If you want a field to look or behave in a particular way every time you use it in a view, you can modify its default properties. Available field properties depend on the nature of the field, and they can include the number format, color, shape, the aggregation of values, the sort order, comments that you can add to store with the field, and so on.
Access the default properties for a field
You modify default field properties where they appear in the Data window.
Right-click the field, and select Default Properties, and then select the property you want to modify. The properties that appear on the menu depend on the field.
This article gives an overview of field properties. For more comprehensive definitions of the menu items, see Editing Field Properties and related topics in the Tableau Desktop Help.
Note: This article focuses on fields’ default properties; however, you can modify field properties directly in the view, to change only the instance of the field in the view, while maintaining the existing default settings.
Aggregation
You can set the default aggregation on fields that are measures. For example, by default Sales might show the sum of all sales numbers. You can change the aggregation to show the Average sales by default.
In the Data window, right-click the field and select Default Properties > Aggregation, and then select the aggregation you want to use for the measure’s numbers.
When you add a measure to the view, the aggregation used for the field appears in the field before the measure name.
Aliases
Aliases are alternate names you can create and assign to members of a dimension field. Aliases do not apply to measures, continuous dimensions, or dates.
Step 1
In the Dimensions pane, right-click a field and select Default Properties > Aliases.
Step 2
In the Edit Aliases dialog box, complete the following steps.
- Under Member, select the member whose alias you want to change.This makes the existing alias in the Value column available for editing.
- Type the new value.
- Repeat for any other members whose aliases you want to change, and then click OK.
When you use the field in a view, the alias appears instead of the field name:
Color
You can change the default colors that are assigned to members of a dimension field.
Step 1
In the Dimensions pane, right-click a field and select Default Properties > Color.
Step 2
In the Edit Colors dialog box, complete any of these tasks to assign new colors.
To change the range of colors for all categories:
- Under Select Color Palette, select a new color palette from the list, and then click Assign Palette.Tableau assigns new colors from the palette you selected.
To assign a specific color to a category:
- Select the color palette you want as described in the previous step, select a category on the left, and then select the color you want to assign to it on the right.
- Repeat the previous step for each category you want to change.
To see how any color changes look in the view before you close the Edit Colors dialog box, click Apply.
When you’re finished, click OK.
TIP: You can also modify default colors from the Marks card: From the Dimensions pane drag a field to Color, click Color, and then click Edit Colors.
Comment
All fields—dimensions and measures—have a Comment property. Similar to a tooltip, a comment associated with a field appears when you hover the mouse over the field, in the Data window and in the view.
Step 1
In the Data window, right-click the field and select Default Properties > Comment.
Step 2
In the Edit Comment dialog box, type and format the comment, and then click OK.
The comment appears when you place the mouse pointer over the field in the Data window or in the view.
For related information, see Conditionally Formatting Tooltips.
Date Format
This property is available for date fields—Date, Order Date, Ship Date, and so on. It opens the Default Date Format dialog box, where you can select the date format for the related dates in the view.
Fiscal Year Start
This is another property of date fields. Fiscal Year Start provides a list of the months from which you can select the one that starts your fiscal year.
To set the fiscal year, right-click the field in the data window, and select Default Properties > Fiscal Year Start, and then select the month.
Number Format
This sets default number formatting in a measure field. You can use this property to differentiate numbers in a particular field from other numbers in the view. For example, format them as currency.
Step 1
In the Data window, right-click the field and select Default Properties > Number Format.
Step 2
In the Default Number Format dialog box, select formatting options, and when you’re finished, click OK.
Although you probably wouldn’t want to format your sales numbers differently from your profit numbers, the following image shows how number formatting is applied.
Shape
This property applies a different shape to each of the categories in a dimension field. You can select from different palettes of shapes, and, similar to colors, assign a specific shape to a category.
Step 1
In the Dimensions pane, right-click the field and select Default Properties > Shape.
Step 2
In the Edit Shapes dialog box, review the default selections; that is, which shape is assigned to each category listed under Select Data Item on the left.
If you want to change the shape assignments or palette, complete any of the following steps.
- Under Select Shape Palette, select a new palette from the drop-down menu, and then click Assign Palette.
- To assign a specific shape to a category, under Select Data Item, select the category, and then select the individual shape on the right.
To see how the new shapes look in the view before you close the Edit Shape dialog box, click Apply.
When you’re finished with all of the changes, click OK.
Sort
This property defines the default sort order of a dimension when it’s used in a view. By default, items are sorted as they are in the data source order. You can alphabetize them or organize them manually as you prefer.
In the Dimensions pane, right-click the field and select Default Properties > Sort.
