Tableau terms

What are groups?

A group is a combination of dimension members that make higher level categories. For example, if you are working with a view that shows average test scores by major, you may want to group certain majors together to create major categories.

What is the difference between heat map and tree map?

A heat map is a great way to compare categories using color and size. In this, you can compare two different measures. Tree map is a very powerful visualization, particularly for illustrating hierarchical (tree - structured) data and part - to - whole relationships.

What is a hierarchical field?

A hierarchical field in tableau is used for drilling down data. It means viewing your data in a more granular level.

What is story in Tableau?

A story is a sheet that contains a sequence of worksheets or dashboards that work together to convey information. You can create stories to show how facts are connected, provide context, demonstrate how decisions relate to outcomes, or simply make a compelling case. Each individual sheet in a story is called a story point.

What do you understand by blended axis?

the same as dual axis

What is Tableau Public?

Tableau Public is a free service that lets anyone publish interactive data to the web. Once on the web, anyone can interact with the data, download it, or create their own visualizations of it. No programming skills are required. Be sure to look at the gallery to see some of the things people have been doing with it.

How to view sql which is generated by Tableau Desktop?

The Tableau Desktop Log files are located in C:UsersMyDocumentsMy Tableau Repository. If you have a live connection to the data source, check the log.txt and tabprotosrv.txt files. If you are using an extract, check the tdeserver.txt file. The tabprotosrv.txt file often shows detailed information about queries.

What are the five main product offered by Tableau company?

(i)Tableau Desktop: It is a self service business analytics and data visualization that anyone can use. It translates pictures of data into optimized queries. With tableau desktop, you can directly connect to data from your data warehouse for live upto date data analysis. You can also perform queries without writing a single line of code. Import all your data into Tableau's data engine from multiple sources & integrate altogether by combining multiple views in a interactive dashboard. (ii)Tableau Server: It is more of an enterprise level Tableau software. You can publish dashboards with Tableau Desktop and share them throughout the organization with web-based Tableau server. It leverages fast databases through live connections. (iii)Tableau Online: This is a hosted version of Tableau server which helps makes business intelligence faster and easier than before. You can publish Tableau dashboards with Tableau Desktop and share them with colleagues. (iv)Tableau Reader: It's a free desktop application that enables you to open and view visualizations that are built in Tableau Desktop. You can filter, drill down data but you cannot edit or perform any kind of interactions. (v)Tableau Public: This is a free Tableau software which you can use to make visualizations with but you need to save your workbook or worksheets in the Tableau Server which can be viewed by anyone.

Joins and data blending

1) The difference between joining and blending data: Joining your data can only be done when the data comes from the same source, for example from two sheet tabs within a single Excel file. If that same information was stored in separate Excel files you would need to do a data blend in Tableau. A blend is always required if the data is stored in two separate "data sources" within Tableau. So even if your data is very closely related and exists in two separate files or databases, you will have to do a data blend if you are combining the data in Tableau. When blending data, the first data source used in your view will dictate how your worksheet view in Tableau is built. The secondary (blended) data source will be able to contribute extra information, but will not be able to change the overall structure of the view. The secondary data source's values can be aggregated and applied to the existing view after you have established a "relationship" by assigning a variable that both the primary and secondary data sources have in common. 2) When to use data blending: It is generally preferable to avoid data blending when you can combine the two data sources outside of Tableau. If this is not an option, then you must identify at least one common variable shared by the two data sources you want to blend together. When possible, go for a join rather than a blend. If you need to combine two data sources and for whatever reason cannot manage to join the data outside of Tableau, your only option is a data blend. A simple example is having (a) a data source with three columns including location names and latitude/longitude values, and (b) a data source with location names and detailed information about each location. You could build a map using (a) and then blend in extra supplemental information using (b), where a relationship is built by connecting the data sources based on the location names. 3) When to use joining: You can only use joining when your data comes form the same underlying source (for example, the same Excel file or Access file). 4) When are you unable to blend data from two or more sources? If there are no variables shared between each data source then you will not be able to do a data blend, because there is no information that can be related from one source to the other. However, this does not mean that the column headers (variable names) need to be an exact match. You can edit the relationships manually to point Tableau to the variables that have matching underlying values. For example, if I am blending information together based on countries and source (a) calls it "Country" while source (b) calls it "Locations", I can edit a relationship manually to blend on these two variables. If the two column headers are an exact match, Tableau may automatically establish the link for you. 4) When are you unable to join data? If the data comes from different underlying files you will not be able to do a join within Tableau. I recommend preparing your data before importing it into Tableau (there are many great tools available, one being Alteryx, that can help with this). In my opinion blending and joining in Tableau should be a last resort for times when you are unable to shape your data into one coherent file for analysis.

