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Tableaubi_tool~10 mins

Line charts in Tableau - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

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LearnWhyDeepSheetTryChallengeScenarioRecallDash
Sample Data

Monthly sales data for the first five months of the year.

CellValue
A1Month
B1Sales
A2Jan
B21000
A3Feb
B31500
A4Mar
B41300
A5Apr
B51700
A6May
B61600
Formula Trace
SUM([Sales]) OVER (ORDER BY [Month] ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)
Step 1: SUM([Sales]) OVER (ORDER BY [Month] ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) at Jan
Step 2: SUM([Sales]) OVER (ORDER BY [Month] ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) at Feb
Step 3: SUM([Sales]) OVER (ORDER BY [Month] ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) at Mar
Step 4: SUM([Sales]) OVER (ORDER BY [Month] ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) at Apr
Step 5: SUM([Sales]) OVER (ORDER BY [Month] ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) at May
Cell Reference Map
    A       B
1 | Month | Sales |
2 |  Jan  | 1000  |
3 |  Feb  | 1500  |
4 |  Mar  | 1300  |
5 |  Apr  | 1700  |
6 |  May  | 1600  |

Arrows: Sales values in column B feed into the cumulative sum calculation ordered by Month in column A.
The formula references the Sales column (B2:B6) ordered by Month (A2:A6) to calculate cumulative sums for the line chart.
Result
    A       B       C
1 | Month | Sales | Cumulative Sales |
2 |  Jan  | 1000  |      1000       |
3 |  Feb  | 1500  |      2500       |
4 |  Mar  | 1300  |      3800       |
5 |  Apr  | 1700  |      5500       |
6 |  May  | 1600  |      7100       |
The final result shows cumulative sales by month. This data can be used to create a line chart showing sales growth over time.
Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions
Test your understanding
What is the cumulative sales value at March?
A3800
B1300
C2500
D5500
Key Result
SUM([Measure]) OVER (ORDER BY [Dimension] ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) calculates a running total ordered by the dimension.