Mirror, Indicate, Manoeuvre.
When learning to drive a car, that process is drummed into us. In that order, unless you like dancing with danger…
(And, when you do see something in your mirror…please wait for it to pass before the next 2 steps…unlike my dearly beloved grandma (”I’ve NEVER been in an accident…seen thousands though…”))
Tableau’s should be thought of in the same way. It follows a specific Order of Operations, ensuring that filters, calculations, and visual elements interact in a structured way.
Get it right, and your dashboards flow effortlessly. And you get to play with them like you are the DJ of your Viz.
Get it wrong, and you’re left wondering, “Why is my filter not working?” or “Why does this number look wrong?”. And your audience is stranded feeling like they are “flossing” to hardcore drum and base.
This is part 1 of a series of 5 short blog posts, helping you Excel At Tableau: Order of Operations.
Much of the content was from a training webinar that was created in collaboration with Chris Dickson. This is now included in our TToT Level Up course if you’d like to deep dive on this essential topic.
In this post, we’ll explore:
✅ How Tableau processes your data step by step
✅ Why filters, calculations, and table calculations follow a strict order
✅ How understanding this sequence can make you a Tableau troubleshooting ninja
The Tableau Query Pipeline: A Step-by-Step Breakdown
At its core, every action in Tableau—from dragging a field onto the canvas to applying a filter—triggers a behind-the-scenes query pipeline. This structured sequence determines when and how Tableau processes data.
The key stages in this pipeline are:
1️⃣ Interact – this is a physical action by the user that triggers the VizQL (Visual Query Language) – that converts drag-and-drop actions into structured queries.
2️⃣ Query – Execution – Tableau connects to a database and retrieves only the necessary data.
3️⃣ Compute – FIXED, INCLUDE, and EXCLUDE LODs run before some filters and after others.
4️⃣ Render – The last step where visual elements are applied.
Filters (Extract, Data Source, Context, Dimension, Measure and Table Calc filters) happen in several places along the way, at different stages of the query, compute and render steps.
Understanding this order is critical for debugging dashboards when things don’t work as expected.
Why Order of Operations Matters (AKA: Why Things Go Wrong!)
Ever had one of these problems?
🚩 Your filter removes too much or too little data.
🚩 Your calculated field ignores a filter.
🚩 Your Top N filter returns incorrect results.
🚩 Your Level Of Detail calculation seems to get broken by the application of a filter.
🚩 Your Table Calculation doesn’t update or get calculated correctly.
These issues often happen because filters and calculations don’t run in the order you assume.
The following diagram shows where each of the calculation and view effects occur:
Let’s say you have a FIXED LOD calculation that totals sales per country:
You apply a Dimension Filter to show only “UK” data—but your total sales still reflect all countries! Why? Because FIXED LODs execute before Dimension Filters.
💡 Solution: Convert your Dimension Filter into a Context Filter so Tableau applies it earlier in the sequence.
Order of Operations: Your Secret Weapon for Speed & Accuracy
Understanding the sequence Tableau follows doesn’t just help with troubleshooting—it can also improve performance optimisation as well as allow you to provide the great usability.
✅ Data Source & Extract Filters minimise the amount of data retrieved, keeping queries lean.
✅ Context Filters optimise dashboard interactions by pre-filtering data for calculations.
✅ LOD Calculations enable the right aggregation levels to be applied.
✅ Table Calculations allow on-the-fly adjustments without needing additional queries.
What’s Next?
Now that we’ve covered why Order of Operations is important, the next post in this series will break down Filters and their hierarchy—from Extract Filters to Table Calculation Filters.
🚀 Ready to Level Up? Check out our next training course for Tableau Training on Tap Level Up where we deep dive into this topic.
