# Step Line Chart in Tableau: Tableau Quick Tip

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2017-01-31
- **Format:** Video · 4 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data visualisation
- **Tools:** Tableau (calculated fields, datetrunc, lod expressions)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/step-line-chart-in-tableau-tableau-quick-tip
- **Watch:** https://youtu.be/HaCdP43i6kI

I show you how to create a step line chart in Tableau, which removes the noise from a traditional line chart and makes trends over longer time periods much easier to read. Using a fixed level of detail calculation with a date truncation function, I demonstrate how to aggregate daily data up to a weekly or monthly level.

## Key takeaways

- A step line chart strips out daily noise so users can focus on the broader trend over time
- Use a FIXED level of detail calculation combined with DATETRUNC to aggregate the data at a higher level than your visualisation displays
- Typing DATETRUNC with 'week' returns the weekly total on every day in that week, which produces the stepped effect
- You can change the aggregation level (week to month) just by editing the truncation string in the calculation
- Be careful comparing two step charts side by side, as different aggregation levels change the axis scale and can mislead the user

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/step-line-chart-in-tableau-tableau-quick-tip

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena