1. I met an issue that requires to show a cross tab table in full glory. However the default view may not be complete because of missing members in dimensions (Domain incomplete) and missing data.

    Here is how the original data look like:
    - There are only 4 valid data marks (Abc), out of possible 12.
    - There are in total 3 possible events in the Event dimension. Neither of the two sites has 3 events. That is domain incomplete in each site. There are possible 6 columns if complete.
    - There are blank spots with no data marks. We would like to fill all the blank spots with zeroes.

    We will use two passes of densification to fill all the blank spots.

     1.First pass: Domain completion 
    Create an Index field (=index()) and drag it to the Detail shelf. Set the Index to compute using Pane (Across then Down). This will complete the domain for Event. Note that both sites have the same events and data mark distributions.
    2.Second pass: Data padding
    Drag the same Index to just under the first Index. Set this 2nd Index to compute using IP dimension. So we see that this padded the last 4 of the 12 possible data marks. Now we have all the possible 12 data marks.
    Now the above 2 passes have created/densified all the possible data marks in the table. Next we will fill the data marks with numbers.

    3.Convert Null to Zero
    If we drag Sum(Number of Records) to the Label shelf, we will see this:
    Although there are 12 data marks, 8 of them are Nulls. So we don't see them. To fill the Nulls with 0, we need to create a calc field with ZN(Sum(Number of Records)). Drag it to the Label shelf. This will convert each Null to 0.
    The workbook can be accessed here.

    References
    Zen Master Joe Mako's videos on densification are highly recommended: Part 1 and Part 2. More literatures can be found in Zen Master Jonathan Drummey's comprehensive post with a lot of references. This succinct post from the data school is also very helpful.

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  2. An alternative title could be "Highlighting without Ignoring the Rest of the Pack".

    In a recent viz of the day, one member was highlighted against the rest. The rest was painted with the same grey color.
    That doesn't show the rest of different players, which I found was not satisfactory. I felt that we still need to show that those are distinct players. I ended up by hand tuning the colors to make them in different shades of grey. The highlight of the chart remains intact.
    I have been thinking about a systematic approach for solving such a problem:
    - Highlight one member in a bright color
    - Make the rest of the pack in a gradient color scheme.
    - When not selected, that member fits into the gradient according to the sorting.

    So I came up with a solution recently when working on another project. Again, I will use the superstore dataset where one of the sub categories is highlighted and the rest is in a gradient color scheme. The selected one can be dynamic. Below is the result. Click the image to view the interactive version.
    To create the above, follow the steps below:
    - Create a parameter [Sub Category] with the list of subcategories
    - Create a calc field "Legend" which contains only [Product Sub Category]
    - Drag Legend to the Color shelf. Sort it the way you like. Now the color shelf will populate and memorize the colors for every sub category name.
    - Open color editor and find a gradient color palette (Grey Warm here). Assign it to Legend members. If based on Sum(Sales), the resulting color palette look like a continuous color. But it is still discrete.
    - Change the underlying formula of Legend as follows:
    - Open the color editor and assign a new color (Orange here) to 'True'. This way Tableau knows there are CountD([Product Sub Category])+1 colors in the chart. 17+1 colors in this specific case.

    Note that "Legend" might affect your chart structure because it's a new dimension. If so, use ATTR(Legend) instead in the color shelf.

    Now we are done!

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  3. Double congratulations to Rody Zakovich for being named a Tableau Zen Master of 2016-2017 and for winning the Viz of the Day on 9/9/2016! Rody deserves it absolutely! Rody has brought a great impact on the Tableau community in the last couple years, for which I am a witness.

    In his latest viz, Rody has got a neat design for the tooltip. It has a well aligned box score table in it. Very delightful design!
    When I saw the text table, I saw potential for further visualization. After some tweak, I got the following design of tooltips, where we see the visual comparison of scores at each quarter, half time and full time. Click the image to view the interactive version.
    You might notice ▲ and ▼ for indicating win or loss. That is literally a single bit of information.

    I believe every bit of information is worth visualizing. It can bring new insights and make a difference.

    PS. This is part of a series of efforts to add visualization in the regular tooltips. Previous examples are
    #TweakThursday 12: Likert Scale in Tooltips
    #TweakThursday 4: Tooltips with Bar Chart

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  4. We may need to reuse the same data sources times and again in one project. We may need to clone a data source in different workbooks. Helas, there is no copy-n-paste option for data sources. (Submitted a feature request and please upvote it if you like it.)

    Saving a data source is an available option. But you may not want to have the connection information saved in a local tds file for security reasons. I feel copy-n-paste is a better option in many ways.

    The hassle is in repetitively filling the same credentials for a database or finding the same path to a data file. In a previous post, I described how to clone a data source in the same workbook. Now how to recreate the same data source in another workbook?

    Here is a trick to save the hassle.

    1.Open a new worksheet in workbook A.
    Assume the data source of interest is in workbook A already. We want to have it in workbook B as well.

     2.Drag "Number of Records" of the data source in question to the canvas
    3.Copy the sheet 
    Right click the sheet tab and copy.
    4.Paste it into workbook B 
    Right click the new sheet button or any sheet tab. You will see "Paste Sheet" option.
    Now you have the data source in the new workbook! You can then edit the data source to use a different table or to join a few tables. What is cloned is the connection, the required credentials and the server address. You can change to a different table by editing that same connection.

    All the above can be made easier if we have a copy-n-paste option! So please upvote it.

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  5. Most likely, one view of a dataset is not enough. Different graphical representations may have their own advantages and biases. Each would offer a partial set of insights from the dataset.

    It would be good to have a few different representations so that we can view the dataset in complementary ways. This is likely to offer the viewers more insights. We are not talking about slicing or dicing here.

    In this Viz of the Day on 7/7/2016, the author Nick Hura created a viz on the rankings of 50 US States in 5 different metrics. The visual looks great and attractive! It tells us the rankings of each state quite effectively. Those little bars on a big square is a great design. The map layout is a popular index view of the states.
    What I found hard to see is the comparison between the states. Thus I added a sorted view so that we can see visually where each state is sitting, and which states are above or behind. Click the image to view the interactive version.
    The added view is based on bump chart, which we often use to view rankings across time or categories.

    The new view is presented using the visual tooltip technique. The key steps in this design are:
    - Create the bump chart
    - Create a dimension "One" with value 1. This field shows 1 in all the rows.
    - Create an action filter based on "One". This will turn on/off the entire bump chart.
    - Create a highlight action filter based on State. This will highlight the selected state.

    With the added view, we have a better idea where each state compares with others.
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