Optimize workbook performance

1. optimize your data at the database level 2. use extract instead of live connection 3. reduce unnecessary filters in your query 4. turn off automatic updates 5. performance recording

Some of the charts you avoid

3d charts- They skew the visual perception of the numbers making them difficult or impossible to interpret or compare. It also introduces unnecessary chart elements like side and floor panels which is not only a cognitive load on the brain but also inaccurate. Pie charts - This is not being as accurate as bar charts or position-based visuals. With pie, we are judging areas and angles which is much more difficult than the length in a bar chart. Our eyes cannot ascribe quantitative values to areas and angles properly. Donut charts- This is similar to the pie chart, but with a hole cut out in the middle so that it looks like a donut. Because there's a hole in the middle, we don't judge values by angle anymore. Instead, we have to compare one arc length with to another arc length. Our eyes cannot ascribe quantitative values to arc length properly.

What is the different between twb and twbx file extensions. Please explain.

A .twb is an xml document which contains all the selections and layout made you have made in your Tableau workbook. It does not contain any data. A .twbx is a 'zipped' archive containing a .twb and any external files such as extracts and background images.

bullet graph

A bullet graph is a variation of a bar graph. A bullet graph is useful for comparing the performance of a primary measure to one or more other measures. It shows a distribution showing progress towards a goal behind the bar. eg. compare the sales for this year with sales for last year for different categories of cards. 1. First, create calculated fields for this year's sales and last year's sales. 2. drag the two measures to the rows and dimension to be category of products. 3. choose bullet graphs in show me option.

How many dashboards you have created? The most complex dashboard?

About 50.

How to rectify SQL Performance for developed Dashboards

After creation of Dashboards if we get problem from sql side that means Custom Sql ....How to Rectify the sql performance from custom sql.

How to use group in calculated field?

By adding the same calculation to 'Group By' clause in SQL query or creating a Calculated Field in the Data Window and using that field whenever you want to group the fields. Using groups in a calculation. You cannot reference ad-hoc groups in a calculation. Blend data using groups created in the secondary data source: Only calculated groups can be used in data blending if the group was created in the secondary data source. Use a group in another workbook. You can easily replicate a group in another workbook by copy and pasting a calculation.

How to refresh data in tableau online?

By the use of tableau bridge. Tableau Bridge is software that you can install separately from Tableau Desktop, for use by any authorized user of Tableau Online. The Tableau Bridge client is a Windows program that runs on a computer on your network. It works in conjunction with Tableau Online to keep on-premises data, which Tableau Online can't reach directly, up to date. To keep your on-premises data up to date, you sign in to your Tableau Online site through the Tableau Bridge client. The Tableau Bridge client can operate in one of two modes: Application and Service. You can run the client in one of these modes, depending on your Windows account, the Tableau Online site settings that the client is associated with, and your general needs. An Application - can only run extract refreshes when the dedicated user is logged in to windows. This is the default setting As a Service - Tableau Bridge runs continuously even if the user logs out of windows. Live connections can only be maintained when Tableau Bridge is set to run as a service. limitations for using tableau bridge: Live connections to file-based data. Scheduled refreshes or live connections to cube data. Tableau Bridge is available only with the 64-bit version of Windows. How to use tableau bridge: after creating a view in tableau; go to server->start tableau bridge client; sign in tableau online with tableau bridge; publish data source to the online, right click data source->publish to server; Some configurations->publish success; click->schedule using tableau bridge

How to create a calculated field in Tableau?

Click the drop down to the right of Dimensions on the Data pane and select "Create > Calculated Field" to open the calculation editor. Name the new field and create a formula.

How can we combine database and flat file data in tableau desktop?

Connect data two times, one for database tables and one for flat file. The Data->Edit Relationships Give a join condition on common column from db tables to flat file

How to add custom Color to Tableau?

Create Custom Color code in "Preferences.tps" Navigation ::: Documents » My Table Repository »Preferences.tps Add custom color code Note: In tableau 9.0 version we have color picker option..

What is the use of new Custom SQL Query in tableau?

Custom SQL Query written after connecting to data for pulling the data in a structured view, One simple example is you have 50 columns in a table, but we need just 10 columns only. So instead of taking 50 columns you can write a sql query. Performance will increase.

What is default Data Blending Join?

