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Environment:

Tableau Desktop, data source built from a self-joined extract (cloud data warehouse connection). 

Setup:

• Main data source: a single table, self-joined on a parent/child key relationship to attach parent-record fields to child rows.
• To try to always render all 25 combinations, we added (and later removed, see below) a Custom SQL scaffold table generating all 25 combinations of two numeric fields (1-5 x 1-5), joined/related to the main table on those two fields.
• Columns: Impact (numeric, discrete), Rows: Likelihood (numeric, discrete), Shape/Label driven by record-level fields (ID, a derived score).

Problem: When no filters are applied, all 25 cells render correctly (scaffold rows with no matching record show as empty cells, which is the desired behavior).

As soon as a filter is applied on any dimension NOT present in the scaffold table (e.g. a group/category field), the filter also removes the scaffold rows (since they have NULL for that dimension), collapsing the matrix back down to only the combinations that have actual records for that filter selection. 

What we tried:

1. Blending instead of joining - not usable. The main data source contains a self-join (logical tables), and Tableau blocks logical-table sources from being used as a secondary blend source ("Data sources that contain logical tables cannot be used as secondary data sources for data blending").
2. Fixed axis range on the two numeric fields - not usable since both fields are discrete, not continuous. Converting them to continuous was tested but rejected: with continuous axes, the shape marks overlap/stack instead of sitting centered per cell, which is unacceptable for this visual.
3. Show Missing Values - not available. This option only appears on discrete date fields/bins, not on a plain discrete numeric/integer dimension pulled from a join.
4. Bins with Show Missing Values - not attempted in full, flagged as a partial solution: bins only densify between the min and max value actually present after filtering, so a filtered selection with max value 4 would still be missing the "5" column. Would need to be paired with a way to force-anchor the endpoints.
5. Null-tolerant filters - partially worked, then broke on a data quality issue. Rewrote each filter as ISNULL([ID]) OR <original condition>, and included Null in the relevant quick filter, so scaffold rows (no ID) always pass regardless of filter selection. This worked correctly for that filter in isolation. However, it broke down because a subset of real records in the source data have a genuinely NULL value on that same filter field (a data quality gap, not scaffold rows), so including "Null" in the filter also pulled in those orphan records on every filter selection - contaminating the matrix with records that don't belong to the selected group. Distinguishing scaffold rows from genuine null-value records would require either a dedicated is_scaffold flag column in the Custom SQL, or a calculated dimension like IF ISNULL([ID]) THEN "(Scaffold)" ELSEIF ISNULL([Group]) THEN "Unassigned" ELSE [Group] END used as the filter field instead of the raw dimension - not implemented yet.

Current state: Removed the Custom SQL scaffold table entirely, since none of the above approaches held up once real filters were applied. The matrix currently just shows fewer than 25 cells when filtered to selections with limited record coverage.

Question for the community: Is there a native Tableau way to force a discrete dimension pulled from a joined/related table to always show its full domain (1-5 on both axes) regardless of filters applied on unrelated dimensions, without a pipeline-level fix and without hitting the logical-table blending restriction? Specifically interested in:

• Whether a table calculation or a different LOD structure can force-render the missing combinations
• Whether there's a supported way to flag scaffold rows distinctly from genuine NULLs in a self-joined source, so null-tolerant filters don't accidentally include unrelated orphan data

Happy to share the exact Custom SQL and calculated field text (genericized) if useful. 

I enabled Pulse and Tableau AI on our site.  The Tableau AI agent icon is disabled and I cannot locate Pulse.  

I am successfully displaying a Running Total for the current year in a KPI summary card using the following LOD calculation. 

However, when I use the same calculation and only change the year filter to display the previous year, the KPI value does not match the result shown in my line chart. 

Is there an issue with my LOD calculation for reporting a previous-year running total, or is there a different approach needed to replicate the Running Total table calculation in a KPI card? 

This is the LOD calculation I am using:

{ FIXED DATETRUNC('month', [start_date]):
  COUNTD(
   IF YEAR([start_date]) = 2025 THEN [user_id] END
   )
}

The KPI card should display the same running total value for the previous year as the corresponding endpoint shown in the line chart (11). 

When looking at the data source tab of a report I don't own, that has an extract generated from Snowflake (using stored OAUTH credentials in the report owner's account), editing the connection, I see this:The owner of the report sees this:

I spent a while wondering how this report was successfully updating without any credentials. Now that I know, I'll probably just ignore it, but that means I can't diagnose if that's the reason a report is legitimately not updating, without asking the owner (who may not be available) to check for me. That dialog will look the same to me whether there are stored credentials or not. Am I overcomplicating it (cos' I'd get some other extract error if there was, say, a query problem, so this would be the catch-all)? 

Hi everyone,

I’m working on a Tableau dashboard where users select a Mission ID using a filter dropdown.

Some Mission IDs are milestone-based, while others are not.

I have a field [Milestone Rank], and the condition for a milestone-based Mission ID is:

COUNTD([Milestone Rank]) > 0

I have a separate dashboard section containing several milestone-related charts. What I want is:

•  If the selected Mission ID is milestone-based → show the milestone section. 
•  If the selected Mission ID is not milestone-based → completely hide the milestone section. 
•  When the section is hidden, I also want the empty space to collapse, rather than leaving a blank area. 
•  The Mission ID list comes from the database, so new Mission IDs can be added over time. 
•  Ideally, I want to keep the Mission ID as a filter dropdown, rather than requiring the user to manually change another Show/Hide parameter. 

I tried using Dynamic Zone Visibility, but Tableau does not show my Boolean calculated field as an available value for “Control visibility using value.”

I also tried a Boolean parameter for Show/Hide, but then the user has to manually change the parameter every time they select a different Mission ID, which isn't practical.

Is there a way to make Dynamic Zone Visibility respond automatically to the selected Mission ID while keeping the Mission ID as a filter?

If not, what would be the recommended Tableau approach for achieving:

Mission ID filter → detect whether milestone exists → automatically show/hide a dashboard zone → collapse the space when hidden?

Thanks!