Parameter controls in Tableau - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

Sales data for different fruits

Cell	Value
A1	Product
B1	Sales
A2	Apples
B2	100
A3	Bananas
B3	150
A4	Cherries
B4	200

Formula Trace

IF [Selected Product] = 'All' THEN SUM([Sales]) ELSE SUM(IF [Product] = [Selected Product] THEN [Sales] ELSE 0 END) END

Step 1: [Selected Product]

Step 2: [Selected Product] = 'All'

Step 3: IF [Product] = [Selected Product] THEN [Sales] ELSE 0 END for each row

Step 4: SUM([0, 150, 0])

Step 5: Final IF expression result

Cell Reference Map

   A        B
1 Product  Sales
2 Apples   100
3 Bananas  150
4 Cherries 200

Parameter: Selected Product = 'Bananas'

Formula uses [Selected Product], [Product], and [Sales]

The formula uses the parameter 'Selected Product' and the columns 'Product' and 'Sales' from the data.

Result

   A        B        C
1 Product  Sales    Result
2 Apples   100      
3 Bananas  150      150
4 Cherries 200      

Result cell shows 150 as total sales for selected product 'Bananas'

The result shows total sales for the product selected by the parameter control, which is 'Bananas' with sales 150.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What happens if the parameter 'Selected Product' is set to 'All'?

A The formula sums sales for all products.

B The formula returns zero.

C The formula sums sales only for 'All' product.

D The formula returns an error.

Key Result

Parameter controls filter data dynamically; IF parameter = 'All' then sum all else sum filtered by parameter