Tableau Calculations: Addressing and Partitioning
If you are configuring table calculations using specific dimensions, knowing about concepts of ‘addressing and partitioning’ will help in better design.
Partitioning fields break the view up into multiple sub-views (or sub-tables), and then the table calculation is applied to the marks within each such partition.
The direction in which the calculation moves (for example, in calculating a running sum, or computing the difference between values) is determined by the addressing fields.
So, when you order the fields in the Specific Dimensions section of the Table Calculation dialog box from top to bottom,
you are specifying the direction in which the calculation moves through the various marks in the partition.
When you add a table calculation using the Compute Using options, Tableau identifies some dimensions as addressing and others as partitioning automatically,
as a result of your selections. But when you use Specific Dimensions,
then it’s up to you to determine which dimensions are for addressing and which for partitioning.
Click here to see the example of Addressing and Partition