Core concepts
Dataset, relationship, calculated column, measure, page, widget — the six words that explain everything else.
Six words cover almost everything in the product. Learning them once makes the rest of the documentation much shorter.
Dataset
A table of rows. It comes from an uploaded file or from a database import, and it belongs either to one dashboard or to your library, where several dashboards can share it.
Relationship
A link between two datasets on a shared column — orders to customers on customer_id, for
example. Once a relationship exists, a chart can use fields from both datasets together and the
engine works out how to join them.
Calculated column
A new column computed for every row, stored alongside the dataset. price × quantity is a
calculated column: it has a value for each individual row.
Measure
A calculation performed across rows, evaluated for whatever the chart is currently showing. "Total revenue" is a measure: it has no value for a single row, only for a group of them.
The difference between these two is the single most useful thing to understand about the formula engine, and it has its own page.
Page
One canvas of visuals. A dashboard can have many, shown as tabs, and each page has its own layout and its own filters.
Widget
Anything you place on the canvas. Most are charts, but text boxes, images, shapes, buttons and slicers are widgets too — they sit in the same layout and are styled the same way.