TDS-C01 Tableau Desktop Specialist Questions and Answers

You can add reference lines, bands, distributions, or (in Tableau Desktop but not on the web) box plots to any continuous axis in the view.

Reference Lines - You can add a reference line at a constant or computed value on the axis. Computed values can be based on a specified field. You can also include confidence intervals with a reference line.

Your Tableau Desktop Specialist exam will be based on the 2020.1 version.

Set controls are a new feature introduced in the 2020.2 version, and hence is the correct answer - it is not a part of 2020.1

For the 2020.1 version the new features were:

1) Viz animations:

Viz animations help you see and understand your changing data. It’s easy to track the logical steps behind data’s evolution and tell powerful data stories. Sorting, filtering, adding fields, and other actions will now smoothly animate your visualizations. Choose whether to turn Viz Animations on or off, and decide how you’d best like to apply animations to your new workbooks.

2) Dynamic Parameters:

Say goodbye to republishing workbooks with parameters every time the underlying data changes. Set your parameter once, and Tableau will automatically update the parameter’s list of values every time someone opens the workbook.

3) Buffer Calculations:

Buffer calculations allow you to visualize the distance around point locations. Give Tableau three parameters—location, distance, and a unit of measure—and a buffer, or boundary is instantly created. Answering complex spatial questions becomes easier than ever before—visualize what properties are within 200 meters of a proposed transit site, or how many competitors’ stores are within 1 mile of their store, and more.

Dragging a continuous date value to the Rows shelf in Tableau results in a green pill on the Rows shelf, indicating a continuous field. It also results in a quantitative axis being displayed on the visualization. Continuous fields are used to create axes on charts and can represent a range of values smoothly. This is opposed to discrete date values, which would be represented by a blue pill and typically show headers or labels rather than a continuous axis.

The calculated field formula LEFT("Sales Data", 5) will correctly produce the output "Sales" from the string value "Sales Data". The LEFT function in Tableau returns the specified number of characters from the start of the string. Here, the first 5 characters of "Sales Data" are "Sales".

Yes, due to the nature of blends, there are some conditions as follows from the official documentation that must be kept in mind while working with blends:

In addition to handling calculations slightly differently, there are some limitations on secondary data sources. You may not be able to sort by a field from a secondary data source, and action filters may not work as expected with blended data. For more information, see Other data blending issues.

Explanation

We need to use the concept of Groups for this question. Follow along:

1) First, Drag State to the Rows shelf, and Total Expenses to the Text Mark on the Marks Shelf:

2) Now, remove the SUM aggregation from Total Expenses, and add a quick table calculation -> Percent of total:

3) Next, Select the States of New York, California and Washington -> And then click the paperclip icon:

We can see the answer already : 23.386% in the view above (even before grouping!)

4) Finally, we get the following view and our answer:

In Tableau, a story is a sequence of visualizations that work together to convey information. You can create stories to tell a data narrative, provide context, demonstrate how decisions relate to outcomes, or to simply make a compelling case.

A story is a sheet, so the methods you use to create, name, and manage worksheets and dashboards also apply to stories (for more details, see Workbooks and Sheets). At the same time, a story is also a collection of sheets, arranged in a sequence. Each individual sheet (worksheet or dashboard) in a story is called a story point.

When you share a story —for example, by publishing a workbook to Tableau Public, Tableau Server, or Tableau Online—users can interact with the story to reveal new findings or ask new questions of the data.

There are three benefits of using an extract as compared to a live connection to a data source:

A live connection to a data source can be slow due to network and user traffic, whereas a connection to an extract improves performance. An extract is a snapshot of data that is stored locally on your computer or on Tableau Server. An extract can reduce the load on the data source and speed up queries.

Extracts are stored in memory (RAM), resulting in faster query performance as compared with live data connections. When you use an extract, Tableau loads the data into memory and optimizes it for analysis. This allows Tableau to perform calculations and aggregations faster than with live connections.

Calculated fields perform better in workbooks connected to extracts than in workbooks with live connections to a data source. Calculated fields are custom fields that you create using formulas or expressions. When you use an extract, Tableau can process calculated fields more efficiently than with live connections.

Explanation

There are two types of sets: dynamic sets and fixed sets. The members of a dynamic set change when the underlying data changes. Dynamic sets can only be based on a single dimension.

To create a dynamic set:

1) In the Data pane, right-click a dimension and select Create > Set.

2) In the Create Set dialog box, configure your set. You can configure your set using the following tabs:

General: Use the General tab to select one or more values that will be considered when computing the set.

You can alternatively select the Use all option to always consider all members even when new members are added or removed.

None of the other options exist, and therefore are incorrect answers.

