Tableau Your Data!: Fast and Easy Visual Analysis with Tableau Software

736 Pages·2016·34.44 MB·English

by  Dan Murray

About the Author Page: v
About the Technical Editor Page: vii
Credits Page: ix
Acknowledgments Page: xi
Contents Page: xv
Introduction Page: xxv
Part I: Desktop Page: 1
Chapter 1: Creating Visual Analytics with Tableau Desktop Page: 3
The Shortcomings of Traditional Information Analysis Page: 4
The Business Case for Visual Analysis Page: 5
Three Kinds of Data That Exist in Every Entity Page: 5
How Visual Analytics Improves Decision Making Page: 6
Turning Data into Information with Visual Analytics Page: 8
Analysis as a Creative Process Page: 8
Tableau’s Desktop Tools Page: 9
Tableau Desktop Personal Edition Page: 9
Professional Edition Page: 9
Tableau File Types Page: 9
Tableau Reader Page: 11
Tableau Online Help Page: 11
Introducing the Tableau Desktop Workspace Page: 11
New Workspace Design Page: 11
Using the Start Page Controls Effectively Page: 12
The Start Page Page: 12
The Tableau Desktop Workspace Page: 17
Summary Page: 41
Chapter 2: Connecting to Your Data Page: 43
What You Will Learn in This Chapter Page: 43
How to Connect to Your Data Page: 44
Connecting to Desktop Sources Page: 45
Understanding the Connect Page Page: 47
What Are Generated Values? Page: 57
Knowing When to Use a Direct Connection or a Data Extract Page: 61
Using Tableau’s File Types Effectively Page: 63
Dealing with Data Shaping and Data Quality Page: 65
The Data Interpreter Page: 68
Chapter 3: Building Your First Visualization Page: 93
Fast and Easy Analysis via Show Me Page: 93
New Features Page: 94
How Show Me Works Page: 94
The Analytics Pane Page: 103
Sorting Data in Tableau Page: 118
Enhancing View with Filters, Sets, Groups, and Hierarchies Page: 121
How Tableau Uses Date Fields Page: 143
Chapter 4: Creating Calculations to Enhance Data Page: 155
What Is Aggregation? Page: 156
Dimension versus Attribute Page: 157
What Are Calculated Fields and Table Calculations? Page: 159
How Do Calculated Fields Work? Page: 159
Creating Calculated Fields with the Calculation Editor Page: 160
Performing Ad hoc Calculations Page: 161
How Do Table Calculations Work? Page: 161
A Word on Calculations and Cubes Page: 162
Using the Calculation Editor to Build Calculated Fields Page: 163
Ad hoc Calculated Fields Page: 164
Building Formulas Using Table Calculations Page: 166
Adding Flexibility to Calculations with Parameters Page: 177
Why You Should Learn Level of Detail Expressions Page: 183
Chapter 5: Using Maps to Page: 191
New Map Features Page: 192
Creating a Standard Map View Page: 192
How Tableau Geocodes Your Data Page: 195
Searching for Items in Maps Page: 197
Typical Map Errors and How to Deal With Them Page: 199
Plotting Your Own Locations on a Map Page: 200
Replacing Tableau’s Standard Maps Page: 205
Using Custom Background Images to Plot Spatial Data Page: 211
Notes Page: 219
Chapter 6: Developing an Ad Hoc Analysis Environment Page: 221
Data Discovery as a Creative Process Page: 221
Preparing Your Team for Success Page: 222
Qualities of a Good Data Analyst Page: 223
Doing Effective Discovery Work Page: 224
What IT Can Do to Help Page: 224
Spreading Discovery to Information Consumers Page: 225
Generating New Data with Forecasts Page: 225
Providing Self-Service Ad Hoc Analysis with Parameters Page: 231
