Tableau’s DATEADD () Function

Introduction

DATEADD () is a Tableau function that adds an increment to a specific date returning a new date. The increment is defined by the interval and the date_part.

SYNTAX

DATEADD (date_part, interval, date)

Example

DATEADD (‘day’, 5, #2023-01-20#) = #2023-01-25#

Where date_part=’day’, interval=5

(The above function adds 5 days to the date returning #2023-01-25#)

The date_part is a string and can take any of the following.

‘second’ – ‘0-59’
‘minute’ – ‘0-59’
‘hour’ – ‘0-23’
‘day’ – ‘1-31’
‘weekday’ – ‘1-7’
‘dayofyear’ – ‘1-366’
‘week’ – ‘1-53’
‘month’ – ‘1-12’
‘quarter’ – ‘1-4’
‘year’ – e.g., 2023
‘iso-weekday’ – ‘1-7’
‘iso-week’ – ‘1-53’
‘iso-quarter’ – ‘1-4’
‘iso-year’ – e.g., 2023

The interval is an integer which can take both positive (+ve) and negative (-ve) values.

For example, to subtract 2 months from a date field, one can use the following calculation.

DATEADD (‘month’, -2, #2023-02-09#) = #2022-12-09#

(Which subtracts 2 months from the current date returning #2022-12-09#)

Dynamic DATEADD () Function with Tableau parameters

Sometimes you can make your DATEADD calculations dynamic by simply using a parameter.

To do that, create a string parameter that contains the date_parts to be applied in the calculation.

Next, add this parameter ‘Select date_part’ on the date_part section of your DATEADD calculation as shown below.

With this calculation you can compute the ‘New Order Date’ by adding an increment of 2 units of the selected date_part on your parameter.

Note, you can also use an integer parameter to adjust the interval dynamically.

Conclusion

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