Dynamic Axis Range | Dynamic Axis in Tableau | New in Tableau 2023.3

0:00Hey, it's Tim here. In 23.3 Tableau have

0:02announced a new feature called dynamic axis

0:04ranges.

0:05It essentially allows you to change the

0:08axis range using a parameter. But there's a

0:10few quirks with

0:11this that kind of make it a little bit

0:12difficult to get to. So I'm going to show

0:14you the mechanics

0:14of how it works and point you to some

0:16resources of some of the best things you

0:18can do with this.

0:19As ever, let's get stuck in. Okay, so I'm

0:21here inside of Tableau, I'm just going to

0:24set up a

0:24basic chart here just so we can work

0:26through. I'm using the sample superstore

0:28data set so everyone

0:29can follow along with this. Let's go ahead

0:31and put sales and profit out there and we

0:33'll put

0:33manufacturer on detail just to give us a

0:35nice scatterplot. I'll actually rotate this

0:3790 degrees

0:38by clicking that icon here at the top. So

0:40this is our basic chart. Now the way this

0:42feature works

0:43is in the axis options. If you click on

0:45edit access, it gives you a new option

0:48underneath

0:48custom that allows you to choose a

0:50parameter you can see here we've got the

0:52profit bin size and top

0:53customers parameters. Of course, those are

0:55not going to help our access. So we're

0:56going to go

0:57ahead and set this back to automatic and

0:59set up the two points that we need. So for

1:01this one,

1:02I'm actually going to work with the x axis,

1:03I'll go ahead and create a parameter and we

1:05'll call it

1:06x axis. So x hyphen axis, and we'll say

1:09this is the x axis start and we'll go ahead

1:12and just leave

1:13that as is and select OK. And then we'll go

1:16ahead and choose actually we'll duplicate

1:18this just to

1:19make life a lot a bit easier. And we'll

1:21just rename it instead. So we'll go ahead x

1:23axis start,

1:24we'll say x axis end, and we'll hit enter.

1:26And essentially, that's going to be exactly

1:29the same

1:29parameter set up in exactly the same way.

1:31So we don't have to think too much about it

1:33,

1:33right click on that. And we're going to hit

1:35show parameter, we'll do that again over

1:37here. If you

1:37don't know what happens when I do that, it

1:39actually goes and shows them over here on

1:41the right hand

1:42side. So it's going to be available there

1:43for us to tweak with. So we'll go ahead and

1:45set this to

1:4610,000. I'm just doing this so that you

1:48actually see something happen. And we'll

1:50set the access

1:51to start to zero, these are sort of two

1:53logical things to understand. Now we could

1:55name these

1:56after the measure that's actually on the x

1:58axis. So sales as an example. But for now,

2:00we'll leave

2:01that as is now the secret source here is if

2:03we go to the x axis now and select Edit

2:06axis, we can go

2:07to custom and now you'll see that those two

2:09are available. So the start will say zero

2:11and you'll

2:12see the axis moves immediately. And the end

2:14is over there. And now you can see that's

2:16working.

2:16So so far, so good. That is the basic of

2:19the feature. And that's just how it works.