What Are Parameters? Page: 231
How Can Parameters Be Used? Page: 231
Basic Parameter Controls Page: 232
Advanced Parameter Controls Page: 236
Editing Views in Tableau Server Page: 239
Chapter 7: Tips, Tricks, and Timesavers Page: 243
Saving Time and Improving Formatting Page: 243
Double-Click Fields to Build Faster Page: 243
Reduce Clicks Using the Right Mouse Button Drag Page: 245
Quick Copy Fields with Control-Drag Page: 246
Replace Fields by Dropping the New Field on Top Page: 246
Right-Click to Edit or Format Anything Page: 247
Editing or Removing Titles from Axis Headings Page: 247
Quicken Your Presentation Page Views Page: 248
A Faster Way to Access Field Menu Options Page: 250
Zooming the Formula Dialog Box Page: 250
Drag a Field into the Formula Dialog box Page: 250
Swap Data in Pane and Reference Line Fields Page: 251
Improving Appearance to Convey Meaning More Precisely Page: 251
Changing the Appearance of Dates Page: 251
Formatting Tooltip Content Page: 252
Change the Order of Color Expressed in Charts Page: 252
Exposing a Header in a One-Column Text Table Page: 253
Unpacking a Packaged Workbook File Page: 255
Make a Parameterized Axis Label Page: 255
Using Continuous Quick Filters for Ranges of Values Page: 256
Create Your Own Custom Date Hierarchy Page: 256
Concatenating to Make Custom Fields Page: 258
Using Legends to Build Highlight Actions Page: 258
Formatting Null Value Results Page: 260
When to Use Floating Objects in Dashboards Page: 264
Combined Axis Shading in a Scatter Plot Page: 266
Creating Folders to Hold Fields Page: 268
Customizing Shapes, Colors, Fonts, and Images Page: 269
Customizing Shapes Page: 269
Customizing Colors Page: 271
Customizing Fonts Page: 272
Customizing Images in Dashboards Page: 273
Advanced Chart Types Page: 274
Bar-in-Bar Chart Page: 274
Pareto Charts Page: 275
Sparklines Page: 280
Bullet Graphs Page: 281
Chapter 8: Bringing It All Together Page: 285
How Dashboards Facilitate Analysis and Understanding Page: 285
How Tableau Improves the Dashboard-Building Process Page: 286
The Wrong Way to Build a Dashboard Page: 287
The Right Way to Build a Dashboard Page: 289
Best Practices for Dashboard Building Page: 290
Size the Dashboard to Fit the Worst-Case Available Space Page: 291
Employ Four-Pane Dashboard Designs Page: 291
Use Actions to Filter Instead of Quick Filters Page: 293
Build Cascading Dashboard Designs to Improve Load Speeds Page: 293
Limit the Use of Color to One Primary Color Scheme Page: 294
Use Small Instructions Near the Work to Make Navigation Obvious Page: 295
Filter Information Presented in Crosstabs to Provide Relevant Details-on-Demand Page: 296
Remove All Non-Data-Ink Page: 298
Avoid One-Size-Fits-All Dashboards Page: 298
Work to Achieve Dashboard Load Times of Less Than Ten Seconds Page: 299
Building Your First Advanced Dashboard Page: 299
Introducing the Dashboard Worksheet Page: 299
Position the Worksheet Objects in the Dashboard Workspace Page: 304
Using Layout Containers to Position Objects Page: 308
Positioning the Select Year Text Table and Legends Page: 311
Inserting and Moving Text Objects Page: 312
Positioning and Fitting the Dashboard Objects Page: 315
Ensure That Each Worksheet Object Fits Its Entire View Page: 316
Create More Descriptive Titles for Each Data Pane Page: 317