Data blending is the ability to bring data from multiple data sources into one Tableau view, without the need for any special coding. A default blend is equivalent to a left outer join. However, by switching which data source is primary, or by filtering nulls, it is possible to emulate left, right and inner joins.

cross database join and data blending

Data blending is useful under the following conditions: You want to combine data from different databases that are not supported by cross-database joins.Cross-database joins do not support connections to cubes (for example, Oracle Essbase) or to some extract-only connections (for example, Salesforce). In this case, set up individual data sources for the data you want to analyze, and then use data blending to combine the data sources on a single sheet. Data is at different levels of detail. Sometimes one data set captures data using greater or lesser granularity than the other data set.For example, suppose you are analyzing transactional data and quota data. Transactional data might capture all transactions. However, quota data might aggregate transactions at the quarter level. Because the transactional values are captured at different levels of detail in each data set, you should use data blending to combine the data. Data needs cleaning.If your tables do not match up with each other correctly after a join, set up data sources for each table, make any necessary customizations (that is, rename columns, change column data types, create groups, use calculations, etc.), and then use data blending to combine the data. Joins cause duplicate data.Duplicate data after a join is a symptom of data at different levels of detail. If you notice duplicate data, instead of creating a join, use data blending to blend on a common dimension instead. You have lots of data.Typically joins are recommended for combining data from the same database. Joins are handled by the database, which allows joins to leverage some of the database's native capabilities. However, if you're working with large sets of data, joins can put a strain on the database and significantly affect performance. In this case, data blending might help. Because Tableau handles combining the data after the data is aggregated, there is less data to combine. When there is less data to combine, generally, performance improves.

What are Extracts and Schedules in Tableau server?

Data extracts are the first copies or subdivisions of the actual data from original data sources. The workbooks using data extracts instead of those using live DB connections are faster since the extracted data is imported in Tableau Engine.After this extraction of data, users can publish the workbook, which also publishes the extracts in Tableau Server. However, the workbook and extracts won't refresh unless users apply a scheduled refresh on the extract. Scheduled Refreshes are the scheduling tasks set for data extract refresh so that they get refreshed automatically while publishing a workbook with data extract. This also removes the burden of republishing the workbook every time the concerned data gets updated.

What is data visualization?

Data visualization refers to the techniques used to communicate data or information by encoding it as visual objects (e.g. points, lines or bars) contained in graphics.

How to use parameters in your dashboard?

I created parameters

Mention what are different Tableau files?

Different Tableau files include: Workbooks: Workbooks hold one or more worksheets and dashboards Bookmarks: It contains a single worksheet and its an easy way to quickly share your work Packaged Workbooks: It contains a workbook along with any supporting local file data and background images Data Extraction Files: Extract files are a local copy of a subset or entire data source Data Connection Files: It's a small XML file with various connection information

What is dual axis?

Dual Axis is an excellent phenomenon supported by Tableau that helps users view two scales of two measures in the same graph. Many websites like Indeed.com and other make use of dual axis to show the comparison between two measures and their growth rate in a septic set of years. Dual axes let you compare multiple measures at once, having two independent axes layered on top of one another.

What is benefit of Tableau extract file over the live connection?

Extract can be used anywhere without any connection and you can build your own visualizations without connecting to Database.

How will you publish and schedule workbook in tableau server?

First create a schedule for particular time and then create extract for the data source and publish the workbook for the server. Before you publish, there is a option called Scheduling and Authentication, click on that and select the schedule from the drop down which is created and publish. Also publish data source and assign the schedule. This schedule will automatically run for the assigned time and the workbook is refreshed.

What is the difference between joining and blending in Tableau? Joins in Tableau:

