_", "", .arg1)',ATTR([Store ID]))

A command for Python would take this form:

SCRIPT_STR("return map(lambda x : x[:2], _arg1)", ATTR([Region]))

TOTAL(expression)

Returns the total for the given expression in a table calculation partition.

Example

Assume you are starting with this view:

You open the calculation editor and create a new field which you name Totality:

You then drop Totality on Text, to replace SUM(Sales). Your view changes such that it sums values based on the default Compute Using value:

This raises the question, What is the default Compute Using value? If you right-click (Control-click on a Mac) Totality in the Data pane and choose Edit, there is now an additional bit of information available:

The default Compute Using value is Table (Across). The result is that Totality is summing the values across each row of your table. Thus, the value that you see across each row is the sum of the values from the original version of the table.

The values in the 2011/Q1 row in the original table were $8601, $6579, $44262, and $15006. The values in the table after Totality replaces SUM(Sales) are all $74,448, which is the sum of the four original values.

Notice the triangle next to Totality after you drop it on Text:

This indicates that this field is using a table calculation. You can right-click the field and choose Edit Table Calculation to redirect your function to a different Compute Using value. For example, you could set it to Table (Down). In that case, your table would look like this:

WINDOW_AVG(expression, [start, end])

Returns the average of the expression within the window. The window is defined by means of offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

For example, the view below shows quarterly sales. A window average within the Date partition returns the average sales across all dates.

Example

WINDOW_AVG(SUM([Profit]), FIRST()+1, 0) computes the average of SUM(Profit) from the second row to the current row.

WINDOW_CORR(expression1, expression2, [start, end])

Returns the Pearson correlation coefficient of two expressions within the window. The window is defined as offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

The Pearson correlation measures the linear relationship between two variables. Results range from -1 to +1 inclusive, where 1 denotes an exact positive linear relationship, as when a positive change in one variable implies a positive change of corresponding magnitude in the other, 0 denotes no linear relationship between the variance, and −1 is an exact negative relationship.

There is an equivalent aggregation fuction: CORR. See Tableau Functions (Alphabetical)(Link opens in a new window).

Example

The following formula returns the Pearson correlation of SUM(Profit) and SUM(Sales) from the five previous rows to the current row.

WINDOW_CORR(SUM[Profit]), SUM([Sales]), -5, 0)

WINDOW_COUNT(expression, [start, end])

Returns the count of the expression within the window. The window is defined by means of offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

Example

WINDOW_COUNT(SUM([Profit]), FIRST()+1, 0) computes the count of SUM(Profit) from the second row to the current row

WINDOW_COVAR(expression1, expression2, [start, end])

Returns the sample covariance of two expressions within the window. The window is defined as offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end arguments are omitted, the window is the entire partition.

Sample covariance uses the number of non-null data points n - 1 to normalize the covariance calculation, rather than n, which is used by the population covariance (with the WINDOW_COVARP function). Sample covariance is the appropriate choice when the data is a random sample that is being used to estimate the covariance for a larger population.

There is an equivalent aggregation fuction: COVAR. See Tableau Functions (Alphabetical)(Link opens in a new window).

Example

The following formula returns the sample covariance of SUM(Profit) and SUM(Sales) from the two previous rows to the current row.

WINDOW_COVAR(SUM([Profit]), SUM([Sales]), -2, 0)

WINDOW_COVARP(expression1, expression2, [start, end])

Returns the population covariance of two expressions within the window. The window is defined as offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

Population covariance is sample covariance multiplied by (n-1)/n, where n is the total number of non-null data points. Population covariance is the appropriate choice when there is data available for all items of interest as opposed to when there is only a random subset of items, in which case sample covariance (with the WINDOW_COVAR function) is appropriate.

There is an equivalent aggregation fuction: COVARP. Tableau Functions (Alphabetical)(Link opens in a new window).

Example

The following formula returns the population covariance of SUM(Profit) and SUM(Sales) from the two previous rows to the current row.

