Video |

Tableau | Data visualisation

How to use the Makepoint Spatial function in Tableau Desktop 2019.2 and newer.

MAKEPOINT turns any pair of latitude and longitude values into a spatial point you can map in Tableau straight away.

Tim Ngwena •10 January 2020 •1 min read •6 min watch •5.2K

Part ofWhat's new in Tableau 2019.2 Tableau Functions

Watch on YouTube

MAKEPOINT lets you build a spatial point object from a pair of latitude and longitude values, useful when you don't have a recognised geographic field.
You can use Tableau's calculation assistant menu (the small arrow on the right) to autocomplete the MAKEPOINT syntax and see argument hints.
MAKEPOINT works at the data level, so each row's coordinates render as a separate point without adding extra fields to the level of detail.
Duplicating an existing MAKEPOINT field and swapping the latitude/longitude inputs is a fast way to create a second point field, such as pickup versus drop-off.
Two MAKEPOINT fields won't overlay automatically because of the mapping type; drawing a line between them requires the separate MAKELINE feature.

0:00One of the new features in Tableau 29.2 is

0:05the ability to do make point spatial

0:08calculations.

0:10I'm going to go to my trusted pirate map.

0:14Yes, I actually use the pirate map as an

0:16example of explaining mapping to new users

0:18because

0:19it's actually a really good way to

0:20understand the concept.

0:22So when we're visualizing information, when

0:25we plot locations on a map, we typically

0:28use

0:29two values, a latitude and a longitude.

0:31Depending on the coordinate system your

0:33country uses, you might use slightly

0:35different numbers

0:36like Eastings and Northings are typically

0:38used here in the UK by government

0:40authorities.

0:41In other countries, they might use slightly

0:43different coordinate systems.

0:45But regardless, the principle is the same.

0:47You have some sort of coordinate with a

0:49location.

0:49So if I kind of bring these into point, if

0:52you look at this pirate map, this X is

0:55marked

0:55by these coordinates, six to 6.3.

0:58It's actually got this going backwards if

1:01you look at this very closely, and then 21.

1:033.

1:03So if you go down 21.3, that gives you the

1:07location of the map.

1:08And so this is really, really important

1:10because we often take that for granted in

1:12order to

1:12actually plot this onto the visualization,

1:16Tableau automatically takes the latitude

1:19and

1:19the longitude and creates a point for us.

1:22However, if you don't have a geographical

1:25sort of value, you need to be able to make

1:29a point using a pair of values.

1:31And so that's what make point allows you to

1:34do.

1:34Let's hop back into Tableau and see how

1:36that's done.

1:37Okay, so we're back in Tableau.

1:39And the data I'm going to use for this is

1:41actually one that was released to the

1:43community

1:43by Exosol.

1:44It was a really, really large data set.

1:46It's actually a huge extract.

1:49And it's essentially Chicago taxi data.

1:51So it's an incredibly large data.

1:53What I'm going to do is I'm just basically

1:56very, very quickly understand how big this

1:58data set is.

1:59If I just drag number of records onto text,

2:01you can see that I'm working with 13

2:03million

2:04rows.

2:05To make this slightly easier and quicker to

2:07work with, I'm just going to drag company

2:09onto rows and try and understand which

2:12company has a sort of a reasonable size.

2:14So let's just go with data from the Donald

2:18Barnes company.

2:19Let's just keep that.

2:20Okay, so we have 92 rows.

2:21Now this is going to work a little bit

2:24faster for us.

2:25I'm going to remove that and the number of

2:27records and we're back to square one.

2:29Now, if you recall, if I double click

2:32latitude and longitude, I automatically get

2:35a single

2:36point.

2:37Now in this particular case, it's actually

2:39given me the average of all of those sort

2:41of taxi rides.

2:43But if I was to remove that, and then we

2:47create a calculation.

2:48In this particular case, I'm just going to

2:50open a calculated field by right clicking

2:52on the left hand side and creating this

2:55interface.

2:56And because it's a new function that's

2:58being used here, you can actually use Table

3:01au's

3:01assistance menu here on the right hand side

3:04to show you how to do that.

3:05If you can't see that, if your calculation

3:07window looks like this, you just need to

3:09click

3:09this small arrow to reveal it.

3:12And if I type in make point, you can see

3:16that it's right there.

3:18And actually, if I double click that it

3:21automatically completes the calculation for

3:23us by creating

3:24that and then it also gives you a hint as

3:26to how it should be typed.

3:28It also gives you a hint here on the left

3:29hand side.

3:30So you have latitude and longitude.

3:32And that's basically what it needs.

3:34So what I typically do is I leave this

3:35calculation window open, you can move it

3:38around your screen,

3:39and then just bring in in the order that it

3:43's asked for latitude and then a comma and

3:46then

3:47longitude just put that after that.

3:49Okay.

3:50And if I just increase the space here, you

3:53can see that that now looks correct.

3:56So make point, drop off latitude, drop off

3:59longitude, click okay.

4:01And now we have a new spatial object.

4:04And this time it's just a point.

4:05So if I just call this drop off point, okay

4:13.

4:13And if I double click that, then you

4:15actually get the different drop off points

4:18for that

4:18taxi.

4:19Now this is really, really handy because

4:21what it's doing is it's doing this at a

4:23data level.