The option to create bins in Tableau is available for numeric fields. Bins allow you to group a series of numeric values into larger segments, which can simplify analysis and help in creating histograms or other visualizations that show the distribution of data. For example, you can create bins to group ages into categories like 0-10, 11-20, etc.

Explanation

Tricky options! Go to hyperlink and Go to Web page are not valid Actions in Tableau.

A URL action is a hyperlink that points to a web page, file, or other web-based resource outside of Tableau. You can use URL actions to create an email or link to additional information about your data. To customize links based on your data, you can automatically enter field values as parameters in URLs.

Explanation

Follow the steps to get the correct answer : January 2018

We are talking about dates, so use the Time series sheet as follows:

Next, the following should be your view and clearly, January 2018 is the lowest point:

Read more about dates: https://interworks.com/blog/rcurtis/2017/01/30/tableau-deep-dive-dates-introduction-dates/

To add totals to a view using the Analytics pane:

Also, you can add totals from the Analytics tab in the Menu above:

To make an axis bold, simply right click it, select format, and then click on Font to choose Bold:

None of the other options are valid ways to make the axis bold.

Read more about editing axis: https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/formatting_editaxes.htm

Discrete measures and discrete dimensions appear blue in Tableau. Discrete fields are those that have a finite number of distinct values, such as names, categories, or dates. Discrete fields are usually used to create headers or labels in the view. Blue fields indicate that the field is discrete. Continuous measures and continuous dimensions appear green in Tableau. Continuous fields are those that have an infinite range of possible values, such as numbers or ratios. Continuous fields are usually used to create axes or color gradients in the view. Green fields indicate that the field is continuous1

You can drag the filter by clicking on the 2 lines on top, and then dragging the filter as shown:

Explanation

A bullet graph is a variation of a bar graph developed to replace dashboard gauges and meters. A bullet graph is useful for comparing the performance of a primary measure to one or more other measures. Below is a single bullet graph showing how actual sales compared to estimated sales.

According to the official Tableau documentation:

Dimensions don't have aggregation properties, and adding properties manually each time defeats the whole DEFAULT aggregation purpose. Window tab doesn't have any default aggregation option!

Top of Form

The correct answer is Toggle the highlighting ON/OFF. If selected, whichever value you choose from this legend will be highlighted in the view. However, if it is deselected, then even if you choose a value in the Legend, it will NOT be highlighted.

See below:

Chart, bar chart Description automatically generated

Bottom of Form

In fact, the opposite of this is true.

Trick : Whenever you think of joins -> Think that after the join is created, we get 1 single flat combined (joined) table. This flat combined table is created prior to us creating our visualizations. This happens at the physical layer.

If you ever think about relationships, know that all tables will remain distinct and separate, and relationships sit at the logical layer. At run time, when you bring in the dimensions and measures to create your viz, Tableau very smartly creates the necessary joins, relates the tables and sends queries to these tables to get the resultant data back in the most meaningful way possible. This allows you to focus on using your data and revealing insights from it and focus less on the data preparation aspect!

Refer to logical layer vs physical layer from the official documentation: https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/datasource_datamodel.htm

We can use scatter plots to visualize relationships between numerical variables!

In Tableau, you create a scatter plot by placing at least one measure on the Columns shelf and at least one measure on the Rows shelf (Total 2 minimum). If these shelves contain both dimensions and measures, Tableau places the measures as the innermost fields, which means that measures are always to the right of any dimensions that you have also placed on these shelves. The word "innermost" in this case refers to the table structure.

 ( Simple Scatter Plot)

 (Matrix of Scatter Plots)

A scatter plot can use several mark types. By default, Tableau uses the shape mark type. Depending on your data, you might want to use another mark type, such as a circle or a square. For more information, see Change the Type of Mark in the View.

To create a scatter plot, follow the steps below:

When the Physical Tables option is selected for an extract in Tableau, an individual table is created for each physical table in the extract. This means that the extract will include a separate table for each underlying table in your database, maintaining the database's structure within the extract. This can be useful when you need to preserve the original granularity of the data or when working with certain database optimizations.

The benefits of using a live connection over an extract include:

B: A live connection ensures that the data in the workbook is as up-to-date as the database itself, providing fresher data compared to a static extract which is updated at intervals.

C: A live connection queries the database server directly, which means it uses the server's memory and processing power rather than relying on the client computer's resources.

A live connection does not necessarily require less network overhead (A) as it may continually send queries over the network, and it is not always faster than an extract (D) because extracts can provide quicker response times for complex queries or large datasets.

