Silver

Question 1

If I copy the image to PPT, does it update automatically?

Answer 1

No. Tableau Server provides a great way to deliver interactive – On-Demand analysis to the masses. If you want to embed the interactive Server views in PPT, you can do this via a free 3rd party app called LiveWeb.

Question 2

Can I change the lines to have patterns? My boss is color blind.

Answer 2

No. The best practice is to label the lines by putting the same field on both the color and label shelves and changing the color palette to gray or ideally our “color blind” color palette.

Question 3

How do I share these results with others? (What are all my sharing options?)

Answer 3

This question is best followed with another question asking more about their specific scenario and requirements.Save the file and share it with other Tableau usersRight click on a view and copy the image or cross-tab and pasteFile  Print, Export the image, cross-tab or PDF and distribute.Share it with Tableau Reader so users can interactPublish it to the Tableau Server so people can run it on demandUse the ‘Share’ button in Server to generate a URL or HTML to paste in e-mail, CMS’s such as SharePoint, or Blogs

Question 4

Is Tableau a BI platform or an Analytics tool?

Answer 4

Yes. Tableau can be both, choose wisely how you position this with customers. Tableau provides rich functionality for ad hoc reporting, analytics, dashboarding and visualization. All the content created in Tableau can be easily shared via interactive graphical displays in a web browser. Due to the fast, easy nature of Tableau, companies can achieve quick ROIs with anything from a small deployment to an enterprise roll-out

Question 5

Is Tableau 64 bit?

Answer 5

Yes, the Tableau data engine is 64 bit (or 32 bit if you only have a 32 bit machine). Tableau’s User Interface and the VizQL engine are 32 bit – but they only contain the result set caches, not the raw data so they uses a relatively small amount of RAM.

Question 6

Does Tableau do 3D Charts?

Answer 6

3D charts provide very eye catching visuals however, they typically hinder or skew the analysis being presented. For example, when dealing with volume or surface area such as a pie chart, a 3D chart can make certain slices seem bigger than they actually are. Because of these problems and they face that they don’t improve the story of the data, pundits do not consider 3D charts to be a best practice visual.

Question 7

Can I integrate Tableau with other applications?

Answer 7

Yes, Tableau provides both the ability to embed tableau visuals inside applications as well as to call other applications through URLs

Question 8

Who defines the measures and dimensions?

Answer 8

For relational – Tableau determines this automatically. By default, all numeric fields (that are not keys in the database) are measures, everything else is a dimension. The names of the fields are simply the names of the columns in the database. To change their placement, just drag and drop.For Cubes – These are explicitly defined by the author of the cube.

Question 9

Can I convert a measure to a dimension? Can I convert a dimension to a measure?

Answer 9

Yes. Drag a measure to the dimension pane.For Dimensions, either drag it to the measures pane if you are trying to count the dimension, or change its data type to number if it is the wrong type (right click and choose Data Type) and drag to the measures pane.

Question 10

What is a cube? Does Tableau support Cubes?

Answer 10

It’s a ‘multi-dimensional’ way to store data. The main benefit over relational databases used to be performance – typically a value is already calculated and stored for every combination of dimensions. Another benefit is increased structure such as hierarchies and predefined relationships.Tableau can connect to cubes generated by Microsoft Analysis Services or Oracle Essbase (Hyperion)

Question 11

What’s the difference between using the generic ODBC connection to connect to my data and the connections listed in the ‘connect to data’ dialog window? Are there drawbacks / benefits that I should be aware of?

Answer 11

The connections listed in the ‘connect to data’ dialog window are optimized and tuned by Tableau to assure performance and full functionality of the Tableau feature set. ODBC connections will rely on the driver (likely provided by your database vendor) and may have limited support for the SQL standard. The result is that performance and functionality in Tableau may be degraded.

Question 12

How do I join together sheets from two excel workbooks?

Answer 12

This is a trick question – but common. Tableau can only join sheets that are in a single workbook. You can use the ‘Edit Move or Copy Sheet’ command in Excel to get all the sheets into a single workbook.Data Blending will also work, but in many cases this will provide limited capabilities. If possible, joins are preferred.

Question 13

Is Data Blending within a single database the same as using Multiple Tables in the connection dialog?

Answer 13

No, joins (in the multiple tables’ scenario) happen in the database with the raw data as part of one universal query. Blends happen in Tableau with the already summarized (aggregated) data. This means that Data Blending sends a separate query to each database. These queries aggregate the data to the same level of detail – regardless of the level of detail of the raw data. Then the results of the separate queries are blended together by Tableau.

Question 14

Does Tableau always import the data?

Answer 14

No, this is actually a big differentiator between us and some of our competitors.You have the option to use Tableau’s fast data engine or maintain a live connection to your database, all without any scripting. If your data is already fast, or changes very often, then a direct connection is probably best.

Question 15

Is any functionality in Tableau dependent on having my data in the data engine?

Answer 15

No. Blending, calculations, table calculations, parameters, actions and all analytics are the same. However, some data sources will get extra capabilities when imported into the data engine (e.g. excel files will be upgraded to have count distinct and median)

Question 16

What is a packaged workbook?

Answer 16

Packaged workbooks collect all the files related to the workbook and compress them into a single file. This package can then be delivered to other Tableau users without having to separately include data, images and other files referenced by the workbook.

Question 17

Does packaging automatically save all the data?

Answer 17

No. If your data is on a server, Tableau will not automatically extract the data. The reason is that the database could be zillions of records which is impractical to pull down to the local machine (time and size come to mind). If you want to include data from the server (for example to share with Tableau Reader) you must first extract each data connection separately.

Question 18

How do I schedule an extract to be refreshed?