4:24So I'm not having to add anything else onto

4:26the level of detail to actually highlight

4:28the different trips.

4:29I've just simply used the make point

4:31function to go and get the points for each

4:33trip.

4:34And when I visualize that, Tableau

4:35correctly assumes that I'd like to see all

4:37the different

4:38drop off points.

4:39So it gives me that detail in the view.

4:41Now I'm extremely lazy.

4:43So what I normally do is actually duplicate

4:46the field I just created, then I edit it.

4:48So that means I get everything absolutely

4:50right.

4:50So let's just call this pickup point.

4:54And then I just need to replace these two

4:55filters.

4:56So I can do that by simply dragging the new

4:58ones on top.

4:58So let's just do this.

5:01And let's just do that.

5:02Perfect.

5:03Click apply.

5:04And there we have it.

5:05Now if I was to double click pickup points,

5:08it's actually slightly different, right?

5:12Because I don't see anything happening.

5:14If I drag off the drop off points, then it

5:16will actually render the pickup points.

5:19You've got to be careful because it's using

5:21the mapping type.

5:22So if I just go back a step, you would

5:24expect to see sort of both on each other.

5:27But actually, that's something you need

5:28another feature for because what you'd want

5:30to do

5:31is draw a line between the two.

5:33So tune into that video and I'll show you

5:35how to do that.

5:36But that's it.

5:37That's the make point feature that allows

5:39you to create data points from coordinates.

5:42And you can visualize them straight away in

5:45Tableau.

5:46If you found that video useful, hit

5:47subscribe.

5:48If not, drop a comment in the comment

5:50section below and let us know what kind of

5:52content

Rollup

MAKEPOINT lets you turn any pair of latitude and longitude values into a spatial point Tableau can map immediately, which matters when your data doesn't already have a recognised geographic field for Tableau to auto-detect.

Tim uses a pirate map to explain that mapping always comes down to a pair of coordinate values, then switches to a large Chicago taxi dataset to build the calculation for real. The dataset is filtered down to one company's trips just to keep things fast to work with.

The Breakdown

Coordinates are the basis of all mapping 0:21

Any map point comes from a pair of coordinate values (latitude/longitude, or a local equivalent like Eastings/Northings). Tableau normally detects recognised geographic fields and builds points automatically, but MAKEPOINT is what you reach for when you only have raw coordinate values instead.
Trim the data to work faster 1:38

Before building calculations on a very large dataset, it's worth filtering down to a manageable subset first (Tim filters a 13-million-row taxi dataset down to one company) purely so the workbook responds quickly while you build and test.
Build the MAKEPOINT calculation 2:30

Create a calculated field and use Tableau's calculation assistant menu (the small arrow on the right of the calculation editor) to find and autocomplete MAKEPOINT syntax. Typing the function name and double-clicking it in the assistant auto-inserts the syntax and shows you the required argument order, into which you drag your latitude field, a comma, then your longitude field.
MAKEPOINT works at row level 4:02

Once built, the field is a genuine spatial object: double-clicking it plots every individual row's coordinate as its own point on the map, without you needing to add anything to the level of detail. This is what makes it useful for plotting many individual locations rather than an aggregated average point.
Duplicate and swap fields for a second point 4:42

A fast way to create a related point field (for example, a pickup point alongside a drop-off point) is to duplicate the existing MAKEPOINT calculation, then edit it by dragging the new latitude and longitude fields on top of the old ones, so you don't have to rebuild the syntax from scratch.
Two point fields won't overlay automatically 5:01

Because of how the mapping type works, dropping a second MAKEPOINT field onto the view swaps the map to show only that field's points rather than layering both together. Overlaying or connecting two point fields with a line needs a separate function (MAKELINE), which isn't covered in this video.

Worth Knowing

MAKEPOINT only needs a latitude and longitude pair as arguments; the calculation assistant will show you the required order if you're unsure.
Because it computes at the row level, MAKEPOINT can plot every individual record's location without extra level-of-detail work, which matters for large row-count datasets.
Two separate MAKEPOINT fields don't automatically appear together on the same map due to the mapping type; you need a different feature (MAKELINE) to draw a line connecting them.

Use It When

Reach for MAKEPOINT when your dataset has coordinate values but no field Tableau already recognises as geographic, and you need to plot individual records (like pickup or drop-off locations) rather than an aggregated point.

How this Rollup was made provenance & method

A Rollup is drafted by AI from the video's transcript, then reviewed and edited by Tim. Everything used to produce this one is listed below — the model, the exact prompt, and the source video — so the process is transparent and reproducible.

Transcription: On-device — NVIDIA Parakeet v3 for recent videos, OpenAI Whisper large-v3 for earlier ones. The transcript never leaves the machine or gets published.
Drafting: Claude Sonnet 5 in the cloud, from that transcript.
Prompt: The exact Rollup prompt (v2) — the full system prompt, unedited.
Source video: Watch on YouTube
Drafted: 5 July 2026 at 09:38
Reviewed & edited: 5 July 2026 at 09:41 · by Tim Ngwena

Model + prompt + video is everything you'd need to recreate a Rollup like this yourself. The one thing we don't share is the transcript.

Rights. The video and its transcript are the property of TN Media Ltd. Unauthorised use or download is prohibited. © TN Media Ltd.