Number Functions

This article introduces number functions and their uses in Tableau. It also demonstrates how to create a number calculation using an example.

Why use number functions

Number functions allow you to perform computations on the data values in your fields. Number functions can only be used with fields that contain numerical values. For more information, see Data Types.

For example, you might have a field that contains values for the variance in your budget, titled Budget Variance. One of those values might be -7. You can use the ABS function to return the absolute value of that number, and all the other numbers in that field.

The calculation might look something like this:

ABS[Budget Variance]

Therefore, ABS(-7) = 7.

Number functions available in Tableau

Function

Syntax

Description

ABS

ABS(number)

Returns the absolute value of the given number.

Examples:

ABS(-7) = 7
ABS([Budget Variance])

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

ACOS

ACOS(number)

Returns the arc cosine of the given number. The result is in radians.

Example:

ACOS(-1) = 3.14159265358979

ASIN

ASIN(number)

Returns the arc sine of a given number. The result is in radians.

Example:

ASIN(1) = 1.5707963267949

ATAN

ATAN(number)

Returns the arc tangent of a given number. The result is in radians.

Example:

ATAN(180) = 1.5652408283942

ATAN2

ATAN2(y number, x number)

Returns the arc tangent of two given numbers (x and y). The result is in radians.

Example:

ATAN2(2, 1) = 1.10714871779409

CEILING

CEILING(number)

Rounds a number to the nearest integer of equal or greater value.

Example:

CEILING(3.1415) = 4

Availability by data source:

Data Source Support
Microsoft Access Not supported
Microsoft Excel Supported
Text File Supported
Statistical File Supported
Tableau Server Supported
Actian Vector Not supported
Amazon Aurora for MySQL Not supported
Amazon EMR Hadoop Hive Supported
Amazon Redshift Supported
Aster Database Not supported
Cloudera Hadoop Supported
DataStax Enterprise Supported
EXASOL Not supported
Firebird Not supported
Google Analytics Supported
Google BigQuery Supported
Google Cloud SQL Not supported
Google Sheets Not supported
Hortonworks Hadoop Hive Supported
IBM BigInsights Not supported
IBM DB2 Not supported
IBM PDA (Netezza) Not supported
MapR Hadoop Hive Supported
MarkLogic Not supported
Microsoft Analysis Services Not supported
Microsoft PowerPivot Not supported
Microsoft SQL Server Supported
MySQL Not supported
Oracle Not supported
Oracle Essbase Not supported
Actian Matrix (ParAccel) Not supported
Pivotal Greenplum Not supported
PostgreSQL Not supported
Progress OpenEdge Not supported
Salesforce Supported
SAP HANA Not supported
SAP Sybase ASE Not supported
SAP Sybase IQ Not supported
Spark SQL Supported
Splunk Not supported
Teradata Not supported
Teradata OLAP Connector Not supported
Vertica Not supported

COS

COS(number)

Returns the cosine of an angle. Specify the angle in radians.

Example:

COS(PI( ) /4) = 0.707106781186548

COT

COT(number)

Returns the cotangent of an angle. Specify the angle in radians.

Example:

COT(PI( ) /4) = 1

DEGREES

DEGREES(number)

Converts a given number in radians to degrees.

Example:

DEGREES(PI( )/4) = 45.0

DIV

DIV(integer1, integer2)

Returns the integer part of a division operation, in which integer1 is divided by integer2.

Example:

DIV(11,2) = 5

EXP

EXP(number)

Returns e raised to the power of the given number.

Examples:

EXP(2) = 7.389
EXP(-[Growth Rate]*[Time])

FLOOR

FLOOR(number)

Rounds a number to the nearest integer of equal or lesser value.