2:21So you're

2:21probably thinking, well, that's not nice to

2:23have to manually set the axis, right, it

2:25would be just

2:26good if it was more dynamic. And so that's

2:27where this sort of feature is sort of

2:29confusing, because

2:30the actual basis of the feature isn't

2:32dynamic. But what is dynamic is the ability

2:34to use parameter

2:35actions to change these parameters that we

2:37've set up. So the next thing we're going to

2:39do now is

2:40actually we're going to clear this axis, we

2:42're not going to use this as it were. So if

2:44I clear the

2:44axis, it actually goes and puts it back to

2:46automatic for by default. So if you clear

2:48the axis

2:49range, just remember, it's not going to use

2:51that setting anymore. It's an important

2:52small detail to

2:53be aware of. Okay, we're going to go ahead

2:55and build a new chart. And I'll show you

2:56how you

2:57should really use this feature in a

2:58nutshell. So let's go ahead and bring in

3:00sales again. And this

3:01time, we'll just bring in manufacturers. So

3:03essentially, we only have one measure to

3:05work

3:05with here, the actual measure, we're going

3:07to put on our axis, we're going to sort it

3:08by largest to

3:09smaller. So we can just see this sort of

3:11interaction happening. And then we're going

3:13to do this on a

3:14dashboard, because everything I've just

3:15done, you can actually do on a dashboard as

3:17well. So if I

3:18bring out sheet one, and then sheet two,

3:20you notice that if I right click on the

3:22axis, you still have

3:23the ability to augment the axis here on the

3:24dashboard. So this is actually the best

3:26place

3:26to do it, because you also want to be

3:28working with the dashboard actions in order

3:30to change

3:30the parameters. So how are we going to do

3:32this? Well, let me walk you through. So

3:34what we're going

3:35to do is when we select, let's say these

3:37four data points, I want this child on the

3:39bottom

3:39to change the start and the end of the

3:41access. Now, there's already this

3:43interaction in Tableau,

3:44which kind of makes this feature harder to

3:46understand where you went, where and when

3:48you'd

3:48use it, because if I just hit this filter,

3:50you automatically get a chart that adapts

3:52with the

3:52selection, and the axis automatically

3:55changes. So that kind of sort of takes the

3:57allure away from

3:58this. So this is really going to be an edge

4:00case sort of feature that you're going to

4:01use in very

4:02specific instances where you want to

4:04finally control the access. But let me show

4:06you what

4:06that could look like. So if I go up to

4:08dashboard, and we go to actions, what we

4:11want to do is set

4:12up an action and this specific dashboard,

4:14so this is the right place to be. And we're

4:16going to change

4:17the parameter value. So the first one we're

4:19going to say is, we're going to just call

4:21it parameter

4:21one just to keep things simple. And this is

4:23the orchestration you need to be careful

4:25about. The

4:26source sheet, sheet one is actually this

4:28one, okay, and we want to affect this sheet

4:30, but you

4:31don't need to select this sheet in this

4:33option, what we actually want to do is

4:34target the parameter

4:35instead. So we're going to untick sheet

4:37number two, we're going to target the x

4:39axis start,

4:40we're going to use the field of sales. So

4:42the source field is actually going to be

4:44this axis

4:44here. So we'll go ahead and select sales.

4:46And we're going to say when we select that

4:48chart,

4:48look at the sales value in that chart, we

4:50're going to select the minimum to match to

4:53the start of the

4:54axis. That's essentially what we're trying

4:57to do. So we go ahead and set that up.

4:59There is one option

4:59missing here that I wish was there, which

5:02is an ability that when you sort of select,

5:04deselect the

5:04selection, it clears the access, but keeps

5:08the axis range setting enabled, it's sort

5:11of like a

5:11very nuanced feature. It's hard to explain

5:13unless you sort of into the mechanics of

5:14this. But that

5:15would be the sort of nice thing to add here

5:17. So let the access reset, but keep the

5:20access range

5:21sort of listening for a new instruction as

5:23it were, that's not currently possible,

5:25because if

5:25it clears the access range, it loses that

5:27setting, as I showed you earlier. So we've

5:30set up one

5:30parameter, let's go ahead and set up the

5:32next one. I keep right clicking up there

5:34because I think

5:35it's possible and it's not. So let's go

5:36ahead and deselect sheet two. This time, we

5:39're going to go

5:39to the end, we're going to choose the same

5:41sales value. This time, we're going to

5:42choose the max

5:43because we want the maximum value from our

5:45selection. I'd wish that option was here

5:47again.

5:47So we've got the two parameters set up. And

5:50then for this next step, I'm actually going

5:51to do

5:51something just to make it easier to see

5:53what's happening. So I'll select the

5:54highlight action

5:56here. We'll go from sheet one, we'll des

5:58elect sheet two, and we're going to go to

6:00sheet two,

6:01we'll deselect sheet one in this particular

6:03case. And yeah, we'll just leave it as all

6:05fills. We'll

6:06keep it super simple. I haven't even

6:07renamed these. That's really bad practice.

