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Harnessing the Power of the RIGHT_TEXT Function in Looker Studio: A Comprehensive Guide

The mighty pen of Google Data Studio wields a plethora of functions that give its users the power to manipulate data as they wish. If we travel a bit further down the rabbit hole of this powerful tool, we'll find that one of its mighty functions is the RIGHT_TEXT function.

Function Introduction and Functionality

To keep it simple, the RIGHT_TEXT function is the sharp ninja handyman in your toolkit that retrieves a specific number of characters from the end of any given text string. With this function in your knowledge arsenal, you can easily display your data the way you want to.

Syntax and How It Works

The syntax is the primary rulebook that guides the function's operation. The structure of the RIGHT_TEXT function is simple and straightforward:

RIGHT_TEXT(X, length)

Don't let the simplicity scare you - there's power in simplicity. For this function, our syntax only requires two parameters -

, which represents the field or expression from which we want to take our characters, and

length

, the number indicating how many characters from the right end of

you are interested in.

Examples

Let's dive right into some examples to better illustrate the functionality of this little ninja.

Let's say you've got a campaign for a big annual summer sale, and for your report, you are only interested in extracting the 'type' of offer from the name of campaigns, which is always at the end of the text string.

You could simply invoke:

RIGHT_TEXT("Summer Sale 20% off", 8)

Your result would be: "20% off".

Or perhaps you'd like to know what product your team performed particularly well on.

RIGHT_TEXT("The working team achieve a 30% improvement in sales of Shoes", 5)

Result: "Shoes"

By harnessing such examples of the RIGHT_TEXT function, you can easily and quickly retrieve valuable data, helping you understand different perspectives of the business.

Limitations

The RIGHT_TEXT function, while powerful, is not without its limitations. The 'length' parameter cannot be negative, and non-integer values are truncated and not rounded. Be aware of these constraints when using the function.

Tips

To get the most out of the RIGHT_TEXT function, here are some quick tips:

Use the LEN function in conjunction with the RIGHT_TEXT function when you want to know the length of a text string.
Keep in mind the limitations. Not considering them could lead to incorrect data representation.
Lastly, always double check your syntax.

In summary, the RIGHT_TEXT function in Google Data Studio acts as an invaluable ally in slicing and dicing your data into more understandable parts. Armed with this tool, you can delve deeper into your data, pulling out the key information you need, when you need it.

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