Improving the Bullet Graph and Sparkline Charts Page: 318
Improving the Text Tables and Scatter Plot Page: 326
Using Actions to Create Advanced Dashboard Navigation Page: 328
Using the Select Year Text Table to Filter the Main Dashboard Page: 329
Adding a Column Heading to Select Year Page: 331
Adding Dynamic Title Content Page: 332
Auto-Generating Highlight Actions from Legends Page: 333
Understanding the Action Dialog Box Page: 336
Embedding a Live Website in a Dashboard Page: 340
Assemble Dashboard 2 Page: 345
Adding Details on Demand with Tooltips Page: 354
Enhancing Tooltips and Titles Page: 356
Adding a Read Me Dashboard Page: 358
Bonus: Adding a Floating Dashboard Object Page: 359
Finishing the Titles in the Main Dashboard Page: 363
Sharing Your Dashboard with Tableau Reader Page: 364
Security Considerations for Publishing via Tableau Reader Page: 365
Using the Tableau Performance Recorder to Improve Load Speed Page: 366
Sharing Dashboards with Tableau Online or Tableau Server Page: 367
Chapter 9: Designing for Mobile Page: 369
The Physics of Mobile Consumption Page: 370
Security Considerations for Mobile Consumption Page: 370
Offline Access Page: 371
Typical Mobile Usage Patterns Page: 373
Just-In-Time Use Page: 373
Mobile Design Implications Page: 374
Design Best Practices for Mobile Consumption Page: 374
Design Implications Related to Screen Resolution Page: 375
Best Practices for Mobile Design Page: 375
Design for a Specific Orientation Page: 375
Consider the Limits of Finger Navigation Page: 375
Reduce the Number of Worksheets Being Displayed Page: 378
A Tablet Dashboard Example Page: 378
Mobile Authoring and Editing Page: 382
A Note on Project Elastic Page: 383
Chapter 10: Conveying Your Findings Page: 385
Turning Analysis into Insight Page: 385
Building a Story Page: 386
The Story Workspace Page: 387
A Story Example Page: 389
Formatting Story Points Page: 390
Sharing Your Story Point Deck Page: 391
Part II: Server Page: 393
Chapter 11: Installing Tableau Server Page: 395
What’s New in Version 9? Page: 396
Reasons to Deploy Tableau Server Page: 397
Data Governance Page: 398
Efficiency Page: 398
Flexibility Page: 399
Licensing Options for Tableau Server and Tableau Online Page: 399
Determining Your Hardware and Software Needs Page: 399
New Feature: Persistent Query Cache Page: 401
Determining What Kind of Server License to Purchase Page: 401
Tableau Server’s Architecture Page: 402
Sizing the Server Hardware Page: 403
A Scale-Up Scenario Page: 404
A Scale-Out Scenario Page: 404
Environmental Factors That Can Affect Performance Page: 405
Network Performance Page: 405
Browser Page: 405
Resource Contention Page: 405
Configuring Tableau Server for the First Time Page: 405
General Setup Menu Tab Page: 406
General: Run as User, User Authentication, and Active Directory Page: 407
General: Gateway Port Number Page: 408
General: Open Port in Windows Firewall Page: 408
General: Include Sample Data and Users Page: 408
Data Connection Tab Page: 409
Alerts and Subscriptions Page: 410
Server Processes Page: 411
Security Options Page: 412
External Secure Sockets Layer Page: 414
SAML—Security Assertion Markup Language Page: 415
Kerberos—A Ticket-Based Security Protocol Page: 416
Managing Ownership Through Hierarchy Page: 417
Workbooks and Views Page: 417
User Page: 418
Project Page: 418
Group Page: 418
Site Page: 418
