How to apply Dashboard filters across multiple datasources

Hi Jason,

The short answer is that global scope only goes as far as the datasource (as you've noticed), and Tableau doesn't yet support joining together different datasources.

The only thing that works across datasources at this time is the sheet-linking mechanism.  That's a little awkward for your case, though, as you have no logical workflow reason to set a filter, then follow two sheetlinks to update your "other two" views.

If you have multiple data sources (that you can't join in any way at the db level) that are at different levels of detail, then sheetlinks work very well for drilling down to related data.  At the same level - all I can say is that the topic/problems of cross-database joining, or data-mapping, has been talked about several times within the development team.

I have the same issue as Jason - a need to have the ability for a "global filter" applied across all sheets that have a field of the same name, irregardless of the number of different data sources that I am using.  The data can not be married at the db level. 

Can the Tableau team comment on whether this is a feature they are considering for a future development?  Or if it is something they have decided they will not be able to do?

I too, would really appreciate this feature.  We do reports that involve many different levels of data that cannot be linked.  But they all have the same commonality, the group name and the date.  If we could select this once, our job would be some much faster, and subject to less error.

Same here. I have different charts I need to lay out on a dashboard where the customer unit is the same, but the data for the charts are drawn from around 4 different databases (Sales, Forecasts, Backlog, Renewals). Each has a "CU" field.

Ian W.

Just in case you didn't notice, Tableau 4 lets you get close to what you want with sheet links on dashboards. Just define a sheet link destined for your dashboard, and define the appropriate filters for each data source that appears on your dashboard. Then when you use that sheet link, you'll in effect be applying a global filter on the dashboard across multiple data sources.

I wanted to let Tableau know that I was having the exact same issue.  I have sheetlinks in my workbook that are working fine for drill downs, but it would be extremely useful if I could have _one_ quick filter box to go across multiple datasources.  In my case, the field names are the same, but I would like it to be mappable, similar to how the sheetlinks allow you to map one field name to another.

Hi,

I try to create a sheet link between two worksheets using different multi-dimensional datasources. However, I cannot add filters in the sheet link. Is this not supported for multi-dimensional datasources? Is there any workaround?

Thank you for your advice!

Philipp

Just wanted to say that this is a huge issue for me as well.

"it would be extremely useful if I could have _one_ quick filter box to go across multiple datasources. In my case, the field names are the same, but I would like it to be mappable, similar to how the sheetlinks allow you to map one field name to another."

Just to chime in and say that this would be incredibly useful for me too.

If your field names match, in Tableau 5 you can "Set as filter" from a view's context menu - what this does is automatically create an action that filters all other views based upon the selection in that view.  Play around with filtering actions a bit - I think you'll find that you can accomplish a lot (while still acknowledging that datasource joining has extra benefits).

Are there any how-to's on this topic in the help files or on your site?  I didn't find any.  I have a simple dashboard with two sheets, each with their own datasources.  The fields I have selected as filters for one sheet also exist in the other datasource.  I have selected "Set as filter" for the one sheet, but changes in its filters have no effect on the other sheet in the dashboard.

I originally had the same fields as filters on both sheets, that had no effect.  Then I removed the fields from the filter shelf on the sheet that I was trying to affect on the dashboard (that is, the one I was hoping to filter using Tableau's new feature), but that had no effect either.  I'm out of ideas. 

As an aside, I really like the promise of the new features, but documentation and examples are a little hard to come by...

Thanks, d. lewis

The dashboard I was working with had in fact 3 sheets -- two attached to one dataset (that I was using as the filters) and another with detailed level data attached to a second dataset.  As it turns out, by setting BOTH of the worksheets attached to dataset #1 (not simply one of them) to 'Use As Filter', and clicking on the worksheet elements themselves (in this case bars), that caused the linked dataset to respond.

I was expecting the linked dataset to respond to changes in the quick filters, but apparently it is not designed to function like that.  dl

'Use as Filter' creates an Action.  Actions are a generalization and expansion of the old "Sheet Link" functionality, and they are based on field *names* in the same way.  Yes, filters themselves still don't cross datasources.

We have a Filter Actions Quick Start Guide or you can learn more in the Online Help.