6:09Everyone knows that.

6:10But two parameters, one highlight, I think

6:12we're set up, I think this is going to work

6:14.

6:14The last thing we need to do is of course,

6:17remember to set this to actually work to

6:19the

6:19axis ranges. So go ahead and select edit

6:21axis. And we're going to go to custom, we

6:23'll say the start

6:24is the start. And you'll see that nothing

6:25really happens because it's already there.

6:27And the end is

6:28the end. And you can actually see that

6:30happening. Okay. So everything is set up,

6:32everything's sort

6:33of working. Now let's actually test to see

6:35if this works. If I select these two points

6:37, you should see

6:37that it highlights the start and the end,

6:39it doesn't filter them or highlight them.

6:41But I think

6:42it shows the real problem with this feature

6:44, you see, the axis has changed, you can see

6:47it's saying

6:48135658 here. So that is actually the

6:51minimum value that's set up from here. And

6:53the maximum value is

6:54150,000 over there. But the problem is, is

6:58that the axis is set up exactly to those

7:00points, it

7:01kind of looks like we've kind of missed the

7:03mark. And you can see the global ends

7:05exactly where the

7:05axis starts, you can't actually see it, but

7:07it's selected. So you can see that that's

7:09actually

7:09working. The better way to show you this

7:11maybe would be to sort of select maybe a

7:13range like

7:14this. And you can see that it's actually

7:16working. But it has that sort of problem,

7:18it needs a little

7:19bit of a buffer, it needs some sort of

7:21context setting. So the best way to use

7:23really use this,

7:24I think is just to get it to set the one

7:26point of the axis. So if we go back here,

7:29edit the axis,

7:30and we go back and set the starts to be

7:32automatic, this will just focus in on the

7:34specific selection

7:35we make. So if I select these two, then you

7:37'll see that we keep global in context. And

7:39if I select

7:40these, however many, it highlights them,

7:42and it shows them here on the chart. So I

7:44think that's

7:45just a really nice setting. Ultimately, you

7:47'll probably then also want to filter

7:49because if you

7:49have to scroll down to look at everything

7:51that's selected, it's also sort of a little

7:53bit strange.

7:54So the mechanics of this do need a little

7:56bit of thinking, it's not as sort of

7:57intuitive as it

7:58should have been out of the box. But

8:00nonetheless, I think I really like this

8:01feature, I'm sure

8:02people are going to figure out some great

8:04ways, which is why I'm going to bring you

8:05to a blog by

8:06Mark Reed, who when the pre release dropped

8:08actually already wrote a blog about a month

8:11ago,

8:12showing you ways you can use this. So he's

8:13got some really nice, sort of written copy

8:16about how

8:16the mechanics of this works, how you can

8:18set it up, how you can set up the

8:20interactions, and how

8:21you can then essentially do a couple of

8:23things. Now, interestingly, here, he's set

8:25the vis to

8:26always show the entire data, which is why

8:27it's not suffering from that problem of

8:29seeing sort of the

8:30min and the max as I had when I initially

8:32sort of set this up. But it's a pretty

8:34interesting,

8:35it's a pretty interesting sort of blog, it

8:38gives you lots of sort of examples of how

8:40you could use

8:40this. And it maybe speaks to some

8:42capabilities that I think people will use

8:44in some really,

8:45really advanced use cases. So go ahead and

8:47check out Mark's blog, I'll put the link in

8:49the

8:49description as ever. But that's pretty much

8:51it. That's this feature in a nutshell, I'm

8:53going to be

8:53making more videos about 23.3, obviously,

8:56over the next few days. So be sure to

8:57subscribe, share the

8:58love with whoever might want to know about

9:00these features. And I'll catch you in the

9:02next video.

9:03Transcribed by https://otter.ai

9:04Transcribed by https://otter.ai

9:13[ Silence ]