For Eg: your client is in Healthcare domain and using SQL Server as their database. In SQL server there may be many Tableau like Claims Tables, Rejected Claims Table, Customer Table. Now, client wants to know customer wise claims and customer wise rejected claims table using the joins. Join is a query that combines the data form 2 or more tables by making use of Join condition. We can join max 32 table, it's not possible to combine more then 32 tables. In Tableau the joins can perform in 2 ways. By making use of common columns. By making use of common data types. If we create joins on the fields in Tableau all the table names are suffixing with $. While performing the joins on multiple tables, always go with the les amount of data tables, so that we can improve the performance. In Tableau the joins are divided into 2 types. Equi Join, Non Equi Join Equi Join: in the join condition if we are using Equality"="operator then such a kind of join called as Equi join. Non Equi Join: in the join condition apart from the Equality"="if we use any other operator like <,>,<=,>= and=! Then such a kind of joins are called as Non Equi Join Equi Join is divided into 3 types Inner Join, Outer Join, Self - Join. 1.Inner Join: Inner join will loads the only matching records from the both tables. Inner join condition: Tableaa.id = Tableb.id 2.Outer Join: Again the outer join divided into 3 types. Left Outer Join, Right Outer Join, Full Outer Join. Left outer join: Displays the complete data from the left + matching records from the right table. Condition: tablea.id(+) Right Outer Join: displays the complete data from the right + matching records from the left. Condition: tablea.id(+)=tableb.id Full outer join: full outer join load the complete data from the left table and right table. Condition: Table A full outer join Table B ON tablea.id= tableb.id 3.Self-Join: if we are performing join to the same table itself such a kind of join called as self-join Non Equi Join: In the join condition if we are using the operators apart from the equality "=" then such a kind of joins are called as Non Equi join. Data Blending in Tableau: For ex: your client is same Healthcare Client. They are operating their services in Asia, Europe, NA and so on & the are maintaining Asia data in SQL, Europe Data in SQL Server and NA data in MY SQL. Now, your client wants to analyze their business across the world in a single worksheet. So you can't perform join here. Now you have make use of Data Blending Concept. Normally in the Tableau we can perform the analysis on the single data server. If we want to perform the analysis from the multiple data sources in a single sheet then we have to make use of a new concept called as data blending. Data blending mix the data from the different data sources and allow the users to perform th analysis in a single sheet. Blending means mixing. If we are mixing the data sources then it is called as data blending. Rules to perform the data blending In order to perform data blending there are few rules. If we are performing the data blending on 2 data source these 2 data sources should have at least 1 common dimension. In that common dimension at least 1 value should match. In Tableau we can perform the data blending in 2 ways. Automatic way Custom way Automatic way:In the automatic way Tableau automatically defines the relationship between the 2 data sources based on the common dimensions and based on the matching values and the relationship is indicated with Orange color. Custom or Manual way:In the manual or custom way the user need to define the relationship manually. Data blending fuctionality All the primary data sources and the secondary data sources are linked by specific relationship While performing the data blending each work sheet has a primary connection and optionally it might contains several secondary connections. All the primary connections are indicated in the Blue in the work sheet and all the secondary data sources indicated with the Orange color tick mark. In the data blending 1 sheet contains 1 primary data source and 1 sheet can contain end number of secondary data sources.

Design a view to show region wise profit and sales.I did not want line and bar chat should be used for profit and sales. How you will design and please explain?

Generate the Map using cities ->then Drag the Profit and sales to the Details->Add the state as Quick filter

Think that I am using Tableau desktop and have a live connection to Cloud era hadoop data. I need to press F5 to refresh the visualization. Is there anyway to automatically refresh the visualization every x minutes instead of pressing F5 every-time?

Here is the example of refreshing dashboard in every 3 seconds, Replace apisrc and server url with yours. The interval below is for 3 seconds. Tableau JavaScript API

Name the components of a Dashboard

Horizontal - Horizontal layout containers allow the designer to group worksheets and dashboard components left to right across your page and edit the height of all elements at once. Vertical - Vertical containers allow the user to group worksheets and dashboard components top to bottom down your page and edit the width of all elements at once. Text - All textual fields. Image Extract - A Tableau workbook is in XML format. In order to extracts images, Tableau applies some codes to extract an image which can be stored in XML. Web [URL ACTION] - A URL action is a hyperlink that points to a Web page, file, or other web-based resource outside of Tableau. You can use URL actions to link to more information about your data that may be hosted outside of your data source. To make the link relevant to your data, you can substitute field values of a selection into the URL as parameters.

How to combine two excel files with same fields but different data (different years)?

I have 5 different excel files (2007.xls, 2008.xls..2011.xls) with same fields (film name, genre, budge, rating, profitability) but with data from different year (2007 to 2011). Can someone tell me how can I combine the film name, genre and profitability so that I can see the visualization of 2007 to 2011 in a single chart? Data appending from other data source is the solution. import the first dataset; extract data

How to combine two excel files with same fields but different data (different years)?

I have 5 different excel files (2007.xls, 2008.xls..2011.xls) with same fields (film name, genre, budge, rating, profitability) but with data from different year (2007 to 2011). Can someone tell me how can I combine the film name, genre and profitability so that I can see the visualization of 2007 to 2011 in a single chart? Data appending from other data source is the solution. import the first dataset; extract data; import second dataset into tableau; define relationship between two data source; right click the first data source->choose 'append data from data source'; refresh extract

How to create cascading filters without context filter?

I have filterl and filter2..Based on filter1 I need to filter2 data Ex: Filterl as Country and Filter 2: States I have chosen country as INDIA and filter2 should display only INDIA states Choose options of Filter2 states : select option of "Only relevant values "

What is your daily work process in tableau?

