LOD and Table Calculations Show as "Undefined" in Data Preview
Published: 19 Apr 2018 Last Modified Date: 14 Oct 2019
Issue
When viewing level of detail (LOD) or table calculations in the data preview in the Data Source tab, the values of the calculations show as "Undefined".
When mousing over the information icon for the calculation, Tableau displays the following message: This field contains an aggregate calculation which only contains meaningful data in the visualization's level of detail
Environment
Tableau Desktop
Level of detail (LOD) calculations
Table calculations
Resolution
No action is needed. This behavior is by design to prevent displaying unexpected results for the calculations in the data preview, which could cause confusion. The calculations will show expected results when placed in views.
Cause
LOD calculations repeat the same value for every record in the underlying data, which would make the calculation appear to be returning duplicated results. However, when an LOD calculation is aggregated Tableau Desktop performs additional logic so the result is not duplicated.
Table calculations depend on the level of detail in the view to compute a result. Without the context of a view, the calculation is invalid.