Worksheet enhancement

Since Tableau 10.2, you have been able to connect to a spatial file to create maps using the Geometry field (a Point, a Line, or a Polygon). Each new release brought new capabilities, such as using a spatial field directly from a database or the recent spatial join: Intersect. Tableau Desktop 2019.2 brings two new functionalities: MakePoint and MakeLine.

MakePoint and MakeLine are two new functions. MakePoint converts Latitude and Longitude into a spatial point. MakeLine takes two Points and creates a spatial Line. This allows you to create a path between two places on Earth by taking into account the curvature of the earth and joining spatial and nonspatial files with Latitude and Longitude.

Let's visualize the top 100 busiest air routes.

This file contains one hundred lines and provides information on the departure and arrival to airports, as well as the number of passengers.

Let's start:

If, like me, you aren't new to Tableau, you will be impressed by how fast and easy it is to achieve this now. That's what we love about each new Tableau release: it always makes our analysis faster and easier to do.

As I said, mapping is the star, so let's continue with this new mapping style.

Are you ready for a smoother, faster, and more powerful than ever mapping experience? Yes, you are! Using maps in Tableau Desktop 2019.2 never felt better. Using the MapBox technology, Tableau maps now use vectors for an incredibly smooth zoom in and out.

Go ahead – open your favorite visualization that includes a map and try it yourself!

But that's not all! Let's open the Maps Layers pane using the Map top menu. Three new styles have been added. You can now visualize your data using the Streets, Outdoors, or Satellite styles. I can now show you where I grew up; good luck finding it:

Oh! And is if this wasn't enough, there are also new data layers that you can add: Terrain, Routes, Water Labels, Cities, Point of Interest, Neighborhoods, Building Footprints, and so on. Each style has newer and richer layers. Mapping has never been so good.

The following is a list of other small visualization improvements:

Now, we'll look at the new features available for Dashboards.