Permissions Page: 419
Permissions for Web Edit, Save, and Download Page: 420
Providing Data Security with User Filters Page: 421
Applying a User Filter to a Data Source Page: 424
Creating a Hybrid Filter from the Data Source Page: 425
What Is the Data Server? Page: 427
When and How to Deploy Server on Multiple Physical Boxes Page: 428
Deploying Tableau Server in High Availability Environments Page: 429
Three-Node Cluster Page: 429
Four-Node Cluster Page: 430
Leveraging Existing Security with Trusted Authentication Page: 432
Deploying Tableau Server in Multi-National Environments Page: 434
Tableau Server Performance Recorder Page: 436
Show Events Filter Page: 438
Timeline Gantt Chart Page: 439
Events Sorted by Time Page: 439
Query Text Page: 439
Performance-Tuning Tactics Page: 439
Query Execution Page: 439
Geocoding Page: 439
Connecting to the Data Source Page: 440
Layout Computations Page: 440
Generating Extract Page: 440
Blending Data Page: 441
Server Rendering Page: 441
Managing Tableau Server in the Cloud Page: 441
What Does It Mean to Be in the Cloud? Page: 441
Tableau’s Cloud-Based Versions of Server Page: 442
Putting Tableau Server in the Cloud Page: 443
Monitoring Activity on Tableau Server Page: 443
Status Section Page: 445
Analysis Section Page: 445
Log Files Section Page: 445
Rebuilt Search Index Section Page: 446
Editing Server Settings and Monitoring Licensing Page: 446
Server Settings General Page Page: 446
Server Setting License Page Page: 447
Partner Add-on Toolkits Page: 448
Chapter 12: Managing Tableau Server Page: 449
Managing Published Dashboards in Tableau Server Page: 449
Project Page: 451
Name Page: 452
Tags Page: 452
Views to Share Page: 452
Options Page: 452
Edit Page: 453
Navigating Tableau Server Page: 454
Organizing Reports for Consumption Page: 457
Adding Tags to Workbooks Page: 458
Creating a Favorite Page: 459
Options for Securing Reports Page: 461
The Application Layer Page: 461
Defining Custom Roles Page: 462
A Permission-Setting Example Page: 464
Improve Efficiency with the Data Server Page: 469
Publishing a Data Source Page: 469
Consuming Information in Tableau Server Page: 474
Finding Information Page: 475
Authoring and Editing Reports via Server Page: 480
What Is Required to Author Reports on the Web? Page: 480
Server Design and Usage Considerations Related to Web and Tablet Authoring Page: 481
Differences Between Desktop and Web or Tablet Authoring Page: 482
Saving and Exporting via the Web-Tablet Environment Page: 488
Export Page: 488
Save and Save As Page: 489
Recommendations for Implementing Web/Tablet Authoring Page: 489
Sharing Connections, Data Models, and Data Extracts Page: 490
Offering a Common Data Library Page: 490
Sharing Data Models Page: 490
Embedding Tableau Reports Securely on the Web Page: 491
When to Embed a Dashboard Page: 491
When Your Reports Are a Piece of a Larger SaaS Offering Page: 491
Providing a More Robust Environment Page: 492
How to Embed a Dashboard Page: 492
Further Control Using Passed Parameters Page: 494
Tips and Tricks for Embedding Dashboards Page: 494
Using Trusted Ticket Authentication as an Alternative Single Sign-on Method Page: 495
Using Subscriptions to Deliver Reports via E‑mail Page: 496
Creating Subscription Schedules Page: 496
Chapter 13: Automating Tableau Server Page: 501
Tableau Server’s APIs Page: 501