Example:

FLOOR(3.1415) = 3

Availability by data source:

Data Source Support
Microsoft Access Not supported
Microsoft Excel Supported
Text File Supported
Statistical File Supported
Tableau Server Supported
Actian Vector Not supported
Amazon Aurora for MySQL Not supported
Amazon EMR Hadoop Hive Supported
Amazon Redshift Not supported
Aster Database Not supported
Cloudera Hadoop Supported
DataStax Enterprise Supported
EXASOL Not supported
Firebird Not supported
Google Analytics Supported
Google BigQuery Supported
Google Cloud SQL Not supported
Hortonworks Hadoop Hive Supported
IBM BigInsights Not supported
IBM DB2 Not supported
IBM Netezza Not supported
MapR Hadoop Hive Supported
MarkLogic Not supported
Microsoft Analysis Services Not supported
Microsoft PowerPivot Not supported
Microsoft SQL Server Supported
MySQL Not supported
Oracle Not supported
Oracle Essbase Not supported
ParAccel Not supported
Pivotal Greenplum Not supported
PostgreSQL Not supported
Progress OpenEdge Not supported
Salesforce Supported
SAP HANA Not supported
SAP Sybase ASE Not supported
SAP Sybase IQ Not supported
Spark SQL Supported
Splunk Not supported
Teradata Not supported
Teradata OLAP Connector Not supported
Vertica Not supported

HEXBINX

HEXBINX(number, number)

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.

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.

Example:

HEXBINX([Longitude], [Latitude])

HEXBINY

HEXBINY(number, number)

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], [Latitude])

LN

LN(number)

Returns the natural logarithm of a number. Returns Null if number is less than or equal to 0.

LOG

LOG(number [, base])

Returns the logarithm of a number for the given base. If the base value is omitted, base 10 is used.

MAX

MAX(number, number)

Returns the maximum of the two arguments, which must be of the same type. Returns Null if either argument is Null. MAX can also be applied to a single field in an aggregate calculation.

Examples:

MAX(4,7)
MAX(Sales,Profit)
MAX([First Name],[Last Name])

MIN

MIN(number, number)

Returns the minimum of the two arguments, which must be of the same type. Returns Null if either argument is Null. MIN can also be applied to a single field in an aggregate calculation.

Examples:

MIN(4,7)
MIN(Sales,Profit)
MIN([First Name],[Last Name])

PI

PI( )

Returns the numeric constant pi: 3.14159.

POWER

POWER(number, power)

Raises the number to the specified power.

Examples:

POWER(5,2) = 52 = 25
POWER(Temperature, 2)

You can also use the ^ symbol:

5^2 = POWER(5,2) = 25

RADIANS

RADIANS(number)

Converts the given number from degrees to radians.

Example:

RADIANS(180) = 3.14159

ROUND

ROUND(number, [decimals])

Rounds numbers to a specified number of digits. The 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:

This example rounds every Sales value to an integer:

ROUND(Sales)

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.

Note: 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.

SIGN

SIGN(number)

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:

If the average of the profit field is negative, then

SIGN(AVG(Profit)) = -1

SIN

SIN(number)

Returns the sine of an angle. Specify the angle in radians.

Examples:

SIN(0) = 1.0
SIN(PI( )/4) = 0.707106781186548

SQRT

SQRT(number)

Returns the square root of a number.

Example:

SQRT(25) = 5

SQUARE

SQUARE(number)

Returns the square of a number.

Example:

SQUARE(5) = 25

TAN

TAN(number)

Returns the tangent of an angle. Specify the angle in radians..

Example:

TAN(PI ( )/4) = 1.0

ZN

ZN(expression)

Returns the expression if it is not null, otherwise returns zero. Use this function to use zero values instead of null values.

Example:

ZN([Profit]) = [Profit]


Create a number calculation

Follow along with the steps below to learn how to create a number calculation.

  1. In Tableau Desktop, connect to the Sample - Superstore saved data source, which comes with Tableau.

  2. Navigate to a worksheet and select Analysis > Create Calculated Field.

  3. In the calculation editor that opens, do the following:

    • Name the calculated field Minimum Sales transaction

    • Enter the following formula:

      MIN(Sales)

    • When finished, click OK.

The new number calculation appears under Measures in the Data pane. Just like your other fields, you can use it in one or more visualizations.

When Minimum Sales is placed on Text on the Marks card in the worksheet, its name is changed to AGG(Minimum Sales), which indicates that it cannot be aggregated any further, since it is already aggregated down to the lowest level of detail (the smallest sales value for all records).

This example shows the minimum sales per category.

When subcategory is brought into the view, the minimum sales for each subcategory are shown.

See Also

Functions in Tableau

Tableau Functions (Alphabetical)

Tableau Functions (by Category)

Formatting Calculations in Tableau

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