User permissions and roles in Tableau - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Concept Flow

User Table

+-------+---------+---------------------+
| User  | Role    | Permission          |
+-------+---------+---------------------+
| Alice | Viewer  | Read                |
| Bob   | Editor  | Read, Write          |
| Carol | Admin   | Read, Write, Manage  |
+-------+---------+---------------------+

Formula checks Role to assign Access Level:
Role -> Access Level
Admin -> Full Access
Editor -> Edit Access
Viewer -> View Only

This flow shows how user roles determine their access levels. The formula evaluates each user's role and assigns the corresponding access level.

Formula

IF [Role] = 'Admin' THEN 'Full Access' ELSEIF [Role] = 'Editor' THEN 'Edit Access' ELSE 'View Only' END

This Tableau calculated field formula checks the Role column. If the role is 'Admin', it returns 'Full Access'. If 'Editor', it returns 'Edit Access'. Otherwise, it returns 'View Only'.

Step-by-Step Trace

User	Role	Permission	Access Level
Alice	Viewer	Read	View Only
Bob	Editor	Read, Write	Edit Access
Carol	Admin	Read, Write, Manage	Full Access

The Access Level column shows the result of the formula for each user based on their role.

Variable Tracker

Step	User	Role	Condition Checked	Result
1	Alice	Viewer	Role = 'Admin'?	False
2	Alice	Viewer	Role = 'Editor'?	False
3	Alice	Viewer	Else	View Only
4	Bob	Editor	Role = 'Admin'?	False
5	Bob	Editor	Role = 'Editor'?	True
6	Bob	Editor	Return	Edit Access
7	Carol	Admin	Role = 'Admin'?	True
8	Carol	Admin	Return	Full Access

Key Moments

What access level does a 'Viewer' role get?

Which role gets 'Full Access'?

What access level is assigned to 'Editor' role?

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What access level does a user with the role 'Viewer' get?

A Edit Access

B View Only

C Full Access

D No Access

Key Result

User roles in Tableau determine their access levels. The formula uses IF-ELSE logic to assign 'Full Access' to Admins, 'Edit Access' to Editors, and 'View Only' to others.

Transcript

We start with a table listing users, their roles, and permissions. The formula checks each user's role. If the role is 'Admin', it assigns 'Full Access'. If 'Editor', it assigns 'Edit Access'. Otherwise, it assigns 'View Only'. For example, Alice is a Viewer, so she gets 'View Only'. Bob is an Editor, so he gets 'Edit Access'. Carol is an Admin, so she gets 'Full Access'. This way, Tableau controls what each user can do based on their role.