The Shape option is available for scatter plots and packed bubbles views. The Shape option allows you to change the shape of marks in the view by selecting from a predefined set of shapes or adding custom shapes. You can access the Shape option by placing any field on Shape on the Marks card4 Scatter plots are views that show the relationship between two numerical variables by plotting them as coordinates on a Cartesian plane. You can create a scatter plot by placing at least one measure on Columns and at least one measure on Rows on the Marks card. You can then use Shape to assign different shapes to different categories or segments in your data5 Packed bubbles are views that show hierarchical data as a set of nested circles. Each circle represents a dimension member and its size is proportional to a measure value. You can create a packed bubble chart by placing one or more dimensions on Detail and one measure on Size on the Marks card. You can then use Shape to change the shape of circles to other shapes such as squares or stars6 The other options are not valid views for using the Shape option. Side-by-side circles are views that show proportions of a whole by using circles with different angles and sizes arranged horizontally or vertically. You can create a side-by-side circle chart by placing one dimension on Columns or Rows and one measure on Angle and Size on the Marks card. You cannot use Shape to change the shape of circles in this view7 Heat maps are views that show the distribution of two or more measures by using a color gradient and size. You can create a heat map by placing one or more dimensions on Columns and Rows and two measures on Color and Size on the Marks card. You cannot use Shape to change the shape of marks in this view8

Explanation

The data that you analyze in Tableau is often made up of a collection of tables that are related by specific fields (that is, columns). Joining is a method for combining data on based on those common fields. The result of combining data using a join is a virtual table that is typically extended horizontally by adding columns of data.

For example, consider the following two tables originating from a single data source:

We can combine these 2 tables, simply by joining the tables on ID to answer questions like, "How much was paid in royalties for authors from a given publisher?". By combining tables using a join, you can view and use related data from different tables in your analysis.

According to the Tableau Help, there are two filter modes for continuous filters: Range of Values and Single Value. The help also states that “Range of Values lets you specify a minimum and maximum value for the filter using sliders or input fields” and “Single Value lets you select one value on a slider for the filter” (page 1).

In Tableau, you can change the font of a worksheet title by double-clicking directly on the title in the view, which opens a dialog box where you can format the text, including changing the font. Another method is to use the Format menu; from there, you select "Title and Caption," which opens the Format Title pane on the left side of the screen, where you can change the font and other formatting options for the worksheet title.

To invert the color intensity of a quantitative range in Tableau, you should use the "Reversed" option. This option inverts the color scheme so that the colors representing the higher values are swapped with those representing the lower values. For example, if a color scale initially shows dark colors for high values and light colors for low values, using "Reversed" will switch this so that dark colors represent low values and light colors represent high values. This option is particularly useful for better visual distinction and interpretation in certain data scenarios.

This is true. a Manual Sort lets you select a value and move it to the desired position, either by dragging it in the list or using the arrows to the right.

However, as soon as you choose some other type of sort - be it field, nested, or alphabetic, our custom created manual sort gets deleted/cleared.

Explanation

It is possible to open a Tableau support case by visiting the following link : https://www.tableau.com/support/case

Explanation

Pretty common question on the Tableau Desktop Specialist exam.

1) First, lets create Sheet 1. For this, drag sport to the Row shelf, and Weight to the Text mark in the Marks shelf. Change its aggregation to Average:

2) Now, for sheet 2 - Drag nationality to the view, and gold to the size mark in the Marks shelf.

NOTE: Depending on your version of Tableau , you may need to assign a Geographical role to the nationality column first as follows:

3) Now, let's create a dashboard, and use both these sheets in it:

4) Now, for the most Important step, use SHEET 2 AS A FILTER FOR SHEET 1 as follows:

Now simply click on Russia in Sheet 2, and Sheet 1 will automatically update as follows:

Explanation

Trend lines have become popular questions in recent Tableau examinations. Follow along:

1) First drag Sales to the Rows shelf and Profit to the Columns shelf:

c

You will only see a single mark since the view is aggregated.

2) Now, break down this view by state. Drag State into Detail on the Marks shelf ( or directly to the view):

3) Finally, move to the Analytics pane, and drag Trend line to the view. When you drag it, select the Linear option!:

4) The following is our view. Hover over the trend line to see the R-squared value:

Remember that dragging a discrete value to colour creates distinct colours for each item whereas dragging a continuous value to colour creates a gradient. ( Same for Map )

From the official documentation:

When you use the 'Create Set' option in Tableau, it creates a dynamic set if the conditions for inclusion in the set are based on a calculation or an aggregation that may change as the data is updated or as filters are applied. Fixed sets are static and do not change with data refreshes, while dynamic sets can update to reflect the current state of the data.

Explanation

Whenever you add a measure to your view, an aggregation is applied to that measure by default. This default is controlled by the Aggregate Measures setting in the Analysis menu.

If you decide you want to see all of the marks in the view at the most detailed level of granularity, you can disaggregate the view. Disaggregating your data means that Tableau will display a separate mark for every data value in every row of your data source.