WINDOW_COVARP(SUM([Profit]), SUM([Sales]), -2, 0)

WINDOW_MEDIAN(expression, [start, end])

Returns the median of the expression within the window. The window is defined by means of offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

For example, the view below shows quarterly profit. A window median within the Date partition returns the median profit across all dates.

Example

WINDOW_MEDIAN(SUM([Profit]), FIRST()+1, 0) computes the median of SUM(Profit) from the second row to the current row.

WINDOW_MAX(expression, [start, end])

Returns the maximum of the expression within the window. The window is defined by means of offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

For example, the view below shows quarterly sales. A window maximum within the Date partition returns the maximum sales across all dates.

Example

WINDOW_MAX(SUM([Profit]), FIRST()+1, 0) computes the maximum of SUM(Profit) from the second row to the current row.

WINDOW_MIN(expression, [start, end])

Returns the minimum of the expression within the window. The window is defined by means of offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

For example, the view below shows quarterly sales. A window minimum within the Date partition returns the minimum sales across all dates.

Example

WINDOW_MIN(SUM([Profit]), FIRST()+1, 0) computes the minimum of SUM(Profit) from the second row to the current row.

WINDOW_PERCENTILE(expression, number, [start, end])

Returns the value corresponding to the specified percentile within the window. The window is defined by means of offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

Example

WINDOW_PERCENTILE(SUM([Profit]), 0.75, -2, 0) returns the 75th percentile for SUM(Profit) from the two previous rows to the current row.

WINDOW_STDEV(expression, [start, end])

Returns the sample standard deviation of the expression within the window. The window is defined by means of offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

Example

WINDOW_STDEV(SUM([Profit]), FIRST()+1, 0) computes the standard deviation of SUM(Profit) from the second row to the current row.

WINDOW_STDEVP(expression, [start, end])

Returns the biased standard deviation of the expression within the window. The window is defined by means of offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

Example

WINDOW_STDEVP(SUM([Profit]), FIRST()+1, 0) computes the standard deviation of SUM(Profit) from the second row to the current row.

WINDOW_SUM(expression, [start, end])

Returns the sum of the expression within the window. The window is defined by means of offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

For example, the view below shows quarterly sales. A window sum computed within the Date partition returns the summation of sales across all quarters.

Example

WINDOW_SUM(SUM([Profit]), FIRST()+1, 0) computes the sum of SUM(Profit) from the second row to the current row.

WINDOW_VAR(expression, [start, end])

Returns the sample variance of the expression within the window. The window is defined by means of offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

Example

WINDOW_VAR((SUM([Profit])), FIRST()+1, 0) computes the variance of SUM(Profit) from the second row to the current row.

WINDOW_VARP(expression, [start, end])

Returns the biased variance of the expression within the window. The window is defined by means of offsets from the current row. Use FIRST()+n and LAST()-n for offsets from the first or last row in the partition. If the start and end are omitted, the entire partition is used.

Example

WINDOW_VARP(SUM([Profit]), FIRST()+1, 0) computes the variance of SUM(Profit) from the second row to the current row.

Pass-Through functions (RAWSQL)

These RAWSQL pass-through functions can be used to send SQL expressions directly to the database, without first being interpreted by Tableau. If you have custom database functions that Tableau doesn’t know about, you can use these pass-through functions to call these custom functions.

Your database usually will not understand the field names that are shown in Tableau. Because Tableau does not interpret the SQL expressions you include in the pass-through functions, using the Tableau field names in your expression may cause errors. You can use a substitution syntax to insert the correct field name or expression for a Tableau calculation into pass-through SQL. For example, if you had a function that computed the median of a set of values, you could call that function on the Tableau column [Sales] like this:

RAWSQLAGG_REAL(“MEDIAN(%1)”, [Sales])

Because Tableau does not interpret the expression, you must define the aggregation. You can use the RAWSQLAGG functions described below when you are using aggregated expressions.

RAWSQL pass-through functions may not work with extracts or published data sources if they contain relationships.

RAWSQL Functions

The following RAWSQL functions are available in Tableau.

RAWSQL_BOOL(“sql_expr”, [arg1], …[argN])

Returns a Boolean result from a given SQL expression. The SQL expression is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values.