I think we all work on different projects using Tableau, so the work begins from understanding the requirement getting the required data, story boarding then creating visualizations in tableau and then presenting it to the client for review.

Design a view in a map such that if user selects any state the cities under that state has to show profit and sales.

If you want to show the Sales and profit in each and every city under the states in the same work sheet. According to your question you should have State, City, Sales and Profit filed in your dataset. Double click on the State filed. Drag the City and drop into Marks card (under the State fied) Drag the sales and drop into size. Drag the profit and drop into color. Click on Size legend and increase the size.(75%) Right click on the State field and select show quick filter. Select any state and check whether you got the required view or not. In this view size indicates the amount of sales and color indicates the Profit values.

Suppose my license expires today, can users able to view the dashboards or workbook which i published in server earlier?

If your server license expires today, your user name on the server will have the role 'unlicensed' which means you cannot access, but others can. The Site Admin can 'Change Ownership' to another person, so extracts if enabled do not fail.

Suppose my license expires today, will users be able to view dashboards or workbooks which I published in the server earlier?

If your server license expires today, your username on the server will have the role 'unlicensed' which means you cannot access but others can. The site admin can change the ownership to another person so that the extracts do not fail.

How many ways we use parameters in Tableau?

We can use parameters with filters, calculated fields ,actions, measure-swap, changing views and auto updates

What are the different filters in Tableau and how are they different from each other?

In Tableau, filters are used to restrict the data from database. The different filters in Tableau are: Quick , Context and Normal/Traditional filter are: Normal Filter is used to restrict the data from database based on selected dimension or measure. A Traditional Filter can be created by simply dragging a field onto the 'Filters' shelf. Quick filter is used to view the filtering options and filter each worksheet on a dashboard while changing the values dynamically (within the range defined) during the run time. Context Filter is used to filter the data that is transferred to each individual worksheet. When a worksheet queries the data source, it creates a temporary, flat table that is uses to compute the chart. This temporary table includes all values that are not filtered out by either the Custom SQL or the Context Filter.

What makes Tableau software stand out?

In my view, Tableau stands out for several reasons: First, most of the BI tools out there are pricey. However, Tableau has a free offering (Tableau Public) as well as a very popular (also free) academic distribution. Tableau is well recognized by firms like Forrester research to be one of the most easy to use, and agile products currently available. see here: Tableau Ranks #1 in The Forrester Wave: Advanced Data Visualization (ADV) Platforms That makes it easy to pick up and try new things with, which data visualization people love about it. On the other hand, unlike some of the other BI tools, Tableau is not a complete technology stack, it is most useful for visualization and analytics. - you will need other products in addition to tableau for heavier enterprise data ETL, maintenance, and storage,

What is Assume referential integrity?

In some cases, you can improve query performance by selecting the option to Assume Referential Integrity from the Data menu. When you use this option, Tableau will include the joined table in the query only if it is specifically referenced by fields in the view.

What is blended axis?

Multiple Measures are shown in single axis and also all the marks shown in single pane Drag a dimension in a column Drag the first measure in column Drag 2nd measure in existing axis Us/multiplemeasures_blendedaxes.html

What is parameter in Tableau ? And how it works?

Parameters are dynamic values that can replace constant values in calculations and can serve as filters

Define parameters , and filters

Parameters are dynamic values that can replace constant values in calculations and can serve as filters.Filters are used to restrict the data based on the condition u have mentioned in the filters shelf.

How to remove the All options from a Tableau auto - filter?

Right click filter>>customize>>uncheck show all option

How to do Performance Testing in Tableau?

Performance testing is again an important part of implementing tableau. This can be done by loading Testing Tableau Server with TabJolt, which is a "Point and Run" load generator created to perform QA. While TabJolt is not supported by tableau directly, it has to be installed using other open source products.

What is the Difference between quick filter and Normal filter in tableau?

Quick filter is used to view the filtering options and can be used to select the option. Normal filer is something you can limit the options from the list or use some conditions to limit the data by field or value.

Explain the integration of Tableau with R?

