Introduction to Measure Filter

What is Measure Filter in Tableau?

In the article ‘Introduction to Measure Filter’, let's understand what is measure filter in Tableau; Measure Filter is a feature in Tableau that is used to filter the data based on the values of your measures. Measures are the quantitative values that represent the values in the dataset. Measure Filters can be used to visualize the charts, bars, scatter plots, etc.

There are various types of measure filters in Tableau are discussed below:

1. Range of Values: This type of measure filter specifies the range of values. The minimum and maximum values can be specified as the range of values, and the filtering will be displayed within this range. For example, If the filtering is being done on the profit sales between ₹10 - ₹100, then the range of values will be 10 to 100 here.
    
2. Top/Bottom N Values: This type of measure filter specifies the top or bottom N values. For example, We can use this filter for showing the bar chart for displaying the top 10 products based on the profit.
    
3. At Least/At Most: This type of measure filter specifies the minimum or maximum values of a measure. For example, we use this filter to filter the scatter plot to show the data points with at least 100 products.
    
4. Measure Names: When there are multiple measures in a data set, this filter can be used to select the specific measure from all the measures.

Features of Measure Filter

There are several features of the measure filter that can be helpful while analyzing and visualizing the data:

• The measure filter provides dynamic filtering where the filter conditions or values can be adjusted according to the needs, and the visualization updates automatically to reflect the changes.
   
• Different types of measure filters are offered by Tableau that can be used, such as Range of Values, Top/Bottom N values, At Least/At Most, and measure names.
   
• The measure filter provides granularity control, where the filters can be applied at different levels, such as the entire dataset, specific dimensions, or specific visualizations.
   
• The multiple-measure filters can be combined in Tableau, which can help us to refine our data based on multiple dimensions and measures simultaneously.
   
• The measure filter also provides aggregation options, where the aggregation functions such as sum, average, minimum, maximum, etc, can be used to aggregate the data values.
   
• The measure filter also supports interconnected filtering where the measure filters can be linked to other visualizations in the Tableau workbook, creating interactivity between different views.

Implementation of Measure Filter

In order to apply the measure filter on Tableau, Here are the steps to do:

1. You need to connect the data source, such as Excel, CSV, and databases, with the Tableau workbook.
    
2. After connecting it with Tableau, we need to select a measure present in the measures tab.
    
3. After connecting it with Tableau, we need to select a measure ‘Sale amt’ present in the measures tab.
    

4. Now we have to drag this measure ‘Sale amt’ into the ‘filters’ section, and after dragging, the window will be opened like this:
 

5. Here are some aggregate functions where we can select any aggregation function we want to apply as a filter on the data values. Let's just say we selected the sum, and now one more window will be opened where you can select which type of measure filter you want to choose:

6. Here, I selected a range of values where I ranged it from 0 to 10,000.

7. After clicking on ‘Apply’, we successfully filtered the data set based on the sales amount value between 0 to 10,000.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Measure Filter?

Measure Filter is a feature in Tableau that is used to filter the data based on the values of your measures. Measures are the quantitative values that represent the values in the dataset.

What are the types of Measure Filter?

There are several types of measure filters, which are Range of Values, where this filter specifies the range of values. Top/Bottom N Values where this filter specifies the top or bottom N values. At Least/At Most, where this filter specifies the minimum or maximum values of a measure.

What are the aggregate functions in Measure Filter?

Measure Filter allows the aggregate functions that can be applied to measure values in order to control the level of detail. Here are some examples of aggregate functions, Sum, Average, Minimum, Maximum, Median, and Count, etc.

How to apply measure filters in Tableau?

To add a measure filter in Tableau, you need to drag the measure (for example, sales amt) to the filters section, then a window will be displayed for selecting the values, and then the selection of the type of measure filter can be made.

Conclusion

Measure Filter is a feature in Tableau that is used to filter the data based on the values of your measures. In the article ‘Introduction to Measure Filter’, we discuss what is the measure filter in Tableau, the types of measure filters, the features of the measure filter, and the implementation of the measure filter.

Here are some of the related articles I will recommend you read:

• Tableau & Its Importance in Data Visualization
• Tableau and Big Data
• Tableau Interview Questions
• Power BI vs Tableau

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