Answer 18

Extracts can only be scheduled when using the Tableau Server. During the publish process, choose ‘Schedules & Passwords…’ on the publish dialog. Choose a schedule and then ‘Publish’. If the button is not available, then you are either not currently using an extract (so go create one) or the administrator of the Tableau Server has not enabled this functionality.Schedules are created and managed on the server by a system administrator.

Question 19

Name at least 8 ways that Tableau makes dates shiny. Be able to demo all of these.

Answer 19

(relative date filtering, hierarchy, reorder hierarchy, choose any level of the hierarchy, different parts on different shelves, continuous dates, discrete and continuous, fiscal year, continuous dates vs. discrete dates and their respective hierarchies…)

Question 20

How do I make a monthly trend line span 2 years?

Answer 20

Use the new Continuous Date Hierarchy

Question 21

How do I display ranks or line numbers?

Answer 21

Create a calculated field: index(). Convert it to ‘discrete’ and add it to your sheet. Right click on the field pill to change its indexing behavior (calculate using….)

Question 22

When should I use ‘Add to Context’?

Answer 22

The basic recommendation is to use a context filter when a) the filter doesn’t change often; and b) when the data will be reduced to less than 1/10th the number of records. A context filter creates a temp table that contains just the records that match the filter. All subsequent interactions are run against the small subset of data which greatly improves performance.Note: The ‘context’ is created as a temporary table on the database. It is rare, but some users might not have permission to create temp tables. In that case Tableau will extract the data that matches the filter.

Question 23

Are my calculations written back to the database?

Answer 23

No. Tableau is a very safe environment – it never changes your data. The calculations are computed on the fly based on the current values in the database

Question 24

Are calculations performed locally in Tableau?

Answer 24

Tableau pushes most calculations back to the database. All aggregations are performed on the database (which includes the data engine). Table Calculations, most reference lines, and some types of filters are performed locally.

Question 25

I want the top ‘n’ products for each region. How do I do this?

Answer 25

Add a quick filter for region and set it to ‘Single Value List’. Then add the Region filter to the context and add a top ‘n’ filter for products. The reason you need the context is that the top n filter is applied before any other filters are applied. Setting the context means that the top filter is applied after the data has been limited to the single product.Note: ‘Top’ filters are dynamic – they are computed when the query is run. This means that if the data changes, the top n list might also change.For more complex scenarios, you can create a calculated field: index() and then filter this to the top 10.

Question 26

I want to filter out all unprofitable records?

Answer 26

Regardless of the view you have, drag Profit from the measure pane to the filter shelf. When prompted, choose the disaggregated field “# All values” (i.e. there is no aggregation). Drag the slider to 0 or type in 0. Do not use the ‘Show Quick Filter’ option on the field, this will use its default aggregation. The whole point of this question is that Tableau can filter either the raw data or the aggregate data – very powerful.

Question 27

Does Tableau do small multiples? What are small multiples?

Answer 27

Yes. These are very powerful visuals for comparison. This is what enables true multi-dimensional analysis. It is basically a cross-tab of charts or visuals. Small multiples are a big improvement over the common 3d bar chart. They allow us to see multiple dimensions simultaneously, without obscuring, skewing or hiding any of the data. Tableau’s direct interaction model makes this even better so users can reorganize the output effortlessly or drill down all the way to the raw data.Excel 2010 – default 3d chart. Try to compare heights.

Question 28

How do I change my numbers to format in percent?

Answer 28

Best Practice: Right click on a field in the Data Window and choose ‘Field PropertiesNumber Format’. Set the option to ‘Percentage’. On a sheet, Right click on a tablet or number and choose ‘Format’. Typically you would choose the ‘Pane’ tab in the Format window and change the default number type (near the top) to percentage. Notice that the formatting changes instantly as you make selections.

Question 29

Can I format according to my corporate standard?

Answer 29

Yes. Once you have the formatting as you see fit, you can copy and paste the formatting between sheets – even into new workbooks. Right click on the sheet tab to ‘Copy Formatting’, then multi select the sheets and right click to ‘Paste Formatting’

Question 30

What are my formatting options?

Answer 30

The formatting options are quite vast and can be explored by using the format menu. It includes field level formatting, row and column formatting, sheet formatting. You can change fonts, borders, shading, colors, totals and much more.

Question 31

Can I drill down?

Answer 31

Yes, but start with a question like “How do you mean?” Drilling down/into data means different things to different people. Determine what they’re looking for BEFORE you discuss these:Right click on anything to view the raw data. Or you can drill anywhere you want by adding more fields to your analysis. Furthermore, if you want to enable other users to drill to a specific view or set of details, you can use an action to link sheets. What is even more powerful is the user can filter a secondary sheet by hovering, selecting or right clicking on an element in the primary sheet. This gives the user a rich experience with their guided analysis. This approach is far superior to traditional drill down. The sheet that you drill to can be structured to properly display the new level of detail. For example, the user might drill from map to a trend line to see the history. This would be hard or impossible to properly display by just adding time to the existing view.If all you need are hierarchies, then yes. Simply create the hierarchy by dropping the fields on top of each other on the data window. You can select the plus signs it the two locations indicated to drill down to the next level of the hierarchy.

Question 32

Can I put a field in more than one hierarchy?

Answer 32

Yes. Right click on the field and ‘duplicate’. Then add it to another hierarchy.

Question 33

Can I apply a filter to all my sheets? To my entire dashboard?

Answer 33

Yes. Right click on the filter and choose ‘Make Global’. On a quick filter, use the pull-down to ‘Make Global’. This applies the filter to any worksheet that uses the same data source.Additionally, by setting up ‘Actions’ a sheet can be used to filter other sheets on the dashboard. This provides 2 benefits: the filter can be scoped to work on just the dashboard and it can work across multiple data sources.

Question 34

I don’t want to summarize my data – I want to see all of it. Is this possible?