What Do tabcmd and tabadmin Do? Page: 502
Installing the Command-Line Tools Page: 502
Setting the Windows Path Page: 505
What Kind of Tasks Can Tabcmd Do? Page: 506
Learning to Leverage Tabcmd Page: 507
Manually Entering and Running a Script in Tabcmd Page: 508
Running Tabcmd Scripts Via Batch Files Page: 509
The Steps Required to Create Batch Processing Scripts Page: 509
Using Windows Scheduler to Fully Automate Scripts Page: 511
Common Use Cases for Tabcmd Page: 513
Automating Extracts with the Extract API Page: 515
Data Extract API Page: 515
Using the Extract API with Python Page: 517
Data Extract Command-Line Utility Page: 520
REST API Page: 521
Initial Transactions Page: 521
Part III: Case Studies Page: 527
Chapter 14: Ensuring a Successful Tableau Deployment Page: 529
Deploying Tableau—Lessons Learned Page: 529
Effective Use of Consultants Page: 529
Your Team’s Current Knowledge Page: 530
The Data Landscape Page: 530
The Tableau User Group at Cigna Page: 531
Taking Care of Vizness Page: 531
Resourcing Page: 532
Cadence Page: 532
Format Page: 533
Topics Page: 533
Effectiveness and Attendance Page: 534
Tracking Participation Page: 535
Success Page: 535
Part IV: Appendixes Page: 537
Appendix A: Tableau’s Product Ecosystem Page: 539
Tableau Desktop Page: 539
Tableau Server Page: 539
Tableau Online Page: 540
Tableau Public Page: 540
Tableau Reader Page: 541
Tableau Mobile Page: 541
Project Elastic Page: 541
Power Tools for Tableau Page: 541
Workbook Tools Page: 542
Workbook SDK Page: 542
Enterprise Deployment Page: 542
Remote for Tableau Page: 542
Appendix B: Supported Data Source Connections Page: 543
Windows Connections Page: 543
Mac OS X Connections Page: 545
Appendix C: Keyboard Shortcuts Page: 547
Appendix D: Recommended Hardware Configurations Page: 551
Tableau Desktop for Windows: Professional and Personal Editions Page: 551
Tableau Desktop for Mac OS X: Professional and Personal Editions Page: 552
Virtual Environments Page: 552
Tableau Server Page: 552
System Requirements Page: 552
Web Browsers Page: 552
Hardware Guidelines Page: 553
Multi-Node and Enterprise Deployments Page: 553
Tableau Server User Authentication and Security Page: 553
Virtual Environments Page: 554
Internationalization Page: 554
Appendix E: Understanding Tableau Functions Page: 555
Organization and Key for Appendix E Page: 556
What Is RAW SQL and Why Do You Need It? Page: 557
R Integration via Script Functions Page: 558
Other Specialized Functions Page: 558
Alphabetical Function List—Summary Page: 558
1. ABS Page: 561
2. ACOS Page: 562
3. AND Page: 563
4. ASCII Page: 563
5. ASIN Page: 564
6. ATAN Page: 565
7. ATAN2 Page: 565
8. ATTR Page: 566
9. AVG Page: 567
10. CASE Page: 567
11. CEILING Page: 568
12. CHAR Page: 569
13. CONTAINS Page: 569
14. COS Page: 570
15. COT Page: 571
16. COUNT Page: 571
17. COUNTD Page: 572
18. DATE Page: 572
19. DATEADD Page: 573
20. DATEDIFF Page: 574
21. DATENAME Page: 575
22. DATEPARSE Page: 576
23. DATEPART Page: 577
24. DATETIME Page: 578
25. DATETRUNC Page: 579
26. DAY Page: 579
27. DEGREES Page: 580
28. DIV Page: 580
29. DOMAIN Page: 581
30. ELSE Page: 581
31. ELSEIF Page: 582
32. END Page: 582
33. ENDSWITH Page: 583
34. EXCLUDE Page: 583
35. EXP Page: 583
36. FIND Page: 584
37. FINDNTH Page: 585
38. FIRST() Page: 585
39. FIXED Page: 586
40. FLOAT Page: 586
