A Primer on Dimensions & Measures in Tableau - Part 2

This article is the continuation of further topics w.r.t Dimensions and Measures.

Aggregating a Non-numeric based Dimension:

Assume that we need to identify how many orders are present in each category.

Step 1: We drag and drop the Category dimension to the Rows shelf

Step 2: We drag and drop the Order ID dimension to the Text section of the Marks card

Step 3: We create a NEW temporary Measure i.e. Order ID dimension takes on the characteristics of a Measure

Click on the drop-down of Order ID and change it to Measure --> Distinct Count

Now the Order ID is displayed in Green (i.e. Measure)

Hence when we aggregate a non-numeric Dimension to a Measure we would have only the below 4 options of aggregation

• Minimum
• Maximum
• Count
• Count(Distinct)

Aggregating a Numeric based Dimension:

Assume that we need to aggregate a field like Row ID (numeric based Dimension)

We need to follow the same steps as mentioned in the above section.

But in this case we would have all the standard options of aggregation similar to a standard numeric measure.

Discrete (Blue) and Continuous (Green) fields:

In Tableau the data is represented in the view depending on whether the field is Discrete (Blue), or Continuous (Green).

Continuous and Discrete are mathematical terms. Continuous means "forming an unbroken whole, without interruption"; Discrete means "individually separate and distinct."

Continuous fields create axes in the view.

Discrete fields create the labels/headers in the view

BLUE color pills always refer to DISCRETE fields and GREEN color pills always refer to CONTINUOUS fields

Possible combinations of fields in Tableau:

The below mentioned table shows the different combinations of fields in Tableau. Sometimes the fields are called "pills"

NOTE: Dimensions with a data type of "String" or "Boolean" cannot be continuous

So as long as the field is Discrete it is always shown as Blue irrespective of whether it is a Dimension or Measure.

Similarly if the field is Continuous it is always shown as Green irrespective of whether it is a Dimension or Measure.

NOTE: The topics of Discrete date parts and Continuous date values may be covered in a separate article.

DISCLAIMER:

This article is not meant to be a Tableau tutorial and the steps mentioned are to be considered only for reference purpose. The intent of this article was to provide a basic introduction to the concepts of Dimensions, Measures, Discrete and Continuous in Tableau.

REFERENCES:

https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/datafields_typesandroles.htm