Answer 34

Yes. (uncheck AnalysisAggregate Data) This is very important as there are few tools that can do both aggregation and plot the raw data.Furthermore, reference lines can be used to show other summaries of the data while still displaying all details.

Question 35

How do I get the count of customers per Region?

Answer 35

Getting a count is as simple as right clicking on the dimension and choosing the aggregation. However, the ‘Count’ aggregation counts the number of times there is any entry in the customer field. Hence, if the same customer has purchased twice, they will be counted twice. In this example, the prospect most likely wants the number of unique customers or the ‘Count (Distinct)’. In real databases this is simply an aggregation option. In file based data (Excel, Access, text files) you will first need to create an extract to enable the distinct count.

Question 36

In a web browser, looking at a viz, can I change the measurement that is displayed, e.g. change from “sales” to “profit” in the web browser?

Answer 36

Yes. Using “interactive” parameters, you can allow the web user to select their desired parameter. The calc looks like this:case [SelectYourMeasure]when “Sales” then SUM([Sales])when “Profit” then SUM([Profit])endOr an IF statement, or, any number of different approaches.

Question 37

There are three ways of creating Sets in Tableau. Demonstrate them and describe the differences between each.

Answer 37

1. Right click on two or more dimensions in the schema viewer and choose “Create Set…”. This will create a set containing the complete cross product of the selected dimensions. The resulting set cannot be edited.2. Right click on a single dimension in the schema viewer and choose “Create Set…”. This brings up a dialogue that allows you to select members, apply filters to the list of members (e.g. only salesmen with sales of over $1m) and restrict the list to the top members filtered by a field or an expression.3. Select some marks in a view, right click and choose “Create Set…”. This will create a set containing the complete set of dimension tuples in the selected marks. The resulting set cannot be edited.

Question 38

I want to find the click through rate. It is clicks divided by impressions. How do I do this?

Answer 38

Calculations requiring division should include the aggregation. For example:Sum([Clicks])/Sum([Impressions])This gives the proper weighted average no matter how the data is filtered, sliced or diced.For example, in the table below, the first calculation is written as:[Clicks]/[Impressions]It gives the proper answer for every row of data, but needs an aggregation for the totals – in this case I used average. The second calculation is Sum([Clicks])/Sum([Impressions]) and already has the aggregation defined. We can see the importance of performing the division on the totals (results) rather than on each row. The inaccurate calculation gave a total click thru rate of over 5% where the real click thru rate is only 1/10th of a percent.

Question 39

Does Tableau do What-if Analysis?

Answer 39

Yes. A Parameter can be created to provide the user input. For example: What if sales increased by 20% or some other value.

Question 40

I want to find the average of my monthly sales.

Answer 40

This sounds like a simple question, but read it carefully. The user wants to sum the sales for each month and then find the average of those sales. Tableau can do this with either a summarized extract or reference lines.

Question 41

Can I filter the results of a Table Calculation?

Answer 41

Yes. Simply double click on the field or right click and choose filter. This filtering happens in Tableau and not at the database which enables more complex filtering scenarios.

Question 42

All my counties are in the wrong place. Can I fix this?

Answer 42

Yes! Many states have counties of the same name – for example 31 states have a Washington county. First solution is to add the state field to the Level of Detail shelf. Now Tableau knows where to put each county. Additionally, if you are working in a single state, you can tell Tableau your default location by choosing “MapEdit Locations…”

Question 43

Can I use my own maps?

Answer 43

Yes, you can either direct Tableau to a WMS (Web Map Service) of your choosing, or add a background image of your choosing.

Question 44

Can I use my own geographic fields (Addresses, airports)?

Answer 44

Yes. If your data already has lat and lon just use that. If you have the lat/lon for your specific data in a separate location, you can use connect to it and use data blending or import the custom geo-coding.

Question 45

I don’t have lat/long for my (addresses, cities, postal codes). How do I add them to Tableau?

Answer 45

You will need to first geo-code your data. Geocoding is the process of associating geographic coordinate (latitude and longitude values) to geographic information such as state names or zip codes. Many websites offer this information free of charge, or in some cases for a fee.

Question 46

Why do my global filters not work for these sheets but actions do? (aka How do I make global filters apply to all sheets?)

Answer 46

Global Filters are only global to the data source – not the workbook. So all sheets must use the same primary datasource for the Global Filter to be applied. Filter actions can be used to apply filters across various sheets. Filter actions can be set using a sheet as a filter and by adding a dimension by itself on a sheet you can set up a filter action that will look comparable to a multi-select quick filter.

Question 47

How do I make Global Filters apply to just one dashboard?

Answer 47

Global Filters are designed to work across all sheets using the same data source. In order to have different filters on different dashboards, you need multiple data sources. Simply:duplicate the data source (DataData ConnectionDuplicate)re-create your specific sheets using the new data sourceset up a new global filter

Question 48

How do I change the order of tabs, names of tabs in Tableau Server? How can I hide some of my tabs in Server?

Answer 48

Simple change the order, names or visibility of the sheets in Tableau Desktop and then republish the workbook.

Question 49

How fast is Tableau Server?

Answer 49

Tableau Server is a high performance system that is architected to deliver highly interactive views to the user. You can distribute Tableau Server across many computers letting the users benefit from the multi-threading, parallel processing and state of the art data caching.

