I’ve created a dynamic time parameter so that the x-axis starts at a different date based on the number of days from today.
Any business collecting sales for delivery into the future (any business that involves bookings or shipping) would find this incredibly valuable.
Here’s a view of the chart for reference before I start. We want to create a way to control the view so that it starts x number of days from today. Note that today is September 2, 2015 but the dataset starts from August 1, 2015.
Step 1: Create a Parameter
I’ve called mine “Days Before Shipping”. Here’s the configuration where I’ve set the range to values to span for 1 year.
Step 2: Create a Calculated Field
This is the part I got stuck on for a bit where I couldn’t quite match how a date + days (different metrics) could work together. Luckily I found the dateadd() function!
We want to create a view that is:
Today’s date + x number of days < ship date
Here’s the calculation:
If you’re a bit confused, hopefully this crosstab view will help understand what we’re asking Tableau to do: for every value where this above statement is true, give me that view.
Step 3: Put the New Calculation on Filters
And select “True”
Voila! You’re done!
