How to display data for the last N months on a graph and show year-on-year comparisons in the tooltip

Published: 07 Apr 2022
Last Modified Date: 07 Apr 2022

Question

How to display data for the last N months on a graph and show year-on-year comparisons in the tooltip
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Environment

Tableau Desktop

Answer

In the following example, you want to display the last 10 months.

<STEP 1>
-Creating bar chart-
1. Connect to Sample -Superstore.
2. Drag [Order Date] to Columns and [Sales] to Rows.
3. Expand [YEAR(Order Date)] and display up to MONTH.
4. Remove [QUARTER] from Columns.

<STEP 2>
-Calculate year-on-year comparisons-
5. Create a new calculated field like the following.
Name : year-on-year
Calculation : SUM([Sales]) / LOOKUP(SUM([Sales]),-12)
6. Right-click on [year-on-year] > Default Properties > Number Format > Percentage > OK
7. Drag [year-on-year] to Detail.

<STEP 3>
-Filtered in the last 10 months-
8. Create a new calculated field like the following.
Name : Filter
Calculation : INDEX() <= 10
9. Drag [Filter] to Filters Pane > Click on 'All' > OK
10. Right-click on [Filter] in Filter Pane > Edit Table Calculation > Set as following.
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