Question 50

How scalable is Tableau Server? (How many users can it handle)

Answer 50

It is highly scalable. Tableau Public is running on a Tableau Server. It serves tens of thousands of unique users a day.When talking about Tableau Server, get a sense for how many clients they are expecting. If the number is small, do not even bring up the Core pricing model as it will confuse things. Once you have qualified that the customer is looking at a sizeable Tableau Server implementation (e.g. hundreds of users or more), then discuss the two pricing models; Named User and Core. Keep in mind there are advantages and disadvantages to each.A simple way to explain the two licensing options to a customer is:With Named User you have a fixed number of users, but can add unlimited hardware to serve those users.With Core Licensing you have a fixed amount of hardware, but you can add unlimited Users.Or the same thing except in parallel:With Named User you have a fixed number of users, but can add unlimited hardware to serve those users.With Core Licensing you have an unlimited number of users, but can add a fixed amount of hardware to server those users.Tableau Server has effectively scaled to several hundred concurrent users. With typical usage ratios or 1 concurrent user for every 10 licenses users, this means that Tableau Server can potentially support implementations of 1000’s of users. Don’t promise this to customers as the actual performance varies greatly with the following factors:Performance of server machineOther applications on the serverDatabase performanceComplexity of views and dashboardsActual user interactionNetwork speeds

Question 51

Can I use Tableau Server to deliver a report to the public?

Answer 51

Yes. For ‘anonymous’ access this requires ‘core’ based licensing with the ‘guest user’ enabled. If they still want to secure the views (hence no longer ‘the public’) then they can choose named user or core based licensing. Tableau also supports SSL connections. Understand that if the customer focuses on delivering public content then it’s likely that Digital may be a better fit. Qualifying questions by sales/presales are crucial.

Question 52

What are the requirements for Tableau Server? What else do I need to install? Does it run on Linux?

Answer 52

Tableau Server runs on Windows Server 2003, 2008 or 2008 R2. It is a complete package that has no pre-requisites or additional components outside of drivers for your databases (often these are included with the OS).

Question 53

What are the requirements for the web client?

Answer 53

Tableau has no installs and no required components (no flash, no active X, no Java). It is purely HTML and JavaScript that runs in IE (Internet Explorer), Firefox, Chrome or Safari.

Question 54

Does it use Active Directory (Windows Authentication)?

Answer 54

Yes. Tableau server can use either Active Directory or remain independent.

Question 55

Can I embed it in my portal?

Answer 55

Yes. It is very simple to do. Just use the ‘Share’ button on any view and paste the contents into your portal or CMS system. You can also integrate it with SharePoint, either as a web page player or a web part.

Question 56

Can I save my changes to a view (my filters, drill downs, sorts etc)?

Answer 56

Yes. Simply click the save button and the next time you visit that view your changes will automatically be applied. Additionally, you can share your specific view of the data with others.

Question 57

Why should I buy Server when Reader is free?

Answer 57

Tableau Server provides live connections to the database where Reader is staticSecurity and permissioning. Note that reader provides no security. If they have access to the .twbx, they have access to all the data in the .twbx.User filters – each user can see their personal view of the dataNothing to install or maintain on user’s machinesCollaboration for authors and consumers of analysisEveryone is seeing the same version of the views and the data.Tableau Server can automatically refresh extracts while in Reader they must be manually updated and redistributed.Packages workbooks have the potential to be large. This can be a lot of data to distribute.

Question 58

What is the difference between a system admin and a content admin?

Answer 58

Content admins can perform all administrative tasks except what is located in the maintenance tab, which can only be accessed by a system admin. This allows customers to give content administrator rights to users that will maintain users, groups, projects, workbooks, views, permissions etc, without giving full system admin rights that can impact configuration, options and installation defaults. A content admin cannot add users in a deployment that uses multi-tenancy.

Question 59

Can I customize Tableau Server?

Answer 59

What are you looking to do? Often embedding the views is the right solution. You can add your own logo and name and do several other types of configuration.

Question 60

Can I publish a view so that each person only sees their data?

Answer 60

Yes. See also: “user filtering”. This provides robust row level security and can be used to provide cell level security.

Question 61

What is the benefit of publishing a data source to Data Server?

Answer 61

Metadata management = One Version of the TruthAdd, delete, or rename fields - without writing back to the database!Add complex Calculations onceHide unnecessary fieldsSet up useful data models – onceCentral permissions management for sensitive data sourcesOnly need to install database drivers (for relational/OLAP connections) one time on one machinePrevent “Data creep” if you have more than one analyst publishing workbooks based on the same data.

Question 62

Can I schedule the export/cache/pdf etc?

Answer 62

Yes. Extracts can be scheduled using the Tableau Server interface. Additionally, using a command line utility Tabcmd you can generate a PDF, or image of a report, administer users, and automate other Tableau Server maintenance tasks.

Question 63

Can I connect directly to the Tableau Server repository? Can I build my own ‘admin’ views?

Answer 63

Yes. If an administrator enables remote access to the repository, then you can connect Tableau Professional to the postgreSQL database and build your own analysis and reports.

Question 64

Best practice to edit individual users permissions in Tableau projects?

Answer 64

It is a best practice to use groups and manage users through groups. Setting permissions at the group level in Server projects will make the process much more streamlined in the long run.

Question 65

Permisions for default state across Tableau Server in the absense of allowing permissions?

Answer 65

The default state is to deny permissions.

Question 66

All Tableau Server ships with default project.

Answer 66

Cannot delete this project and the default group is all users, many clients go in and delete this all users group because when you create a new project it will pick up the default settings for the default project.

Question 67

Projects

Answer 67

Projects are the largest group of organization of content on the Tableau Server.

Question 68

Workbooks

Answer 68

Workbooks are what is created for you and can contain multiple dashboards or worksheets.

Question 69

Views

Answer 69

Reports, dashboards and vizualizations that you can interact with and save in specific way.

Question 70

What does multithreading mean to Tableau?

Answer 70

Multithreading means each process (VIZQL, Data Server, Webapp, Extract host on Server) can handle multiple simultaneous requests from the same end user. (Side note: Each VizQL process is no longer limited to 2gb of RAM but is still limited to [or can share] a single core.)Multithreading does not equal faster.Instead each request from an end user is processed on a single core for end user resource request consolidation and caching.

