Using relationships to combine tables at the logical layer
Tableau introduced a new data model in its 2020.2 release called relationships. Up until this release, the only way to expand your analysis to use additional fields from a secondary table in Tableau was to create a join at the physical layer of the data. Relationships offer advantages over physical joins. The advantages come down to quicker and easier data modeling. Just tell Tableau which fields are common between the different tables and let Tableau dynamically generate the right query based on the question asked by the analyst. This means no more pre-aggregation, complex join clauses, and custom SQL queries.
These advantages in modeling lead to two particularly compelling use cases:
- Supporting multiple use cases with a single data model
- Ability to handle different levels of aggregation
Let’s start by exploring multiple use cases with a single data model.