Example

In the example, %1 is equal to [Sales] and %2 is equal to [Profit].

RAWSQL_BOOL(“IIF( %1 > %2, True, False)”, [Sales], [Profit])

RAWSQL_DATE(“sql_expr”, [arg1], …[argN])

Returns a Date result from a given SQL expression. The SQL expression is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values.

Example

In this example, %1 is equal to [Order Date].

RAWSQL_DATE(“%1”, [Order Date])

RAWSQL_DATETIME(“sql_expr”, [arg1], …[argN])

Returns a Date and Time result from a given SQL expression. The SQL expression is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values. In this example, %1 is equal to [Delivery Date].

Example

RAWSQL_DATETIME(“MIN(%1)”, [Delivery Date])

RAWSQL_INT(“sql_expr”, [arg1], …[argN])

Returns an integer result from a given SQL expression. The SQL expression is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values. In this example, %1 is equal to [Sales].

Example

RAWSQL_INT(“500 + %1”, [Sales])

RAWSQL_REAL(“sql_expr”, [arg1], …[argN])

Returns a numeric result from a given SQL expression that is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values. In this example, %1 is equal to [Sales]

Example

RAWSQL_REAL(“-123.98 * %1”, [Sales])

RAWSQL_SPATIAL

Returns a Spatial from a given SQL expression that is passed directly to the underlying data source. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values.

Example

In this example, %1 is equal to [Geometry].

RAWSQL_SPATIAL("%1", [Geometry])

RAWSQL_STR(“sql_expr”, [arg1], …[argN])

Returns a string from a given SQL expression that is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values. In this example, %1 is equal to [Customer Name].

Example

RAWSQL_STR(“%1”, [Customer Name])

RAWSQLAGG_BOOL(“sql_expr”, [arg1], …[argN])

Returns a Boolean result from a given aggregate SQL expression. The SQL expression is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values.

Example

In the example, %1 is equal to [Sales] and %2 is equal to [Profit].

RAWSQLAGG_BOOL(“SUM( %1) >SUM( %2)”, [Sales], [Profit])

RAWSQLAGG_DATE(“sql_expr”, [arg1], …[argN])

Returns a Date result from a given aggregate SQL expression. The SQL expression is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values. In this example, %1 is equal to [Order Date].

Example

RAWSQLAGG_DATE(“MAX(%1)”, [Order Date])

RAWSQLAGG_DATETIME(“sql_expr”, [arg1], …[argN])

Returns a Date and Time result from a given aggregate SQL expression. The SQL expression is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values. In this example, %1 is equal to [Delivery Date].

Example

RAWSQLAGG_DATETIME(“MIN(%1)”, [Delivery Date])

RAWSQLAGG_INT(“sql_expr”, [arg1,] …[argN])

Returns an integer result from a given aggregate SQL expression. The SQL expression is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values. In this example, %1 is equal to [Sales].

Example

RAWSQLAGG_INT(“500 + SUM(%1)”, [Sales])

RAWSQLAGG_REAL(“sql_expr”, [arg1,] …[argN])

Returns a numeric result from a given aggregate SQL expression that is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values. In this example, %1 is equal to [Sales]

Example

RAWSQLAGG_REAL(“SUM( %1)”, [Sales])

RAWSQLAGG_STR(“sql_expr”, [arg1,] …[argN])

Returns a string from a given aggregate SQL expression that is passed directly to the underlying database. Use %n in the SQL expression as a substitution syntax for database values. In this example, %1 is equal to [Discount].

Example

RAWSQLAGG_STR(“AVG(%1)”, [Discount])

Spatial functions

Spatial functions allow you to perform advanced spatial analysis and combine spatial files with data in other formats like text files or spreadsheets.

