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Level of Detail Expressions

Level of detail expressions support aggregation at dimensionalities other than the view level. With level of detail expressions, you can attach one or more dimensions to any aggregate expression.

Unlike table calculations, totals, or reference lines, level of detail expressions are computed in the data source. On the plus side, this lets you avoid the overhead of bringing all the data from the database to your computer over the network. With large data sources, this can be a huge performance gain. On the minus side, this can cause Tableau to run more complicated queries (for example, containing many joins), and if the underlying data source is slow, performance can suffer.

For an interesting set of level of detail scenarios, see Top 15 LOD Expressions on the Tableau web site.