Question 71

Difference between threading and a process?

Answer 71

The essential difference between a thread and a process is the amount of work that each does. Threads are used for small tasks (ex: When you use MS Word, you have a background thread that allows you to print and another thread that accepts user input) and processes are used for heavyweight tasks like actually starting the program.

Question 72

Can I run tableau server in virtual environment (on a VM)?

Answer 72

Absolutely. Virtual environments are fully supported.

Question 73

Can I configure server to use IIS or my instance of Apache as the web server?

Answer 73

No need to. Tableau server includes a web server (along with many other components) in the single installation file. For your info, we use Apache, but there is nothing to configure or change.

Question 74

Do I need to maintain the Apache web server or the Postgres database?

Answer 74

No. Tableau takes care of all maintenance and upgrades for its individual components in the Tableau server maintenance releases you download from our website.

Question 75

Can I install it on Linux?

Answer 75

The general answer is no, Tableau must be installed on a Windows Operating System. However, some customers use programs on their Linux system to create virtual Windows environments.

Question 76

What OS do you recommend?

Answer 76

Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, 2003 sp1 or higher, and Windows 7. Tableau Server no longer supports Windows XP, Vista, or older windows operating systems.

Question 77

What kind of encryption do you use for password storage (also what kind of data encryption is used when passed over the wire to the client)?

Answer 77

Please see our knowledge base article on Server Encryption Technologies for details. Tableau stores passwords using AES 256-bit encryption, and uses RSA 512-bit encryption for other server processes.

Question 78

What kind of auditing can I do on my server users and reports?

Answer 78

There are about six pre-made audit dashboards found in the Maintenance page on server. These answer most questions you have around View Performance, User Activity, Usage, Storage, etc.If the pre-made maintenance dashboards do not contain what you are looking for, you can connect Tableau Desktop to the Postgres database that stores all server activity. Please see the Admin Guide for more details on Custom Audit Views.

Question 79

Is it possible to have weekly scheduled e-mails where I send out a .png, .pdf, or .csv of the Tableau visual?

Answer 79

Yes, you can use Tabcmd and a third-party tool such as febootimail to schedule when these e-mails get sent out, and what views are sent. Please see our knowledge base article: Using the Tableau Server Command Line Utility. Tableau does not charge extra for this feature.

Question 80

Is there any internet access requirements for the server product?

Answer 80

Internet access for the server product is not required. It is primarily used for Activation of the software and Online Maps. We can provide specific URLs to these web services for adjustments to your firewall. Or, should you choose not to open your firewall, Activation can be done offline and offline maps provide the first 6 levels of zoom. You may also leverage an internal WMS (Web Mapping Service) such as ESRI ArcServer.

Question 81

How do I determine the number of VizQL, Application, Data Server, and Background processes?

Answer 81

Tableau Server publishes workbook views for access via a browser. Requests that come in from the client browser first hit the Apache web server and are routed to the first available Application server process (wgserver.exe) which handles browsing and permissions for the Tableau Server web interface. Once a view is opened a request is sent to the VizQL process (vizqlserver.exe) from which queries are sent directly to the data source. If your data source is Tableau Data Server, then a request will be sent to the Tableau Data Server process.We generally recommend using Tableau’s default of 2 VizQL, 2 Application, and 2 Data Server processes for any sized deployment. If you find that your performance lags, you may increase the number of VizQL, Application, or Data Server processes up to the maximum limit of 8.

Question 82

Is it possible to specify a size when publishing a dashboard to fit within our confines on sharepoint, ipad, etc.?

Answer 82

a. Yes, upon publishing your dashboard, simply select to size it using the bottom left hand of your dashboard screen, and selecting to Edit Size -> At Least. At Least allows for the dashboard to expand and fit larger screens, but maintain its your desired layout on smaller screens.

Question 83

Do virtualization snapshots and NT backups work with Tableau Server?

Answer 83

a. When considering disaster recovery options, it is import to understand precisely how virtualization snapshots and file-level backups interact with Tableau data.During the installation of Tableau Server, the licensing service writes license information to the Trusted Storage area of the hard disk. This information will not be captured by file-level backups or virtual machine snapshots and therefore should the virtual machine snapshot or file-level backup ever be used to restore Tableau Server, the corresponding Trusted Storage information will not be re-written to the disk. This means that restoring Tableau Server from a backup “in place” or on the same machine on which it was originally installed, will work fine. Restoring an image of Tableau Server to a new location or different machine, you need to transfer the license to that new machine. b. It is highly recommended that regular Tableau Backups be taken in order to ensure that your environment has recoverability in the event that you are required to bring up Tableau on a new server or restore your existing environment

Question 84

Do I need additional drivers for my data source installed on Tableau Server?

Answer 84

a. Yes, the drivers page on the Tableau Software home page contains links and information for obtaining the proper driver for your data source connection.

Question 85

Can I switch from using Local Authentication to Active Directory?

Answer 85

The most important thing to be aware of while installing Tableau Server is that once you choose your authentication method (‘Use Active Directory’ or ‘Use Local Authentication’), you cannot change it without re-installing Tableau Server.Once set, the only way to alter the authentication method is by following the steps outlined in our knowledge base article “Modifying Tableau Server Authentication Method”:

Question 86

How might I upgrade or duplicate a Tableau Server environment?

Answer 86

There is a knowledge base article available for reference during the upgrade

Question 87

How many test environments can I have?

Answer 87

The End User License Agreement for Tableau Server allows for one production environment and up to two, non-production environments. 1) For instance, if a client purchases an 8 core server, they can have up to two additional non-production core environments. The same goes for named user licenses.2) Tableau does not charge for these non-production test environments, unlike many of our competitors. E.g., Qlikview charges an additional 50% of the server cost for each test environment.

