3 Replies Latest reply on Apr 11, 2018 11:00 AM by Tim Dines

    Creating a Cumulative Heat Map

    Patrick R
    Patrick R Apr 10, 2018 12:51 PM

      I created a heat map of different ZIP codes in states and provinces (US/Canada) and i want to do a time lapse of our sales in those regions. When i use pages i can see the changes each month, but i cant get a cumulative visual. I just see what happened that month. Essentially i would like to see a zip code change color over time instead of blinking in and out. Cumulative instead of a snap shot.

        • 1. Re: Creating a Cumulative Heat Map
          swaroop.gantela
          swaroop.gantela Apr 10, 2018 6:58 PM (in response to Patrick R)

          Patrick,

           

          Here is one method, though it has an issue.

           

          You could put on the Color Shelf a calculated field of:

          RUNNING_SUM(SUM([Sales]))

           

          and this should increase in color as the sales increase.

           

          A problem occurs when there is a zip code that

          doesn't have any data for a particular month

          (as in the example attached, there is no 2017 data for Wyoming).

          So the final page is missing the running total coloring for Wyoming.


          Would that missing data scenario ever occur in your data?

          If so, is it possible to pad your data source with zeros for

          months with no data?

           

          Likely, it could also be padded inside Tableau

          (of note, I first had to move YEAR(Order Date) up the row shelf,

          select "Show Missing Values", then move the pill back to

          the detail shelf).

           

          Please see workbook attached in the Forum thread.

          • 2. Re: Creating a Cumulative Heat Map
            Patrick R
            Patrick R Apr 11, 2018 8:09 AM (in response to swaroop.gantela)

            Thanks for this as a start. It seems like the way around this is to pad my values with zero, i can do that with pandas.

            • 3. Re: Creating a Cumulative Heat Map
              Tim Dines
              Tim Dines Apr 11, 2018 11:00 AM (in response to Patrick R)

              Forgive me if this is common knowledge to you, but the Pages shelf will not be available to you when your work is published, unless this is a change I am not aware of.  The pages shelf is a great testing tool and is cool to show users on sheets, but it does not have full function on a dashboard.