R is a popular open-source environment for statistical analysis. Tableau Desktop can now connect to R through calculated fields and take advantage of R functions, libraries, and packages and even saved models. These calculations dynamically invoke the R engine and pass values to R via the Rserve package, and are returned back to Tableau. Tableau Server can also be configured to connect to an instance of Rserve through the tabadmin utility, allowing anyone to view a dashboard containing R functionality. Combining R with Tableau gives you the ability to bring deep statistical analysis into a drag-and-drop visual analytics

security of tableau

Row level security by user filters: eg. sales report for different products across many years in different geographic regions. When you publish the reports, you want the regional manager to see only the reports relevant to his/her region. It can be done in 2 ways: Create a user filter and map users to values manually. This method is convenient but high maintenance, and security can be tentative. It must be done per-workbook, and you must update the filter and republish the data source as your user base changes. Create a dynamic filter using a security field in the data. Using this method, you create a calculated field that automates the process of mapping users to data values. This method requires that the underlying data include the security information you want to use for filtering. The most common way to do this is to use a reference ("look-up," "entitlements," or "security") table that contains this information. For example, if you want to filter a view so that only supervisors can see it, the underlying data must be set up to include user names and specify each user's role. Because filtering is defined at the data level and automated by the calculated field, this method is more secure than mapping users to data values manually.

What are the differences between Tableau Software, GoodData and Traditional BI (Business Objects, etc.)?

Speed:How fast can you get up and running with the system, answer questions, design and share dashboards and then change them? This is Where systems like Tableau and GoodData are far better than old - school business intelligence like Business Objects or Cognos. Traditional systems took months or years to intelligence like Business Objects or Cognos. Traditional systems took months or years to implement, with costs running to millions. Tableau has a free trail that installs in minutes and GoodData is cloud - based, so they are faster to implement by orders of magnitude. They are also faster to results: traditional BI requires IT and developers to make any changes to reports, so business users are struck in a queue waiting to get anything done. Tableau and GoodData provide more of a self - service experience. Analysis layer:This is where Tableau excels. It has a powerful and flexible drag & drop visualization engine based on some technology from Stanford. GoodData and traditional BI typically provide some canned reports but changing them requires significant time and money. Data layer:This is where the three options are most different: GoodData requires you to move your data to its cloud. Traditional BI typically requires you to move your data to its data warehouse Tableau connects to a variety of existing data source and also provides a fast in - memory data engine, essentially a local database. Since most enterprises have their data stored all over the place, this provides the most choice and lets companies use the investment they've already made. Enterprise readiness: Traditional BI and Tableau do well here, with enterprise - level security and high scalability.

What is TDE file?

TDE is a Tableau desktop file that contains a .tde extension. It refers to the file that contains data extracted from external sources like MS Excel, MS Access or CSV file. There are two aspects of TDE design that make them ideal for supporting analytics and data discovery. Firstly, TDE is a columnar store. The second is how they are structured which impacts how they are loaded into memory and used by Tableau. This is an important aspect of how TDEs are "architecture aware". Architecture-awareness means that TDEs use all parts of your computer memory, from RAM to hard disk, and put each part to work what best fits its characteristics.

What is the current latest version of Tableau Desktop(as of Sep, 25th 2017)?

Tableau Desktop Version 10.4

What Tableau Desktop is?

Tableau Desktop is based on breakthrough technology from Stanford University that lets you drag & drop to analyze data. It is great data visualization tool, you can connect to data in a few clicks, then visualize and crate interactive dashboards with a few more.

What is the DRIVE Program Methodology?

Tableau Drive is a methodology for scaling out self-service analytics. Drive is based on best practices from successful enterprise deployments. The methodology relies on iterative, agile methods that are faster and more effective than traditional long-cycle deployment. A cornerstone of this approach is a new model of partnership between business and IT.

How does Tableau perform with huge datasets?

Tableau Performance is based on Data source performance. If data source takes more time to execute a query then Tableau must wait up to that time.

What is Tableau Server?

Tableau Server is browser- and mobile-based insight anyone can use. Publish dashboards with Tableau Desktop and share them throughout your organization. It's easy to set up and even easier to run. You can define users in tableau server, within users, you can define site role and authentication. can also set up schedule for extract refresh or subscription. Tableau server acts a middle man between Tableau users and the data. Tableau Data Server allows you to upload and share data extracts, preserve database connections, as well as reuse calculations and field metadata. This means any changes you make to the data-set, calculated fields, parameters, aliases, or definitions, can be saved and shared with others, allowing for a secure, centrally managed and standardized dataset. Additionally, you can leverage your server's resources to run queries on extracts without having to first transfer them to your local machine.

Can you get values from two different sources as a single input into parameter?

Tableau currently not support the multi-valued parameters... "Case Study: The "dynamic parameter with a blend" technique can be used to highlight a single value, but not multiple values because of the way it works. As Tableau parameters are not dynamic, we cannot "filter" the list of values at runtime."

What are the differences between Tableau Software and Traditional BI tools?