Question 88

We want to demo Tableau Server, but currently – for whatever reason – we cannot demo Tableau Server on our own systems. Does Tableau offer a server for demoing?

Answer 88

Yes, Tableau offers demo.tableausoftware.com. We can set you up with your own company site which is secure and will only be accessible to you. You will gain much of the functionality of Tableau Server in this demo environment. You will be able to put views online, interact with them, and access them as necessary during your trial of Tableau Server.

Question 89

Does Tableau offer collaborative analytics? For instance, I found out Sales in Montana are doing poorly, and I want to default to this view whenever I log into Tableau Server. I also want to share this view with my colleagues, and talk about it on a forum. Can I do this with Tableau?

Answer 89

Yes, Tableau is all about collaborative analytics. You can go to the upper right-hand corner of your server view, select to save a view for future consumption, and even share that view with your co-workers. You can then discuss your analyses and insights in the comments section provided below the view.

Question 90

Can you show me how a Server view looks like on an iPad?

Answer 90

Yes:1) Create a shortcut in your browser with the following:javascript:location.href=”http://ipadpeek.com/?url=”+location.href+escape(“?:embed=y&:mobile=true”);2) This will open the current view in iPadPeek with the necessary embed and mobile tag3) You can now “Tap to Interact”. Note: on an actual iPad, you do not need to include “&:mobile=y” in the URL. This functionality will happen automatically when an iPad connects to a Tableau Server view.4) Mention that we offer a native iPad App for free from the App Store: There is a Gallery you can experiment with and share with colleagues!http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tableau-mobile/id434633927?mt=8

Question 91

Is it possible to have no toolbar on my server view?

Answer 91

a. Yes. To remove the toolbar, add the following exactly as it is shown at the end of your URL: &:toolbar=nob. If you want the toolbar to be on top, simply add the following at the end of your URL: &:toolbar=top

Question 92

Can I specify a filter via the URL? For instance, I want to filter only to my company: Chevron.

Answer 92

Yes, to specify a filter via the URL, simply add the following to the URL exactly as shown and hit enter on the keyboard: &Company=ChevronNotice that there is no colon “:” this time (compared to the previous question)

Question 93

I’m purchasing core. How can the cores be deployed?

Answer 93

You must purchase 8 cores at a minimum, with increments of 4 thereafter. In a single server environment, the number of cores in use on a physical or virtual machine must not exceed the number licensed. In a multi-server environment with primary and worker node(s), the total number of cores among the Primary and all Workers must not exceed the number licensed.Furthermore, cores cannot be split among multiple production instances. I.e., • A customer cannot split their core licenses among an active server and a failover server which is also active.• A customer cannot split the cores in order to have one environment externally facing and one internally.• Note a customer is allowed up-to two non-production environments per the EULA (see question 16)

Question 94

What is the minimum number of named user licenses?

Answer 94

You must purchase a minimum of ten, with the option to purchase more later on.

Question 95

Does Tableau integrate with my company’s LDAP server for authentication?

Answer 95

Tableau integrates with the Windows form of LDAP (Active Directory) or you can create local users for Tableau server. Users can be synced with your corporate LDAP server by using Tableau’s command line interface to import users one at a time or in batch via CSV.Many companies will store and control enterprise security aspects about a user in LDAP, what systems they can access, permissions they have in those systems, data they can access. Tableau cannot access LDAP profiles, but a script could read LDAP profiles and using tab command, interface to Tableau server and make the required changes. For example, users could be given certain permissions/access when added to specific groups.

Question 96

If I am using AD, are my Tableau users always synced with my AD users?

Answer 96

When we import an AD group on Tableau server, this is a one-time import of all users in that group. You can then periodically “sync” with AD using the Tableau Server GUI as an Administrator. You can also automate the sync using tabcmd to sync a particular AD group using the ‘tabcmd syncgroup [AD group name]’. This can be scheduled to run however often you want (Tableau does not schedule this, they would use the Windows Scheduler or whatever scheduling tool they want – this is very common).

Question 97

I want to embed tableau dashboards into my web portal (or Sharepoint or ASP.net page), but I don’t want them to see a tableau login screen. Is that possible? (Single Sign On)

Answer 97

a. Yes. If your portal uses Active Directory for authentication then you simply embed the tableau view using an iFrame (or Page Viewer Web Part in Sharepoint). If Tableau server is configured to also use Active Directory then both systems will authenticate the user independently, resulting in the user never seeing a login screen for you portal or for Tableau.b. If your web portal uses a different method of authentication, we can setup Trusted Authentication between your web portal and Tableau Server. Please see the product manual for Trusted Authentication. In essence, a web developer in your organization will add a piece of code to your web server that pulls the currently logged-in username and passes it to Tableau Server in a POST request. Tableau will check that the users exists in our directory and if so it will return a ticket which your web server will insert into the constructed URL sent back to Tableau to request the view. Tableau then redeems the ticket and the view will load for the user with no login screen. Code samples for Java, Ruby, and PHP can be found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Tableau\Tableau Server\6.1\extras\embedding

Question 98

When I visit a particular view on server, I am presented with a login screen for the database. I don’t want my users to see a database login screen. What should I do?

Answer 98

a. If the datasource uses Windows Authentication, then this means the Run-As user of server is not set correctly. They need to open the Tableau server configuration window and change the Server Account to a real domain user or create a Service Account for Tableau to run under (much more common in production scenario). In any case, this user must have permissions to log into any datasources that use Windows Authentication.b. If the datasource uses local authentication, then the publisher of that workbook will have the choice of embedding their set of credentials into the workbook or prompting the end-user to log in. In the Publish Workbook window, click the Authentication button in the lower left to specify per data connection if you want to embed the credentials or prompt the user to login. If you do not see the button, then you need to enable ‘Embedded Credentials’ through the Maintenance page on server.c. See next question for allowing the user to save their db credentials and only be prompted the first time and subsequent visits if the db password changes

Question 99

If I want to actually log in as the end-user to the database because I already have row-level security built into my database, can I do that?

