Creating and Using Ad hoc / Edit in Shelf Calculations

Ad hoc / Edit in Shelf calculations are the quickest and easiest way to create a new calculated field in Tableau. Ad hoc calculations can be created in the Rows, Columns, and Measure Values shelves, as well as in the Marks cards.

Simply double-click on the existing field in your shelf of choice, or, alternatively you can use the Edit in Shelf option in the drop-down list of that field, as shown in the following figure:

Figure 7.10: A screenshot showing how to create an ad hoc calculation

These ad hoc calculations are useful when creating quick, on-the-fly calculations that you may or may not want to save and reuse. You will explore this in the exercise below.

Exercise 7.01: Creating an Ad Hoc Calculation to Highlight Loss-Making Sub-Categories

The aim of this exercise is to find out which sub-categories have negative profit and which ones have positive profit. Those with negative profit will...