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Definition
ABS is a numeric Tableau function which accepts a number as parameter.
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How to use ABS function
The ABS function is used to derive the absolute value of a number from a positive or negative value. The output of the below example is 5. ABS ( - 5 )
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Use ABS function with a field
ABS can also be used to calculate the absolute value from a field of a data source. ABS ( [Growth %] )
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Example of ABS in Tableau
We can see an use case of ABS function here in New York City dataset of Airbnb. The average price of rooms are compared over the years, where blue indicates positive and red negative change.
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Recommended Read
In mathematics, the absolute value or modulus of a real number x, denoted |x|, is the non-negative value of x without regard to its sign. Namely, |x| = x if x is positive, and |x| = −x if x is negative (in which case −x is positive), and |0| = 0. For example, the absolute value of 3 is 3, and the absolute value of −3 is also 3. The absolute value of a number may be thought of as its distance from zero.
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The ABS function is useful in many scenarios in Tableau where we want to use the absolute value of a field instead of the actual value.