To disaggregate all measures in the view:

Clear the Analysis >Aggregate Measures option. If it is already selected, click Aggregate Measures once to deselect it.

You can change the device layout of a dashboard by using the Dashboard pane or the Dashboard menu. The Dashboard pane allows you to select a device type and customize the layout for that device. The Dashboard menu allows you to create a new device layout or copy an existing one. The Format menu and the Layout pane do not have options for changing the device layout1

Explanation

By default, measures placed in a view are aggregated by SUM, which means that the data for that field in all of the rows is combined. Measures can also be aggregated as average, median, count, or count distinct.

You should save a workbook as a PDF document if you need paper copies of the workbook. A PDF document preserves the layout and formatting of the workbook, and can be easily printed or shared. Saving a workbook as a PDF document is not necessary or useful in the other situations1

A URL action is a hyperlink that points to a web page, file, or other web-based resource outside of Tableau. You can use URL actions to create an email or link to additional information about your data. To customize links based on your data, you can automatically enter field values as parameters in URLs.

Explanation

The computer on which you are installing or upgrading Tableau Server must meet the minimum hardware requirements. If the Setup program determines that your computer does not meet the following requirements, you will not be able to install Tableau Server.

These minimum requirements are appropriate for a computer that you use for prototyping and testing of Tableau Server. They apply to single-node installations and to each computer in a distributed installation.

According to the official Tableau documentation:

An example of an area chart is shown below:

To change a measure so that it automatically aggregates as an average instead of a sum, you should right-click the field in the Data pane and select Default Properties. In the Default Properties menu, you can set the default aggregation for the measure, such as setting it to calculate an average by default when added to a view.

Explanation

Extracts are advantageous for several reasons:

1) Supports large data sets: You can create extracts that contain billions of rows of data.

2) Fast to create: If you're working with large data sets, creating and working with extracts can be faster than working with the original data.

3) Help improve performance: When you interact with views that use extract data sources, you generally experience better performance than when interacting with views based on connections to the original data.

4) Support additional functionality: Extracts allow you to take advantage of Tableau functionality that's not available or supported by the original data, such as the ability to compute Count Distinct.

5) Provide offline access to your data: Extracts allow you to save and work with the data locally when the original data is not available. For example, when you are traveling.

To work with the MOST up-do-date data, use a live connection instead!

Explanation

Follow along to reach the correct answer:

1) First, drag Date to the Column shelf and Profit to the Rows shelf. We need to see the 2 consecutive months over this two year period (2012-2013) so this tells us we need to work with continuous dates:

Click on Date in the Column shelf and convert it to continuous month :

2) Now, click on the Profit pill in the Rows shelf, go to quick table calculation and choose Percent difference:

3) Finally, click on the Show mark Labels icon:

4) We finally have our view, and clearly, 10 Months have a NEGATIVE percent difference:

All of the given options are true except - Animations work well with maps, polygons, and density marks in web browsers.

From the official documentation: 

As seen above, we can either turn the animations for the entire workbook (upper red box), or only for the current sheet ( lower red box )

1) Simultaneous animations

The default simultaneous animations are faster and work well when showing value changes in simpler charts and dashboards.

2) Sequential animations

Sequential animations take more time but make complex changes clearer by presenting them step-by-step.

Scaled is NOT a valid size options when creating Dashboards in Tableau!

After you create a dashboard, you might need to resize and reorganize it to work better for your users.

When you double-click a continuous numeric measure named Sales in Tableau, it automatically creates a bar chart. Tableau's default behavior for a single measure is to display it as a bar chart, with the measure values represented on the Y-axis and an automatic range on the X-axis.

You can change the scope of a reference line by choosing one of the following options: Per Pane, Entire Table, or Per Cell. The scope determines how many reference lines are added to the view and how they are calculated. Per Pane adds one reference line for each pane in the view. Entire Table adds one reference line for the entire table in the view. Per Cell adds one reference line for each cell in the view

Explanation

Yes! We get different color palettes. They are:

*From the official Tableau documentation*

To change the color for a value

1) Click on an item on the left, under Select Data Item.

2) Click a new color in the palette on the right. In Tableau Desktop you can hover over a swatch to identify the color.

3) Repeat for as many values that you want to change.

4) In Tableau Desktop, click OK to exit the Edit Colors dialog box. In Tableau Server or Tableau Online, simply close the dialog box.

AND

Explanation

After making changes to Data, we can save that new data source as a .tds file. To do so, go to data menu on top and then choose your current connected data source. Then next click on Add to Saved Data sources. This will save all calculated fields, changes to fields etc. It will be saved in My Tableau Repository -> Mydatasources. This will then also appear on Tableau Home Page under saved data sources like SampleSuperStore.

