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Tableau Desktop – Filter shows no values / dashboard is empty after switching a live connection to an extract

Publish Date: Jun 4, 2026
Description

A workbook built on a live connection to a data source displays correctly, but after creating an extract, a filter stops returning values and the view renders empty.

This happens when a filter is driven by a calculated field that compares a text (string) field against a typed-in value, for example:

IF [Results] = "Sample Text"

THEN 1

ELSE 0

END

On the live connection the calculation returns the expected result, but once the data is extracted the same calculation evaluates to 0 for every row, so a filter based on it (for example, keeping only rows where the sum equals 1) removes all of the data.

Upgrading Tableau Desktop does not resolve the issue, because it is not a defect. It is the expected difference in how a live connection and an extract compare string values.

Resolution

Step 1 — Make the string comparison case- and whitespace-insensitive

 

A live connection often compares text loosely (ignoring differences in capitalization and trailing spaces), while an extract compares text exactly, including case and any leading or trailing whitespace. Wrapping the comparison in TRIM and UPPER makes it behave the same on both.

  1. Open the calculated field used by the filter.

  2. Wrap the string field in TRIM(UPPER(...)) and put the compared text in uppercase. For example, change:

    IF [Results] = "Sample Text"

    THEN 1

    ELSE 0

    END

    to:

    IF TRIM(UPPER([Results])) = "SAMPLE TEXT"

    THEN 1

    ELSE 0

    END

  3. Click OK and confirm the filter now populates and the view renders correctly.

Step 2 — Confirm the true underlying value if Step 1 does not resolve it

 

If the value is not simply a case or whitespace difference, the field may have an alias applied. A calculation must match the real stored value, not the alias shown in the view.

  1. Drag the field used in the calculation onto the view.
  2. Right-click the value and select View Data.
  3. Uncheck Show aliases.
  4. Note the exact stored value, including capitalization and any spacing.
  5. Update the calculation to match that true value (copy it directly from the View Data dialog rather than retyping it).
Knowledge Article Number

005386253

 
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