Tableau provides easy to use, best in class, Visual Analytic capabilities, but it does not help with the plumbing (data foundation). You could, for example, marry SQL Server with Tableau to get the complete package. Tableau licenses are relatively expensive if you are looking to scale. Traditional BI can handle it all but with significant upfront costs. Higher consulting, hardware and software costs. Among the mega-vendors, only Microsoft can provide a reasonable value proposition. Open source vendors like Pentaho and JasperSoft do not have an abundant enough talent pool, yet.

Gantt chart(steps to create)

The Gantt Chart is a type of bar diagram used to illustrate plans and activity schedules of any project. It is a project management tool. Gantt Chart consist of bars stretched along the time axis.

What is disadvantage of context filters?

The context filter is not frequently changed by the user - if the filter is changed the database must recomputed and rewrite the temporary table, slowing performance. When you set a dimension to context, Tableau crates a temporary table that will require a reload each time the view is initiated. For Excel, Access and text data sources, the temporary table created is in an Access table format. For SQL Server, My SQL and Oracle data sources, you must have permission to create a temporary table on your server. For multidimensional data source, or cubes, temporary tables are not crated, and context filters only defined which filters are independent and dependent.

Mention what is the difference between published data sources and embedded data sources in Tableau?

The difference between published data source and embedded data source is that, Published data source: It contains connection information that is independent of any workbook and can be used by multiple workbooks. Embedded data source: It contains connection information and is associated with a workbook.

Table calculations

The following quick table calculations are available in Tableau for you to use: Running total Difference Percent difference Percent of total Rank Percentile Moving average YTD total Compound growth rate Year of year growth YTD growth

What is disaggregation and aggregation of data?

The process of viewing numeric values or measures at higher and more summarized levels of the data is called aggregation. When you place a measure on a shelf, Tableau automatically aggregates the data, usually by summing it. You can easily determine the aggregation applied to a field because the function always appears in front of the field's name when it is placed on a shelf. For example, Sales becomes SUM(Sales). You can aggregate measures using Tableau only for relational data sources. Multidimensional data sources contain aggregated data only. In Tableau, multidimensional data sources are supported only in Windows. According to Tableau, Disaggregating your data allows you to view every row of the data source which can be useful when you are analyzing measures that you may want to use both independently and dependently in the view. For example, you may be analyzing the results from a product satisfaction survey with the Age of participants along one axis. You can aggregate the Age field to determine the average age of participants or disaggregate the data to determine at what age participants were most satisfied with the product.

How to create stories in Tableau?

There are many ways to create story in Tableau. Each story point can be based on a different view or dashboard, or the entire story can be based on the same visualization, just seen at different stages, with different marks filtered and annotations added. You can use stories to make a business case or to simply narrate a sequence of events. Click the New Story tab. In the lower-left corner of the screen, choose a size for your story. Choose from one of the predefined sizes, or set a custom size, in pixels. By default, your story gets its title from its sheet name. To edit it, double-click the title. You can also change your title's font, color, and alignment. Click Apply to view your changes. To start building your story, drag a sheet from the Story tab on the left and drop it into the center of the view Click Add a caption to summarize the story point. To highlight a key takeaway for your viewers, drag a text object over to the story worksheet and type your comment. To further highlight the main idea of this story point, you can change a filter or sort on a field in the view, then save your changes by clicking Update above the navigator box.

Actions in tableau

There are three kinds of actions in Tableau: Filter, Highlight, and URL actions (Tableau Desktop only). Filter actions allow you to use the data in one view to filter data in another as you create guided analytical stories Highlight actions help you call attention to specific results, and URL actions allow you to point to external resources, such as a web page, file, or another Tableau worksheet. You can also define on which mouse actions you will have action effect. hover, select and menu.

What is the difference between discrete and continuous in Tableau?

There are two types of data roles in Tableau - discrete and continuous dimension. Discrete data roles are values that are counted as distinct and separate and can only take individual values within a range. Examples: number of threads in a sheet, customer name or row ID or State. Discrete values are shown as blue pills on the shelves and blue icons in the data window. Continuous data roles are used to measure continuous data and can take on any value within a finite or infinite interval. Examples: unit price, time and profit or order quantity. Continuous variables behave in a similar way in that they can take on any value. Continuous values are shown as green pills.

What are shelves?

They are Named areas to the left and top of the view. You build views by placing fields onto the shelves. Some shelves are available only when you select certain mark types.

When publishing workbooks on Tableau online, sometimes a error about needing to extract appears. Why does it happen occasionally?

This happens when a user is trying to publish a workbook that is connected to an internal server or a file stored on a local drive, such as a SQL server that is within a company's network.

How to display top 5 and last 5 sales in same view?

Using filters or calculated fields we can able to display the top 5 and last 5 sales in same view

How to view underlying SQL Queries in Tableau?

