Tableau - Filter View Based on Different Variable

Question

Is there a way in Tableau to filter a view based on its relationship with a different variable?

For example, say I have a dataset with variables Company (values = A, B, C) and Product (values = 1, 2, 3). In one view, I want to select a Product. In the other view, I want to filter to only Companies that have that Product, but I want to show all Products for those companies. The typical filtering approach in Tableau could easily show me which Companies have that Product, but the rows with other Products from the same Companies would be excluded by the filter.

Any solutions? I get the feeling I may be missing something simple.

Answer 1

1. Create a parameter to represent the product of interest. You can load the values of the parameter from the Product field, but will have to add/remove choices periodically as product list changes.
2. Place Company on the filter shelf, and use the condition tab to choose only companies that have that Product with a formula such as max(Product = [Product of Interest])

For more than one product at a time, create a set of Products instead of a parameter and change the formula to test for set membership instead of field equality. If you have a set of Products called [Products of Interest], note the plural, the formula is then simply max([Products of Interest])

The nice part about a set is that it notices changes to the database Products list automatically. The bad part about a set is that Tableau doesn't make it easy to add or remove elements from a set in the user interface unless you are using Tableau Desktop (at least not by version 10.1)

Answer 2

In addition to the methods explained by Alex, (if you are okay with having multiple sheets) you can have 2 sheets linked with an Action filter -

First sheet would just show the unique list of Products (this acts as the Source sheet)

Second source would contain whatever view you like to show with Companies and their products (this acts as the destination sheet)

Create an action filter between the 2 sheets and use the "Selected fields" under Target filters to filter using the Company field. This way, if you select any specific product(s) in the first sheet, all relevant companies would be filtered in the second sheet but all the products show up too!

EDIT: this is a good solution in many cases, but there are a few things to be careful about.

Note that the first sheet needs Company on some shelf, possible detail, so that field is available for the filter action. If there can be multiple companies per product, then that can complicate the viz a bit.