Tableau Order of Operations Illustrated

Tableau Order of Operations

A more complete diagram

I have scoured quite a few posts that try to map out a more complete order of operations, but I never quite found a complete diagram. So I have started to build one here. With special thanks to Joe Mako for his feedback on an early draft. 

I expect to build a much longer version of this diagram that gets deeper into the weeds a bit more, but for most Tableau problem solving, this level of detail should be helpful to devise a strategy.

The most common problem I've had to solve with an understanding of Order of Operations, is having Top N filters applied after other filters have taken place. For example, if you want to know your top 10 customers, after excluding a few states from your map, your Top N filter will be wrong as that is applied before the Dimension Filter on [state]. 
Quick Answer: If you want your dimension filter to be applied before Top N, then after you have dragged it to your filter shelf, (or Action filter first appears on your filter shelf), convert the filter into a grey Context filter. 



The second most common for me is what's often called late filtering. How to filter your view without affecting the values of your table calculations such as Running Average. Quick Answer: Filter your view using a filter on a table calculation, i.e. on an INDEX, or LOOKUP calculation.