Viewing underlying SQL Queries in Tableau provides two options: Create a Performance Recording to record performance information about the main events you interact with workbook. Users can view the performance metrics in a workbook created by Tableau. Help -> Settings and Performance -> Start Performance Recording Help -> Setting and Performance -> Stop Performance Recording. Reviewing the Tableau Desktop Logs located at C:\Users\\My Documents\My Tableau Repository. For live connection to data source, you can check log.txt and tabprotosrv.txt files. For an extract, check tdeserver.txt file.

Sets are custom fields that define a subset of data based on some conditions. A set can be based on a computed condition, for example, a set may contain customers with sales over a certain threshold. Computed sets update as your data changes. Alternatively, a set can be based on specific data point in your view. eg. create a set in the field with a list of values that show customers with purchases > 3000/month can also choose certain values from the view and create a set with these values.

What are sets?

automatic hierarchies

When you connect to a data source, Tableau automatically separates date fields into hierarchies so you can easily break down the view by year, quarter, month, etc. We can observe a plus symbol adjacent to the field those are part of the hierarchy.

Why tableau?

Whether your data is in an on-premise database, a database, a data warehouse, a cloud application or an Excel file, you can analyze it with Tableau. You can create views of your data and share it with colleagues, customers, and partners. You can use Tableau to blend it with other data. And you can keep your data up to date automatically.

Do parameters have dropdown list?

Yes it may have its own drop down list, the entries which you make in the Parameter while creating it can be viewed as Dropdown list.

Can we place an excel file in a shared location and use it to develop a report and refresh it in regular intervals?

Yes you can do it... but for the better performance use extract

Can we use non - used columns (Columns which are not used in reports but data source has columns) in Tableau Filters?

Yes! Ex. In data source I have column like empID, EmpName, EmpDept,EmpDsignation, EmpSalary In reports I am using empname on columns and empsalry on rows. I can use empDesignation on Filters

Common lod expressions have used

actual vs target profit per state 1. create a calculation [profit - target profit] 2. {include [Dish name] : sum([Difference between actual and target profit])} daily profit KPI: {Fixed[date]: sum([profit])} online customer order frequency {Fixed [customer ID]:countD[order ID]}

How to embed views onto Webpages?

You can embed interactive Tableau views and dashboards into web pages, blogs, wiki pages, web applications, and intranet portals. Embedded views update as the underlying data changes, or as their workbooks are updated on Tableau Server. Embedded views follow the same licensing and permission restrictions used on Tableau Server. That is, to see a Tableau view that's embedded in a web page, the person accessing the view must also have an account on Tableau Server. Alternatively, if your organization uses a core-based license on Tableau Server, a Guest account is available. This allows people in your organization to view and interact with Tableau views embedded in web pages without having to sign in to the server. Contact your server or site administrator to find out if the Guest user is enabled for the site you publish to. You can do the following to embed views and adjust their default appearance: Get the embed code provided with a view: The Share button at the top of each view includes embed code that you can copy and paste into your webpage. (The Share button doesn't appear in embedded views if you change the showShareOptions parameter to false in the code.) Customize the embed code: You can customize the embed code using parameters that control the toolbar, tabs, and more. For more information, see Parameters for Embed Code. Use the Tableau JavaScript API: Web developers can use Tableau JavaScript objects in web applications. To get access to the API, documentation, code examples, and the Tableau developer community, see the Tableau Developer Portal.

What is the difference between context filter to other filters?

You can think of a context filter as being an independent filter. Any other filters that you set are defined as dependent filters because they process only the data that passes through the context filter. You may create a context filter to: Improve performance - If you set a lot of filters or have a large data source, the queries can be slow. You can set one or more context filters to improve performance. Create a dependent numerical or top N filter - You can set a context filter to include only the data of interest, and then set a numerical or a top N filter. For example, suppose you're in charge of breakfast products for a large grocery chain. Your task is to find the top 10 breakfast products by profitability for all stores. If the data source is very large, you can set a context filter to include only breakfast products. Then you can create a top 10 filter by profit as a dependent filter, which would process only the data that passes through the context filter. Note: As of Tableau 9.0, context filters no longer create temporary tables, except for generic ODBC data sources and customized data sources.

How to automate reports?

You need to publish report to tableau server, while publishing you will find one option to schedule reports.You just need to select the time when you want to refresh data.

What is page shelf?

page shelf is power full part of tableau That you can use to control the display of output as well as printed results of output.

What is page shelf?

page shelf is power full part of tableau That you can use to control the display of output as well as printed results of output. eg. have 5 different days with profit output.