Data Types in Tableau: How to Choose the Right One for Your Analysis

In Tableau, data types refer to the kind of data that a field contains. There are several data types available in Tableau, including:

1. String: A string data type is a series of characters, such as text or letters.
2. Number: A number data type includes numeric values, including integers and decimals.
3. Date: A date data type includes date and time values.
4. Boolean: A boolean data type represents true or false values.
5. Geometry: A geometry data type represents spatial data, such as points, lines, and polygons.
6. Mapping: A mapping data type is used to represent geographical data, such as country names or latitude and longitude values.
7. Null: A null data type represents a missing or unknown value.
8. Numeric: This data type includes numbers, such as integers and decimal values. Numeric data can be used in calculations and can be displayed in visualizations such as bar charts, line charts, and scatter plots.
9. Date/Time: This data type includes date and time values. Date/time data can be used to create visualizations that show trends over time, such as line charts and area charts.
10. Categorical: This data type includes data that can be grouped into categories, such as product names, regions, and more. Categorical data can be used to create visualizations such as bar charts, pie charts, and scatter plots.

In Tableau, it is important to correctly identify the data type of each field in your data source, as this can affect how the data is visualized and analyzed. For example, if you treat a string field as a numeric field, you may get incorrect results when performing calculations on that field.