Data Types in Tableau
Tableau is a fastest growing and powerful data visualization tool which is primarily used in the Business Intelligence. Since every tool stores its data into some memory in a particular format so that it can differentiate between the data types and can do further proceedings and calculations.
Tableau is a highly scalable tool that is used in data analysis. It primarily classifies every piece of data into the main four categories which are either ‘String,’ or ‘Number,’ or ‘Boolean,’ or ‘Date’ and ‘Time.’ Once data is loaded in the memory from the source, Tableau automatically assigns the data into the specific data types. Willfully, you can also change some of the data types if it satisfies the conversion rule. However, for calculated fields, the user has to specify the data type.
The description of data types which are supported by Tableau are mentioned below:
STRING
Any sequence of characters from zero or more alphabets. Single quotes are surrounded them. The quote itself can be included in a string by writing it twice.
Example: 'Hello', 'WORLD'.
NUMBER
These can be either integers or floating point number. It is generally advised to round the floating numbers while using them in calculations. This will make the calculation process a bit simple and easy.
Example: 3 or 142.58
BOOLEAN
Boolean type object contains a single field whose type is Boolean. They are logical values, i.e., either True or False.
Example: TRUE or FALSE
DATE
Tableau recognizes dates in almost all formats. However, if we want tableau to follow one date format specifically then we need to force Tableau to accept a string as a date, then one should put a # sign before the data.
Example: "03/013/2019" or "#3 April 2012"
TIME
Tableau recognizes the same time which is followed by your system. However, if you want, you can change the time format as per your wish and ease.
Example: ‘’16:18:50’’ or ‘’4:13 a: m.’’