Note: Data source files do not contain the actual data but rather the information necessary to connect to the actual data as well as any modifications you've made on top of the actual data such as changing default properties, creating calculated fields, adding groups, and so on.

twb and .twbx are not the BEST solutions since the questions nowhere mentions that we need to store our workbooks as well.

twm is a bookmark which contains a single worksheet and are an easy way to quickly share your work.

The relative date filter can be used to select a range of dates relative to the current date, such as the past month, the current quarter, etc. This filter type dynamically adjusts the range based on the current system date, making it suitable for use with the TODAY() function.

Data blending is performed on a sheet-by-sheet basis and is established when a field from a second data source is used in the view. To create a blend in a workbook already connected to at least two data sources, bring a field from one data source to the sheet—it becomes the primary data source.

Switch to the other data source and use a field on the same sheet—it becomes a secondary data source. An orange linking icon will appear in the data pane, indicating which field(s) are being used to blend the data sources.

According to the official Tableau Documentation:

To read more about Data Blending, click on THIS link.

The beauty of context filters is that according to Tableau's Order of Operations, they are executed before Sets.

This means that based on what Region's you've selected - Tableau will first only preserve the rows for those Regions. THEN, after this it will compute the Set , i.e , Bottom 10 products in each Region.

1) First let's create a set to compute the Bottom 10 Products by Profit.

2) Next, take region on the Rows Shelf followed by the Set we just created. Drag Region and the Set to the Filters Shelf as well.

3) Now, try to only visualize the data for the South Region:

4) The problem right now is that Tableau is computing the Set first (Bottom 10 Products), and then applying the Dimension Filter - South Region and hence these values are incorrect. Note how these aren't even 10 products, but rather just 8. To fix this, simply add Region to Context:

Upon doing this, we get the correct answer as : 

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

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

Explanation

From the official Tableau website:

Explanation

A histogram is a chart that displays the shape of a distribution. A histogram looks like a bar chart but groups values for a continuous measure into ranges, or bins.

A bullet graph is a variation of a bar graph developed to replace dashboard gauges and meters. A bullet graph is useful for comparing the performance of a primary measure to one or more other measures. Below is a single bullet graph showing how actual sales compared to estimated sales.

We can create a Bullet graph with just 2 measures! This method requires the LEAST number of fields possible to create this type of chart.

The best way to tackle such questions in the exam is to click the "SHOW ME" button on top right, and hover over the chart we want to create.

In our case, it is a Bullet graph.

Therefore, we need 2 measures at least to create this chart, and 0 or more dimensions.

It is very much possible to specify the formatting at a WORKBOOK level (all sheets) instead of a single worksheet level.

You can quickly change how fonts, titles, and lines look in every view in a workbook by specifying format settings at the workbook level, instead of the worksheet level.

For example, you might want to use a specific font, size, and color so that all views adhere to your company's brand. You might also want to remove grid lines from your views—or make them more noticeable by increasing their pixel size or color.

You can also change the theme used by your workbook. Themes control items like the default font, colors, and line thickness. When you create a new workbook, it automatically uses the Default theme, which uses visual best practices.

Change fonts in your workbook:

You can change all fonts in your workbook or you can change fonts for only certain areas, such as just worksheet titles.

1) On the Format menu, select Workbook.

2) The Format Workbook pane replaces the Data pane on the left and provides a series of drop-down lists where you can change all font settings in a workbook, as well as the font settings for titles of worksheets, stories, and dashboards.

Note: If you have made font changes at the worksheet level, such as on a filter card or a worksheet title, changing the font at the WORKBOOK level will overwrite those changes.

Reset a workbook to its default settings

When you make changes to your workbook's font settings, a gray dot appears next to the setting in the Format Workbook pane. You can quickly switch back to default settings using the Reset to Defaults button.

1) On the Format menu, select Workbook.

2) In the Format Workbook pane, click Reset to Defaults.

Graphical user interface, application Description automatically generated

Explanation

Bin are a user-defined grouping of numerical data in the data source.

According to the official Tableau documentation: It's sometimes useful to convert a continuous measure (or a numeric dimension) into bins.

Have a look at the following image. When we right click a measure, we get the following options:

However, for a dimension (this is because the DATA TYPE of this dimension is a string:

But what if we have a dimension of type NUMBER (NUMERIC DIMENSION)? See below:

We can clearly create bins from dimensions too - they just have to be numeric :)

For more information, please refer to : https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/calculations_bins.htm

Distribution Pane

Explanation

This is the Analytics pane! Read more from the official documentation below:

Explanation

Data is generated and analyzed at many different levels of granularity. Granularity is the level of detail of the data. For example, when looking at graduation data, granularity would describe whether a row in the data set represents a single person or the graduating class of a university.