41. FLOOR Page: 587
42. FULLNAME() Page: 588
43. GET_JASON_OBJECT Page: 589
44. GROUP_CONCAT Page: 589
45. HEXBINX Page: 589
46. HEXBINY Page: 590
47. HOST Page: 590
48. IF Page: 590
49. IFNULL Page: 591
50. IIF Page: 591
51. INCLUDE Page: 592
52. INDEX() Page: 593
53. INT Page: 593
54. ISDATE Page: 594
55. ISFULLNAME() Page: 594
56. ISMEMBEROF() Page: 595
57. ISNULL Page: 596
58. ISUSERNAME() Page: 596
59. LAST() Page: 597
60. LEFT Page: 597
61. LEN Page: 598
62. LN Page: 598
63. LOG Page: 599
64. LOG2 Page: 599
65. LOOKUP Page: 599
66. LOWER Page: 600
67. LTRIM Page: 600
68. LTRIM_THIS Page: 601
69. MAKEDATE Page: 601
70. MAKEDATETIME Page: 601
71. MAKETIME Page: 602
72. MAX Page: 602
73. MEDIAN Page: 603
74. MID Page: 603
75. MIN Page: 604
76. MONTH Page: 605
77. NOT Page: 605
78. NOW Page: 606
79. OR Page: 606
80. PARSE_URL Page: 607
81. PARSE_URL_QUERY Page: 607
82. PERCENTILE Page: 608
83. PI Page: 608
84. POWER Page: 608
85. PREVIOUS_VALUE Page: 609
86. RADIANS Page: 609
87. RANK Page: 610
88. RANK_DENSE Page: 610
89. RANK_MODIFIED Page: 610
90. RANK_PERCENTILE Page: 611
91. RANK_UNIQUE Page: 611
92. RAWSQL_BOOL() Page: 612
93. RAWSQL_DATE() Page: 613
94. RAWSQL_DATETIME() Page: 613
95. RAWSQL_INT() Page: 614
96. RAWSQL_REAL() Page: 615
97. RAWSQL_STR() Page: 616
98. RAWSQLAGG_BOOL() Page: 617
99. RAWSQLAGG_DATE() Page: 618
100. RAWSQLAGG_DATETIME() Page: 619
101. RAWSQLAGG_INT() Page: 620
102. RAWSQLAGG_REAL() Page: 621
103. RAWSQLAGG_STR() Page: 621
104. REGEXP_EXTRACT Page: 622
105. REGEXP_EXTRACT_NTH Page: 623
106. REGEXP_MATCH Page: 624
107. REGEXP_REPLACE Page: 624
108. REPLACE Page: 625
109. RIGHT Page: 626
110. ROUND Page: 626
111. RTRIM Page: 627
112. RTRIM_THIS Page: 627
113. RUNNING_AVG Page: 627
114. RUNNING_COUNT Page: 628
115. RUNNING_MAX Page: 629
116. RUNNING_MIN Page: 630
117. RUNNING_SUM Page: 630
118. SCRIPT_BOOL Page: 632
119. SCRIPT_INT Page: 632
120. SCRIPT_REAL Page: 632
121. SCRIPT_STRING Page: 632
122. SIGN Page: 632
123. SIN Page: 633
124. SIZE() Page: 633
125. SPACE Page: 634
126. SPLIT Page: 635
127. SQRT Page: 635
128. SQUARE Page: 636
129. STARTSWITH Page: 636
130. STDEV Page: 637
131. STDEVP Page: 637
132. STR Page: 638
133. SUM Page: 638
134. TAN Page: 639
135. THEN Page: 639
136. TIMESTAMP_TO_USEC Page: 640
137. TLD Page: 640
138. TODAY Page: 640
139. TOTAL Page: 641
140. TRIM Page: 641
141. UPPER Page: 642
142. USEC_TO_TIMESTAMP Page: 642
143. USERDOMAIN Page: 642
144. USERNAME() Page: 643
145. VAR Page: 644
146. VARP Page: 645
147. WHEN Page: 645
148. WINDOW_AVG Page: 646
149. WINDOW_COUNT Page: 647
150. WINDOW_MAX Page: 648
151. WINDOW_MEDIAN Page: 649
152. WINDOW_MIN Page: 649
153. WINDOW_PERCENTILE Page: 650
154. WINDOW_STDEV Page: 651
155. WINDOW_STDEVP Page: 652
156. WINDOW_SUM Page: 652
157. WINDOW_VAR Page: 653
158. WINDOW_VARP Page: 654
159. XPATH_BOOLEAN Page: 655
160. XPATH_DOUBLE Page: 655
161. XPATH_FLOAT Page: 655
162. XPATH_INT Page: 655
163. XPATH_LONG Page: 655
164. XPATH_SHORT Page: 655
165. XPATH_STRING Page: 655
166. Year Page: 655
167. ZN Page: 656
Notes Page: 656
Appendix F Page: 657
Appendix F: Companion Website Page: 657
Sample Workbooks Page: 657
Video Training Files Page: 657
Feature Updates on New Tableau Releases Page: 657
Useful Web Resources Page: 658
Recommended Reading Page: 658
Glossary Page: 659
Index Page: 673