Answer 99

a. If your database is SQL Server, you have the option to Impersonate the end user logging into the database. This is controlled by clicking the Authentication button in the Publish Workbook window. Change the setting from ‘Server Run As account’ to ‘Impersonate via server Run As account’. b. If your database is something other than SQL Server, then you should set the Authentication to ‘Prompt user’ in the screen above. The user will be asked to log into the database one time, but they have the option to save their credentials so that they never need to log into that datasource again. Their credentials will be saved no matter what browser they use from that point forward.

Question 100

I published a workbook that is connected to an Excel file but I see an error on server when I try to view the report. What is wrong?

Answer 100

a. If they do not have Office installed on the server machine, then the necessary driver to connect to Excel files are not on there yet. They can download the ‘Microsoft Access Database Engine 2007’ from the Drivers page on our website.b. If they have Office or the connectivity components installed but they still see an error, it is probably because the Run-As user of server does not have permission to open the Excel file. Try changing the Run-As user to a real domain user.

Question 101

Say my DBA gives me development rights to a QA database, I’ve produced my report in Tableau desktop and embedded my credentials, once it’s on server, how does the DBA change to using a generic set of credentials?

Answer 101

Under database connections, as an administrator, you can edit the username and password, or the database server that the report connects to.

Question 102

Can I turn off comments?

Answer 102

Yes, this is controlled by the permissions for that view. There are specific permissions to ‘View Comments’ and ‘Add Comments’.

Question 103

If Wilson is Denied ability to view a particular workbook but he is Allowed to see one of the worksheets in the workbook, what will he be able to see when he visits the page for that workbook?

Answer 103

a. He will be able to see the workbook but when he clicks on it he will only see the view he was specifically allowed to see.b. This is because permissions are evaluated at the View level, then the Workbook Level, then the Project level. If you are not allowed to see a project, but you can see a workbook in that project, the workbook permissions trump the project permissions (Workbooks trump Projects and Views trump both Workbooks & Projects).

Question 104

If The PC group is Allowed to see the PC project, but Wilson (a member of the PC group) is Denied ability to see the PC project, what will he see when he logs in?

Answer 104

He will not see the PC project (unless he was specifically allowed to see any particular view or workbook in that project).This is because permissions are evaluated at the User level before the Group level. User permissions trump Group permissions.

Question 105

What does ‘Inherited’ mean when looking at permissions?

Answer 105

If a user’s permission is set to “Inherit”, then they are defaulted to their group’s permissions.

Question 106

Are permissions still applied if I embed a view into my web portal?

Answer 106

Yes, when looking at a view embedded into another web portal, you are still logged in to tableau server. Therefore all permissions are still applied.

Question 107

How might I conduct row-level or user-level security at the workbook level?

Answer 107

There are three ways to accomplish row-level security. 1) Data source enforced2) Calculation Based User Filters: Create a Calc using User functions such as ISMEMBEROF() or FULLNAME()3) Set-based user filters: In Desktop: Server > Create User Filter

Question 108

How are permissions set for a workbook view?

Answer 108

E.g., Say John is allowed to download the data at the user level, but his group has been set to deny. Tableau first checks “Has the user [John] been specifically denied the capability?” No, he has not been denied at the user level, so we move to the second box, “Has the user been specifically assigned a role that allows the capability?” Yes. Therefore John can download the data, even though his group is not allowed to do so. Say Martha is set to inherit for downloading the data at the user level, but her group has been set to deny. Tableau first checks, “Has the user [Martha] been specifically denied the capability?” No, her user level has not been denied, so we move to the second box, “Has the user been specifically assigned a role that allows the capability?” No, she’s set to Inherit from the group level. Therefore, we move to the group level. “Is the user part of a group that has been specifically denied the capability?” Yes, therefore, she’s denied the capability to download the data.In conclusion, Tableau first checks at the user level for permissions. If it’s inherited, then Tableau goes to the group level. A user’s permissions will trump/override their group’s permissions.

Question 109

When should I use extracts with Tableau Server?

Answer 109

Extracts are locally stored data sets created by Tableau Server from your data sources. Using extracts in published workbooks can dramatically improve response times for end users. It is highly recommended that extracts be used whenever possible. The section labeled “Use Extracts” on the Tableau Server Scalability Tests knowledge base article lists several benefits of using extracts (listed below):• Extracts allow you to filter the amount of data users have access to. When users don’t need all the detail in your database, this can significantly speed performance. For example, your database may have transactions recorded at the hour and minute, but if your Tableau users are concerned with transactions at the daily or weekly level, you can roll up the data to that level and eliminate unneeded detail.• You can take advantage of join culling and other query optimizations within Tableau extracts.• Users don’t have to wait for your database to return queries and your database isn’t taxed by every Tableau Server request. Tableau users interact with the extracted data only. This can be an issue if your database is heavily used or otherwise slow.• If by taking load off your main database you begin to overtax your extract database, you can configure Tableau Server to use a local extract engine on a separate machine.

Question 110

Where are extracts stored on the server?

Answer 110

It doesn’t really matter where the extracts are stored on the server because you would never need to connect to them with tableau desktop. We use the Tableau Data Server to allow desktop users to connect to extracts stored on server.If the concern is not having enough storage space, you can tell them that extracts are stored on the same drive that server is installed on (so they can install server on a drive other than C if space is a concern). They also have the option to move the extract repository to another machine using the server config control. For you info, extracts are stored in [Drive]:\ProgramData\Tableau\Tableau Server\data\tabsvc\dataengine. However there is really no need to know this exact location. If you don’t see the Program Data folder it is because it is usually hidden.