Explanation

You can create aliases (alternate names) for members in a dimension so that their labels appear differently in the view.

Aliases can be created for the members of discrete dimensions only. They cannot be created for continuous dimensions, dates, or measures.

To create an alias:

1) In the Data pane, right-click a dimension and select Aliases.

2) In the Edit Aliases dialog box, under Value (Alias), select a member and enter a new name.

To submit your changes: In Tableau Desktop, click OK.

On Tableau Server or Tableau Online, click the X icon in the top-right corner of the dialog box.

When you add the field to the view, the alias names appear as labels in the view. For example:

According to the Tableau Desktop Specialist Exam Guide, one of the exam objectives is to “Sort data in a visualization”. The guide also states that “You can sort data in a visualization from three locations: the Worksheet menu, an axis, or a field label” (page 15).

Important question!

Explanation

If you chose 2, then you were very close but probably didn't plot the actual Percent Difference on your view. ( One of the marks is just over the line).

Firstly, Drop the Week ID onto the column shelf, and convert it to continuous since we need both Year and Quarter as mentioned in the question.

2) Next, Drop assortment to filters shelf so that we can focus on Electronics!

3) This should be your view now. Click on the Show Mark Labels icon as shown:

The final view is as follows, with 3 points below 0 ( i.e negative )

You should select Size on the Marks card and use the slider to adjust the size to uniformly change the size for all marks in a view. The Size property on the Marks card allows you to control the size of marks in the view by moving the slider to the left or right. The Size slider affects different marks in different ways, such as making them bigger or smaller, wider or narrower, or thicker or thinner1 The other options are not valid ways to uniformly change the size for all marks in a view. Selecting Label on the Marks card and then selecting Alignment will allow you to change the position of labels on marks, not the size of marks2 Using the Fit dropdown menu on the toolbar will allow you to change how the view fits within the worksheet, not the size of marks3 Selecting Format on the menu, and then selecting Cell Size will allow you to change the height and width of cells in a text table, not the size of marks in other types of views4

Explanation

For relational data sources, dates and times are automatically placed in the Dimensions area of the Data pane and are identified by the date or date-time icon. For example, the Order Date and Ship Date dimensions from an Excel data source are shown below:

When you place a relational date on a shelf, the field name is automatically modified to reflect the default date level. Tableau defines the default date level to be the level at which there are multiple instances. For example, if the date field includes multiple years, the default level is year. However, if the date field contains data for just one year but includes multiple months, then the default level is month.

You can assign an alias to a field member before creating a visualization. An alias is an alternative name that you can assign to a value in a dimension field. You can use aliases to rename specific values within a dimension to make them more relevant or descriptive in your view than what the original data provides. For example, you can use aliases to shorten long names, correct spelling errors, or replace codes with meaningful labels6 You can create aliases for the members of discrete dimensions only. They cannot be created for continuous dimensions, dates, or measures. To create an alias for a dimension member, you can right-click the dimension in the Data pane and select Aliases, then enter a new name for each member under Value (Alias). You can also create an alias by right-clicking a dimension member in the view and selecting Edit Alias. You can do this before or after creating a visualization6 The other options are not accurate statements about aliases. You cannot create an alias for a discrete measure, because measures are not discrete fields. You cannot create an alias for a continuous dimension, because aliases are only available for discrete dimensions. When you assign an alias, the name does not change in the database, only in Tableau. Aliases are stored as part of the workbook or data source, and do not affect the original data6

A parameter is a global placeholder value such as a number, date, or string that can replace a constant value in a calculation, filter, or reference line.

For example, you may create a calculated field that returns True if Sales is greater than $500,000 and otherwise returns False. You can replace the constant value of “500000” in the formula with a parameter. Then, using the parameter control, you can dynamically change the threshold in your calculation.

For example -

Explanation

Data fields are made from the columns in your data source. Each field is automatically assigned a data type (such as integer, string, date), and a role: Discrete Dimension or Continuous Measure (more common), or Continuous Dimension or Discrete Measure (less common).

Dimensions contain qualitative values (such as names, dates, or geographical data). You can use dimensions to categorize, segment, and reveal the details in your data. Dimensions affect the level of detail in the view.

Measures contain numeric, quantitative values that you can measure. Measures can be aggregated. When you drag a measure into the view, Tableau applies an aggregation to that measure (by default).

According to the [Tableau Desktop Specialist Exam Guide], a join is a way to combine table columns in relational databases by using shared values. A join can be inner, left, right, or full, depending on how the matching rows are included or excluded.

Extracts would be more beneficial for analyzing historical prices where we won't be making use of any real time data being streamed. Same is the case for enormous datasets having billions of rows (extracts will be more efficient in analyzing subsets of such large data).

