FIXED [Customer ID] : MIN([Order Date]) → This gives you the first order date for each customer, repeated on every transaction row. Perfect for building a “Cohort Month” field. 3. Compare Row Value to a Higher-Level Aggregate Problem: You have daily sales data. You want to compare each day’s sales to the monthly average .
In this post, I’ll explain when and how to use FIXED, common pitfalls, and why it changes the game for cohort analysis and percent-of-total calculations. A FIXED calculation computes an aggregate value using only the dimensions you specify , ignoring all other dimensions in the current view.
FIXED [Customer Name] : SUM([Sales]) → This calculates total sales per customer , no matter whether you’re looking at Year, Product, or Region in your worksheet. When Should You Use FIXED? (3 Real-World Use Cases) 1. Percent of Total (by a specific group) Problem: You want to show each product’s sales as a % of Category total , even if the user filters to a specific region or year. fixed tableau calculation
Tableau’s default “Percent of Total” depends on the view. If you filter to “East,” the percent changes.
Here’s a useful blog post tailored for data professionals (especially Tableau users) who want to understand and apply effectively. Title: Mastering Tableau’s FIXED LOD: The Secret to Row-Level Control Without Aggregation Headaches FIXED [Customer ID] : MIN([Order Date]) → This
FIXED [Dimension1], [Dimension2] : AGG([Measure])
Try combining FIXED with date functions (e.g., FIXED DATETRUNC('month', [Date]) ) for period-over-period comparisons that stay accurate. What’s your favorite use of FIXED? Have you run into any weird behavior with filters? Share in the comments! Compare Row Value to a Higher-Level Aggregate Problem:
FIXED is the most powerful—and often misunderstood—calculation in Tableau. Unlike its cousins (INCLUDE and EXCLUDE), FIXED operates of your worksheet’s filters and dimensions. It says, “Compute this value at this specific level, and I don’t care what else is on the view.”