Question 111

The data in our database updates at irregular times. Can I somehow tie my extract refreshes to my database ETL process?

Answer 111

You can trigger a specific schedule to refresh using the tabcmd command line utility. We can set up a schedule on tableau server called ‘ETL’ (choose any interval, it won’t matter) and check the box to ‘disable’ it. Disabling it will tell tableau server to not run it on the interval specified within the schedule. We can still trigger this schedule to refresh whenever we want to using tabcmd. They can write a script that looks for a particular event on the database (such as the database update competing) and use that event to trigger a tableau batch file to refresh all extracts in the ‘ETL’ schedule.

Question 112

I don’t see the Scheduling button in the Publish Workbook window. What should I do?

Answer 112

This means that Scheduling had not been enabled on server yet. A System Admin on server must go to the Maintenance page and enable both ‘Embedded Credentials’ and ‘Scheduling’. After that is done, go back to desktop and choose Server->Log off before trying to publish again. Then next time to try to publish you will see the button.

Question 113

How do I determine which of my machines is the primary and secondary?

Answer 113

Tableau randomly chooses to make one or the other the primary or secondary, therefore, it is critical that you have equal computing power between your two server boxes.

Question 114

How long does it take for Tableau to switch to the backup if the primary machine fails?

Answer 114

It takes just a matter of minutes. The system will have to check to make sure the server has failed, and if multiple checks indicate that the server has failed, then Tableau switches over to the backup machine.

Question 115

Can content admins add users on their own?

Answer 115

Currently, no. This may change in future versions of Tableau.

Question 116

If I import a group from Active Directory, can it go to a specific site?

Answer 116

Yes.

Question 117

Can I add quotas to sites? E.g., I want a site to have only 7 users and 50 workbooks maximum?

Answer 117

No, you cannot specify quotas at this time.

Question 118

Can we use external storage for your data engine such as a SAN?

Answer 118

Data engine storage is integrated and managed by Tableau Server for performance reasons. The location of this storage is not configurable – it is installed in a specific directory on the same drive as the server software. The extract storage should not be a concern as the data will be compressed conservatively at a ratio of 5:1. Also, in version 7 the data extract file will be shared across workbooks, further minimizing the space required. There is also a report in Tableau Server to monitor the space used by extracts. We do give you the ability to designate one of the worker nodes in a distributed environment as the ‘Extract Host’. This worker node may contain faster drives for optimal performance. RAID 6 (block-level striping with double distributed parity) is recommended for high-availability environments. Over the years, Solid State Drives (SSDs) have continued to become more reliable. We recommend an enterprise SSD such as the Intel 710 series drives (eMLC/SLC for longer durability).

Question 119

We use IIS, WebLogic as our standard web server but Tableau uses Apache. Can we route traffic through IIS to your web server on a port other than 80?

Answer 119

Apache is part of our deployment and cannot be replaced however we do support embedding of Tableau Server in other web applications. You may choose to embed the Tableau server URL in another portal or site that is using IIS. However, you may not need to. The Tableau web server is completely self-contained, installed and managed by Tableau Server. As such, it is supported along with the Tableau Server software. If you experience any issues or have any questions regarding the web server, Tableau Support will assist you.Apache is the most widely used and trusted web server on the market. Source Netcraft via Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_server)

Question 120

What technologies are used on the client side of Tableau Server?

Answer 120

The client is pure HTML and javascript to support a variety of browsers. No Flash, no Silverlight.We use AJAX/HTML4We use HTML5 touch events in mobile. But typically this is browser supported rather than standard support (i.e., you can have a non html5 browser that supports touch and we’re OK as long as they’ve implemented it in the de facto way or used webkit.)Regarding client network traffic: All communication goes over port 80 (or 443 when using SSL). Technologies such as fiddler which monitor network traffic or tealeaf which records every action taken by a user in the browser can be used to analyze client-side interactions and traffic.

Question 121

Your standard guidelines cover up to 100 users but we will have far more than that. What do you recommend we deploy?

Answer 121

We have a performance guideline whitepaper with our performance benchmarks that will assist in sizing your environment. We typically look at the following factors impacting server sizing. • Number of concurrent users• Data volumes• Percentage of live connections vs. extract engine• Average report/viz complexity, low, medium or highSome of these questions you may not be able to answer upfront, so you may choose to deploy in a virtualized environment where you can easily add capacity as you add users. We also provide standard reports to monitor usage and performance of the server. You may have casual use at first and the need for more hardware as user adoption accelerates. General RAM guidelines are 4 GB RAM per Processor Core. A 16 core machine should have 64GB RAM.

Question 122

I published a data source to data server, and now I want to change a calculation. How might I reflect these changes in Data Server?

Answer 122

In desktop, simply right-click on the data source and select “Create Local Copy”. Once you’ve made your changes, simply right click on the data source, and republish it up to the server. Be sure to use the same name as before, so as to replace your data source.

Question 123

I blended multiple data sources in my workbook. Can I publish the blended data sources to Tableau Data Server?

Answer 123

You cannot publish them as you would publish a traditional data source. This is because data blending defines the blends at the workbook level, and the workbook level cannot be published up to Tableau Data Server. Therefore, instead of publishing your data source to Tableau Data Server, you would need to publish a .twb to Tableau Server, and connect to that instead. Now you can leverage your defined blends.

Question 124

I have data source in SQL server with multiple tables, and I now want to use that data source with Vertica. How might I change the connection to use Vertica?

Answer 124

We cannot change the data connection source. You would create a new data source to Vertica with your tables and joins, and use “Replace Data Source” in your reports to leverage the Vertica connection instead of SQL server.