As for live stock prices, flight updates, real time updates from production or mission critical systems - having a live connection is the most logical choice, since we need access to the most fresh and recent data possible at all times!

Explanation

Since Sales is a measure, it can easily be depicted via size.

To drill down and change the level of detail, Country is the correct choice since it will contain STATE. We can then depict the various states by different shapes such as circle, square etc.

Finally, the Profit can be depicted via a color! Eg - Red for poor and green for excellent profits!

Explanation

Yes, it is possible to disable highlighting for the entire workbook.

For more information : https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-gb/actions_highlight.htm

Of course! As an example, see below:

1) Using the Sample Superstore data, let's plot a bar chart showing the Sales for each Category:

Observe that we have 3 marks - Each bar in a bar chart is called a mark. Similarly, each point in a scatter plot is also a mark , and so on for all charts.

1 row by 3 columns means that clearly on the y-axis (Sales), we have only a single mark - a single continous axis, but 3 different marks (Technology, Furniture and Office supplies ) on the x-axis.

2) Now let's add subcategory to the view as well (another dimension):

Observe that the number of marks has increased - i.e the number of Bars.

Also, notice we now have 1 row and 17 columns. Simply because 1 row = Sales (on the y-axis), and on the x-axis, we have 17 different columns (i.e product sub categories!!)

Explanation

As the names suggest, if we subtract the order date from the shipping date, we simply get the number of days between these 2 dates.

We can these use this calculated field in our charts, and can use COUNT, SUM, AVG etc with them according to our need.

According to the official Tableau documentation:

An example of an area chart is shown below:

If you’ve created a data connection that you might want to use with other workbooks or share with colleagues, you can export (save) the data source to a file. You might want to do this also if you’ve added joined tables, default properties, or custom fields—such as groups, sets, calculated fields, and binned fields—to the Data pane.

Visualisations and Data extracts are NOT saved in a .tds file!

Explanation

THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION

To answer this question, you need to understand Tableau's Order of Operations. See below and remember this always:

Explanation

Follow along:

1) Drag Assortment and Year ID (choose Discrete Month) to Columns shelf, and Sales to the Columns Shelf.

For sales, click on the pill -> choose Quick Table calculation ->  Year over Year growth.

The view should now look like:

Explanation

You can export the data in a Tableau data source, including all or part of the records from your original data. Alternatively, you can export only the portion of data used to generate the view.

Since the question mentions the data used to build the view, we'll focus on that :

*Export data in the view to Microsoft Access or .csv*

Export the data that is used to generate the view as an Access database (Windows only) or .csv file (Mac only).

1) In Tableau Desktop, select Worksheet > Export > Data.

2) Select a location and type a name for your Access database or .csv file.

3) Click Save.

4) If you're on Windows, the Export Data to Access dialog box displays to give you the option to immediately use the new Access database and continue working in Access without interrupting your work flow.

You can use a story to present a data narrative to lead your audience to your conclusions, or to assemble a sequenced analysis to share with collaborators. A story is a sequence of visualizations that work together to convey information. You can create stories to tell a data story, provide context, demonstrate how decisions relate to outcomes, or to simply make a compelling case4

Explanation

Tableau Public is a free service that lets anyone publish interactive data visualizations to the web. Visualizations that have been published to Tableau Public (“vizzes”) can be embedded into web pages and blogs, they can be shared via social media or email, and they can be made available for download to other users.

Check it out : https://public.tableau.com/en-us/s/

Visualization animations in Tableau can highlight changing patterns in data and can be either simultaneous or sequential:

A. Highlights changing patterns in data:

Visualization animations are designed to highlight changes in data over time or as filters are applied. They help users to see how data trends and patterns evolve.

B. Can be simultaneous or sequential:

Animations in Tableau can be configured to play simultaneously or sequentially. Simultaneous animations play all changes at once, while sequential animations play changes one after the other, allowing for a step-by-step view of data transformations.

Incorrect options:

C. Can be applied to map visualizations: While animations can be applied to map visualizations, the statement is not one of the two correct descriptions of visualization animations as per the question context.

D. Uses the Pages shelf: The Pages shelf is used for creating page animations, which is a different concept from visualization animations.

