Hiding Subtotals at Single Subcategory in Tableau

I was alerted by an old request in Tableau forum dated year 2012.
https://community.tableau.com/ideas/1364

Today I found a solution for it. It needs 5 calculated fields, plus conditional formatting. The solution is based on custom total and subtotals method pioneered by Zen Master Jonathan Drummey.

We will use the Superstore data as an example, excluding a few subcategories to emulate a single subcategory in a category.

Here are the steps:

1. Union the data set with itself in the data source editor

This will add a new dimension Table Name to the data source.

2.Create 5 calculated fields

- Subcategory New

This adds 'Total' as a Subcategory.

- Sales New

This will show the equivalent calculation of Grand Total using custom grand total technique.

- Subcategory Label

This adds 'Grand Total' as a label. Otherwise it will show 'All'.

- Size

It is the Size() function. It will be used in the table calculation below.

- Hide Subtotal

This is a filter that will hide the subtotals with a single subcategory. This is a table calculation filter. We need to set Hide Subtotal to calculate along Table Down and set Size to compute along Subcategory New.

Note that we need to set the filter to be True!

3.Add two columns: green pill Sum(0)

One is for Sales New. The other is for Subcategory Label. Both are put on the Label card.

Row dimensions must include Table Name and Subcategory New, and hide the headers.

Some cleanups include coloring the text, hiding the data marks with zero opacity.

Here is the workbook. Feel free to download it and improve it.

(Refresh the page if you want to view the gif image multiple times. Or go to Tableau Public and click the button at the top-right corner.)

Jake and I collaborated on a dashboard. He told me that he learnt a way to create an in-place help page in Tableau. He first saw it at a conference somewhere and couldn't recall who the speaker was. So I am blogging here about it but the credit goes to somebody else. If anyone knows who the original creator is, leave a comment below.

The key idea is to float a semi transparent worksheet on top of the dashboard, where a help text box is strategically placed on top of each chart. This way, we can explain how to view each chart and what data points are important, etc. This worksheet is collapsible by a show/hide button.

Below I would like to show how this worksheet can be constructed.

1. Sheet with a single data mark.

Double click the empty space in Marks panel and add two single quotes. Make the null pill a text label. This creates a single null mark.
Set the view as "Entire View"

2. Create an show/hide button

Go to the target dashboard
Drag a floating vertical container to the dashboard, making it cover all the area of interest.
Drag the Single Null Mark sheet and drop it into the above container. Hide the sheet title.
Create an open/close button for the container and place the button at the top-right corner.

3. Add annotations

Format the sheet background opacity as 70% in the layout manager
Select area annotations and place them anywhere of interest.
Write help text and format it to highlight important messages.
The text can serve as functional guide and/or insight guide.

Here is an example. Feel free to download the workbook and explore. Click the "i" button at the top-right corner to view the in-place help.

1. Union the data set with itself in the data source editor

2.Create 5 calculated fields

3.Add two columns: green pill Sum(0)

View comments

Vizible Difference

In search of data visualization excellence

1. Sheet with a single data mark.

2. Create an show/hide button

3. Add annotations

Add a comment