AREA

Syntax AREA(Spatial Polygon, 'units')
Output Number
Definition Returns the total surface area of a <spatial polygon>.
Example 
AREA([Geometry], 'feet')
Notes

Supported unit names (must be in quotation marks in the calculation, such as 'miles'):

  • meters: meters, metres, m
  • kilometers: kilometers, kilometres, km
  • miles: miles, mi
  • feet: feet, ft

BUFFER

Syntax BUFFER(Spatial Point, distance, 'units')

BUFFER(Linestring, distance, 'units')

  • meters: meters, metres, m
  • kilometers: kilometers, kilometres, km
  • miles: miles, mi
  • feet: feet, ft
Output Geometry
Definition

For spatial points, returns a polygon shape centered over a <spatial point>, with a radius determined by the <distance> and <unit> values.

For linestrings, computes the polygons formed by including all points within the radius distance from the linestring.
Example 
BUFFER([Spatial Point Geometry], 25, 'mi')
BUFFER(MAKEPOINT(47.59, -122.32), 3, 'km')
BUFFER(MAKELINE(MAKEPOINT(0, 20),MAKEPOINT (30, 30)),20,'km'))
Notes

Supported unit names (must be in quotation marks in the calculation, such as 'miles'):

  • meters: meters, metres, m
  • kilometers: kilometers, kilometres, km
  • miles: miles, mi
  • feet: feet, ft

DISTANCE

Syntax DISTANCE(SpatialPoint1, SpatialPoint2, 'units')
Output Number
Definition Returns the distance measurement between two points in the specified <unit>.
Example 
DISTANCE([Origin Point],[Destination Point], 'km')
Notes

Supported unit names (must be in quotation marks in the calculation, such as 'miles'):

  • meters: meters, metres, m
  • kilometers: kilometers, kilometres, km
  • miles: miles, mi
  • feet: feet, ft
Database limitations This function can only be created with a live connection but will continue to work if the data source is converted to an extract.

INTERSECTS

Syntax INTERSECTS (geometry1, geometry2)
Output Boolean
Definition Returns true or false indicating if two geometries overlap in space.
Notes Supported combinations: point/polygon, line/polygon, and polygon/polygon.

MAKELINE

Syntax MAKELINE(SpatialPoint1, SpatialPoint2)
Output Geometry (line)
Definition Generates a line mark between two points
Example 
MAKELINE(MAKEPOINT(47.59, -122.32), MAKEPOINT(48.5, -123.1))
Notes Useful for building origin-destination maps.

MAKEPOINT

Syntax MAKEPOINT(latitude, longitude, [SRID])
Output Geometry (point)
Definition

Converts data from <latitude> and <longitude> columns into spatial objects.

If the optional <SRID> argument is added, the inputs can be other projected geographic coordinates.

Example 
MAKEPOINT(48.5, -123.1)
MAKEPOINT([AirportLatitude], [AirportLongitude])
MAKEPOINT([Xcoord],[Ycoord], 3493)
Notes

MAKEPOINT can't use the automatically generated latitude and longitude fields. The data source must contain the coordinates natively.

SRID is a spatial reference identifier that uses ESPG reference system codes(Link opens in a new window) to specify coordinate systems. If SRID is not specified, WGS84 is assumed and parameters are treated as latitude/longitude in degrees.

You can use MAKEPOINT to spatially-enable a data source so that it can be joined with a spatial file using a spatial join. For more information, see Join Spatial Files in Tableau .

LENGTH

Syntax LENGTH(geometry, 'units')
Output Number
Definition Returns the geodetic path length of the line string or strings in the <geometry> using the given <units>.
Example 
LENGTH([Spatial], 'metres')
Notes The result is <NaN> if the geometry argument has no linestrings, though other elements are permitted.

OUTLINE

Syntax OUTLINE(spatial polygon)
Output Geometry
Definition Converts a polygon geometry into linestrings.
Notes

Useful for creating a separate layer for an outline that can be styled differently than the fill.

Supports polygons within multipolygons.

SHAPETYPE

Syntax SHAPETYPE(geometry)
Output String
Definition Returns a string describing the structure of the spatial <geometry>, such as Empty, Point, MultiPoint, LineString, MultiLinestring, Polygon, MultiPolygon, Mixed, and unsupported
Example 
SHAPETYPE(MAKEPOINT(48.5, -123.1)) = "Point"
Additional functions
For more information, see Pass-Through Functions (RAWSQL)(Link opens in a new window).