References:

Tableau's official documentation on animations: Formatting Animations

 A dual axis chart is useful for comparing two measures that have different scales. A dual axis chart is a type of visualization that shows two measures using two independent axes layered on top of one another. A dual axis chart allows you to compare and contrast two measures that have different ranges or units of measurement, such as sales and profit margin, temperature and precipitation, or population and GDP per capita. A dual axis chart can also show different mark types for each measure, such as bars and lines, circles and areas, or shapes and texts. The other options are not valid reasons for using a dual axis chart for comparing two measures. Have little in common is not correct, because a dual axis chart is meant to show some kind of relationship or correlation between two measures, not just contrast them. Are Table Calculations is not correct, because a dual axis chart can be used with any type of measure, whether it is an aggregation, a calculation, or an expression. Are aggregated Dimensions is not correct, because a dual axis chart cannot be used with dimensions, only with measures. Dimensions are fields that contain qualitative values that are used to categorize or segment data, not compare them.

Replace References: 

When you successfully connect to a new data source, all worksheets in the workbook that previously referred to the original data source now refer to the new data source. If the new data source does not have the same field names as the original workbook, the fields become invalid and are marked with an exclamation point . You can quickly resolve the problem by replacing the field’s references.

For example, say you have a workbook connected to a data source that contains a Customer Name field. Then you edit the data source to point to a new data source that has all the same data but instead of Customer Name, the field name has been changed to Name. The Customer Name field remains in the Data pane but is marked as invalid. To make the field valid, you can replace the references, which means you can map the invalid field to a valid field in the new data source (for example, Customer Name corresponds to Name).

Read more at : https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/howto_connect.htm

Explanation

Whenever we want to add actions to a Dashboard, we can trigger then in the following 3 ways:

1) Select

2) Hover

3) Menu

Hover is best for highlighting, select for filtering. Menu action is added to the tooltip and user can decide whether to run that action or not (best for URL actions)

When you click Salt Lake City in the view, the URL action will direct you to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt+Lake+City+Car+Dropoff+City. A URL action is a hyperlink that points to a web page or other web-based resource outside of Tableau. You can use URL actions to create an email or link to additional information about your data.  To customize links based on your data, you can automatically enter field values as parameters in URLs3 In this case, the URL action uses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ as the URL target, where is a field value from the view. When you click Salt Lake City in the view, Tableau will replace with Salt Lake City in the URL target. However, since spaces are not allowed in URLs, Tableau will encode them as + signs instead. Therefore, the final URL will be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt+Lake+City+Car+Dropoff+City 3 The other options are not correct because they do not reflect how Tableau encodes field values in URL actions.

Important question! You cannot use a context filter to replace a data source filter since each filter type has its own use case. Also, a content filter is an Independent filter and all other filters are called dependent since they only process the data that passes through a context filter.

According to the official documentation : 

Explanation

To reach the correct answer, follow the steps below:

1) Drag Category, and sub-category to the row shelf. Drag Profit to the Column shelf

2) Click the Sort-ascending icon as shown above, to sort the profits from least to greatest as shown:

Click the 'Show mark labels icon'

As we can see, Fasteners has the least Profit in the Office Supplies Category, and hence is our correct answer!

Before you can build a view and analyze your data, you must first connect Tableau to your data. Tableau supports connecting to a wide variety of data, stored in a variety of places.

By default, when you connect a data source to Tableau, Tableau will create a live connection to the data.

Live connection refers to a data source that contains direct connection to underlying data, which provides real-time or near real-time data. With a live connection, Tableau makes queries directly against the database or other source, and returns the results of the query for use in a workbook. Users can create live connections and then share them on Tableau Server so that other Tableau users can use the same data using the same connection and filtering settings.

Explanation

By default, all of the above mentioned are stored in Documents -> My Tableau Repository

Explanation

Tableau displays data source connections and data fields for the workbook in the Data pane on the left side of the workspace.

The Data pane includes:

Dimension fields – Fields that contain qualitative values (such as names, dates, or geographical data). You can use dimensions to categorize, segment, and reveal the details in your data. Dimensions affect the level of detail in the view. Examples of dimensions include dates, customer names, and customer segments.

Measure fields – Fields that contain numeric, quantitative values can be measured. You can apply calculations to them and aggregate them. When you drag a measure into the view, Tableau applies an aggregation to that measure (by default). Examples of measures: sales, profit, number of employees, temperature, frequency.

For more information on what dimensions and measures are, see Dimensions and Measures, Blue and Green.

Calculated fields – If your underlying data doesn't include all of the fields you need to answer your questions, you can create new fields in Tableau using calculations and then save them as part of your data source. These fields are called calculated fields.

For more information on calculated fields, see Create Custom Fields with Calculations.

Sets – Subsets of data that you define. Sets are custom fields based on existing dimensions and criteria that you specify. For more information, see Create Sets.

Named sets from an MS Analysis Services server or from a Teradata OLAP connector also appear in Tableau in this area of the Data pane. You can interact with these named sets in the same way you interact with other custom sets in Tableau.

Parameters – Values that can be used as placeholders in formulas, or replace constant values in calculated fields and filters. For more information, see Create Parameters.