How to Union Tables in Tableau Desktop

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Description:
Unions are an incredibly powerful tool in our data prep stage when working in Tableau Desktop. But how do you know when to use a Union and when to use a Join?
The general rule of thumb is: when you want to add rows of data to your data source, use a union!
In this video, we'll look at a basic Union and then at an example in which our columns don't match up perfectly and we need to merge mismatched fields.
Access Hobbiton Customer Orders practice data set here:
data.world/ericparker/hobbito...

[@sorosfox3801]

Very clear and helpful demo. Thank you.

[@onenumbertableau]

You're welcome!

[@laverdadbuscador]

very clear demo thank you

[@onenumbertableau]

You are welcome!

[@carolefischer2199]

Hi Ollie, you make it look so easy and your explanation with the stacked rectangles is a great visual. I was going to ask why not do this in Tableau Prep - until I saw the 'merge-matched (unmatched?) function in Tableau. That's a great function. Thanks for the video.

[@onenumbertableau]

Thank you Carole! The capability to merge fields exists in Tableau Prep too. I think the main reasons you would do this in Desktop are if you don't have access to Tableau Prep or if you don't have the Tableau Prep scheduling capability but want your data to stay updated automatically.

[@romanvasiura6705]

Thank you for this lesson 😀

[@onenumbertableau]

You got it!

[@whoisyourdaddy1881]

thanks for your lesson. what happens if when you merge the 2023 Sales to Revenue columns, there are rows that have values in both columns? do the values get summed up?

[@onenumbertableau]

You're welcome! Typically the value in the leftmost column is kept and the value in the right column is purged. If you needs to values combined it's better to write a calculation like ZN([Column A]) + ZN([Column B])

[@whoisyourdaddy1881]

@@onenumbertableau thanks!

[@onenumbertableau]

@@whoisyourdaddy1881 you're welcome! Here's a video about NULL functions which might help: onenumber.biz/blog-1/2021/9/5/how-to-deal-with-nulls-in-tableau-ifnull-isnull-zn

[@onenumbertableau]

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