Regular Expressions

REGEXP_REPLACE(string, pattern, replacement)

Returns a copy of the given string where the regular expression pattern is replaced by the replacement string. This function is available for Text File, Hadoop Hive, Google BigQuery, PostgreSQL, Tableau Data Extract, Microsoft Excel, Salesforce, Vertica, Pivotal Greenplum, Teradata (version 14.1 and above), Snowflake, and Oracle data sources.

For Tableau data extracts, the pattern and the replacement must be constants.

For information on regular expression syntax, see your data source's documentation. For Tableau extracts, regular expression syntax conforms to the standards of the ICU (International Components for Unicode), an open source project of mature C/C++ and Java libraries for Unicode support, software internationalization, and software globalization. See the Regular Expressions(Link opens in a new window) page in the online ICU User Guide.

Example

REGEXP_REPLACE('abc 123', '\s', '-') = 'abc-123'

REGEXP_MATCH(string, pattern)

Returns true if a substring of the specified string matches the regular expression pattern. This function is available for Text File, Google BigQuery, PostgreSQL, Tableau Data Extract, Microsoft Excel, Salesforce, Vertica, Pivotal Greenplum, Teradata (version 14.1 and above), Impala 2.3.0 (through Cloudera Hadoop data sources), Snowflake, and Oracle data sources.

For Tableau data extracts, the pattern must be a constant.

For information on regular expression syntax, see your data source's documentation. For Tableau extracts, regular expression syntax conforms to the standards of the ICU (International Components for Unicode), an open source project of mature C/C++ and Java libraries for Unicode support, software internationalization, and software globalization. See the Regular Expressions(Link opens in a new window) page in the online ICU User Guide.

Example

REGEXP_MATCH('-([1234].[The.Market])-','\[\s*(\w*\.)(\w*\s*\])')=true

REGEXP_EXTRACT(string, pattern)

Returns the portion of the string that matches the regular expression pattern. This function is available for Text File, Hadoop Hive, Google BigQuery, PostgreSQL, Tableau Data Extract, Microsoft Excel, Salesforce, Vertica, Pivotal Greenplum, Teradata (version 14.1 and above), Snowflake, and Oracle data sources.

For Tableau data extracts, the pattern must be a constant.

For information on regular expression syntax, see your data source's documentation. For Tableau extracts, regular expression syntax conforms to the standards of the ICU (International Components for Unicode), an open source project of mature C/C++ and Java libraries for Unicode support, software internationalization, and software globalization. See the Regular Expressions(Link opens in a new window) page in the online ICU User Guide.

Example

REGEXP_EXTRACT('abc 123', '[a-z]+\s+(\d+)') = '123'

REGEXP_EXTRACT_NTH(string, pattern, index)

Returns the portion of the string that matches the regular expression pattern. The substring is matched to the nth capturing group, where n is the given index. If index is 0, the entire string is returned. This function is available for Text File, PostgreSQL, Tableau Data Extract, Microsoft Excel, Salesforce, Vertica, Pivotal Greenplum, Teradata (version 14.1 and above), and Oracle data sources.

For Tableau data extracts, the pattern must be a constant.

For information on regular expression syntax, see your data source's documentation. For Tableau extracts, regular expression syntax conforms to the standards of the ICU (International Components for Unicode), an open source project of mature C/C++ and Java libraries for Unicode support, software internationalization, and software globalization. See the Regular Expressions(Link opens in a new window) page in the online ICU User Guide.

Example

REGEXP_EXTRACT_NTH('abc 123', '([a-z]+)\s+(\d+)', 2) = '123'

Hadoop Hive Specific Functions

Note: Only the PARSE_URL and PARSE_URL_QUERY functions are available for Cloudera Impala data sources.

GET_JSON_OBJECT(JSON string, JSON path)

Returns the JSON object within the JSON string based on the JSON path.

PARSE_URL(string, url_part)

Returns a component of the given URL string where the component is defined by url_part. Valid url_part values include: 'HOST', 'PATH', 'QUERY', 'REF', 'PROTOCOL', 'AUTHORITY', 'FILE' and 'USERINFO'.

