Unused Dimensions

Rationale

The VIZYUL™ Unused Dimensions best practice rule fires when a dimension in a data source isn’t used on any worksheet.

Insight

Unused dimensions are frequent occurrence here at VIZYUL™.  Many times it’s necessary to include fields that ultimately won’t be used and create calculated fields while performing data discovery activities.  However, if we’re in the process of finalizing the dashboard, unused dimensions can negatively impact the overall performance of the dashboard.

It’s important to note that tableau includes a “Hide Unused Fields” feature.  While hiding unused fields are a way to improve performance, experts advise removing fields you know aren’t used when authoring dashboards.

Action

• Consider using removing all unused dimensions from each data source in your workbook.  NOTE: Tableau will warn or prevent you from accidentally removing dimensions that are used in a workbook.
• Consider the resources below

Additional Resources

• How To – http://onlinehelp.tableau.com/current/pro/online/mac/en-us/datafields_dwfeatures_hide.html
• Tips – http://kb.tableau.com/articles/knowledgebase/tips-working-with-extracts
• Tips – http://kb.tableau.com/articles/knowledgebase/controlling-displayed-fields