Subject Area: UI
Level of complexity: Beginner
Approximate Time to complete: 15 mins
Companion Workbook (twbx): n/a
Additional Resources on the web:
- http://onlinehelp.tableau.com/current/pro/online/en-us/help.htm#environ_workbooksandsheets_sheets_undo.html
- http://onlinehelp.tableau.com/current/pro/online/en-us/help.htm#formatting_clear.html
The flow of data analysis is an iterative process
Tableau Software makes the flow of visual analysis very easy for all types of users. As our customers drag and drop in Tableau Desktop and begins an iterative process of asking and answering more questions of the data. As customers work with the data, often the resulting visual analysis is not quite what they expected. One of the most underrated features of Tableau is the unlimited undo button in Tableau Desktop. The beauty of Tableau is in its design. It is not a complex wizard driven platform. Removing a field from your analysis is as simple as dragging a field off of the "shelf" that you put it on or you can right-click the field and select remove. The undo button is useful when needing to step back a couple of levels in your flow of visual analysis. This is a very powerful feature, but be careful not to rapidly click the back button 30+ times. It may cause Tableau to become unresponsive or crash. There are a few other options available that can help you when you are stuck in your analysis.
If you need to clear a particular aspect of your analysis like clearing all of the filters or formatting, simply navigate to this icon. If you simply click the icon with the red X it will clear the sheet. If you click the drop down arrow next to it, it will provide you a few different available options including clearing the sheet, formatting, any manual sizing, sorts, and removing all fields from the filter shelf. This can be much faster than clicking the back button many times. There are other times it might be easiest just to create a new sheet and begin from scratch. Tableau makes the process of creating visual analysis very flexible.