Example

PARSE_URL('http://www.tableau.com', 'HOST') = 'www.tableau.com'

PARSE_URL_QUERY(string, key)

Returns the value of the specified query parameter in the given URL string. The query parameter is defined by the key.

Example

PARSE_URL_QUERY('http://www.tableau.com?page=1&cat=4', 'page') = '1'

XPATH_BOOLEAN(XML string, XPath expression string)

Returns true if the XPath expression matches a node or evaluates to true.

Example

XPATH_BOOLEAN('<values> <value id="0">1</value><value id="1">5</value>', 'values/value[@id="1"] = 5') = true

XPATH_DOUBLE(XML string, XPath expression string)

Returns the floating-point value of the XPath expression.

Example

XPATH_DOUBLE('<values><value>1.0</value><value>5.5</value> </values>', 'sum(value/*)') = 6.5

XPATH_FLOAT(XML string, XPath expression string)

Returns the floating-point value of the XPath expression.

Example

XPATH_FLOAT('<values><value>1.0</value><value>5.5</value> </values>','sum(value/*)') = 6.5

XPATH_INT(XML string, XPath expression string)

Returns the numerical value of the XPath expression, or zero if the XPath expression cannot evaluate to a number.

Example

XPATH_INT('<values><value>1</value><value>5</value> </values>','sum(value/*)') = 6

XPATH_LONG(XML string, XPath expression string)

Returns the numerical value of the XPath expression, or zero if the XPath expression cannot evaluate to a number.

Example

XPATH_LONG('<values><value>1</value><value>5</value> </values>','sum(value/*)') = 6

XPATH_SHORT(XML string, XPath expression string)

Returns the numerical value of the XPath expression, or zero if the XPath expression cannot evaluate to a number.

Example

XPATH_SHORT('<values><value>1</value><value>5</value> </values>','sum(value/*)') = 6

XPATH_STRING(XML string, XPath expression string)

Returns the text of the first matching node.

Example

XPATH_STRING('<sites ><url domain="org">http://www.w3.org</url> <url domain="com">http://www.tableau.com</url></sites>', 'sites/url[@domain="com"]') = 'http://www.tableau.com'

Google BigQuery Specific Functions

DOMAIN(string_url)

Given a URL string, returns the domain as a string.

Example

DOMAIN('http://www.google.com:80/index.html') = 'google.com'

GROUP_CONCAT(expression)

Concatenates values from each record into a single comma-delimited string. This function acts like a SUM() for strings.

Example

GROUP_CONCAT(Region) = "Central,East,West"

HOST(string_url)

Given a URL string, returns the host name as a string.

Example

HOST('http://www.google.com:80/index.html') = 'www.google.com:80'

LOG2(number)

Returns the logarithm base 2 of a number.

Example

LOG2(16) = '4.00'

LTRIM_THIS(string, string)

Returns the first string with any leading occurrence of the second string removed.

Example

LTRIM_THIS('[-Sales-]','[-') = 'Sales-]'

RTRIM_THIS(string, string)

Returns the first string with any trailing occurrence of the second string removed.

Example

RTRIM_THIS('[-Market-]','-]') = '[-Market'

TIMESTAMP_TO_USEC(expression)

Converts a TIMESTAMP data type to a UNIX timestamp in microseconds.

Example

TIMESTAMP_TO_USEC(#2012-10-01 01:02:03#)=1349053323000000

USEC_TO_TIMESTAMP(expression)

Converts a UNIX timestamp in microsseconds to a TIMESTAMP data type.

Example

USEC_TO_TIMESTAMP(1349053323000000) = #2012-10-01 01:02:03#

TLD(string_url)

Given a URL string, returns the top level domain plus any country/region domain in the URL.

Example

TLD('http://www.google.com:80/index.html') = '.com'

TLD('http://www.google.co.uk:80/index.html') = '.co.uk'



Want to learn more about functions?

Read the functions topics(Link opens in a new window).

See also

Tableau Functions (Alphabetical)(Link opens in a new window)

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