Abs
Turns every number positive by stripping the sign, on a single value or a whole column at once. Handy when the size of a variance or a cash movement matters more than its direction.
Inputs
| Input | Accepts | Required |
|---|---|---|
Value | Any | Yes |
Outputs
| Output | Produces |
|---|---|
Result | Any |
Example
A Budget_Variance column mixes overruns and underruns: -12,400, 8,750, -3,120, 15,600. Wire it through Abs to get 12,400, 8,750, 3,120, 15,600, then feed the result into an Aggregate node set to Sum. That gives total variance magnitude of $39,870: the answer to "how far off was the budget overall?" rather than "did the misses net out?"
Tips
Pair Abs with Difference to measure how much a metric moved period to period regardless of direction, or with Sort and TopN to surface the largest variances first.