Data Join Updates

Data Blending: Combining the data from two or more different sources is Data Blending. We can combine data between two more variety of sources such as Oracle, Excel, SQL Server and others.

Example: Combining the Oracle Table with SQL Server Table (OR) Combining Two Tables from Oracle Database (OR) Combining Two Sheets from Excel (OR) Combining Excel Sheet and Oracle Table and so on.

In Data Blending, each data source contains its own set of Dimensions and Measures.

Conceptually Tableau Architecture contains the following components:

Client or Source Data : OLTP, OLAP, Files, Multidimensional Data and others

Data Connectors : Tableau Fast Data Engine, SQL Connectors, MDX Connectors and Repository

Main components : Data Server, VizQL (Vizual Query Language) Server and Application Server

Gateway : Gateway and Load Balancer

Users or Clients : Desktop Clients, Mobile Clients and Web Users

Table calculations are mainly for YTD, MTD reports and other table based calculations. The purpose of YTD, MTD reports to know numbers at the current date levels, such as - SUM of the Sales as of today starting from the first day of the month. Tableau Table calculations comes with inbuilt functions. The following are some of the different inbuilt functions in Tableu Table Calculations:

RANK and INDEX are part of Table calculations in Tableau.

INDEX mainly deals with physical position of the record, incremental numbers are assigned based on the physical order of the records.

Example:

There are TWO types of data connections in Tableau. LIVE and EXTRACT (IN-MEMORY).

Live connection is for high volume data and send logic to data. Extract brings data in to memory, i.e Data to the logic.

There are no standard rules to decide on which connection to choose. Depending on the situation and resources, we must choose the connection type that helps to provide responsive report.

Quick Filter: Quick Filter Creates an interactive selection panel on the right top corner of the data view. We can implement Quick Filter on Dimensions or Measures. The interactive selection panel provides the options based on the source data.

Example: Quick Filer on Order Date with Yearly Consolidation provides list of YEARS available from SOURCE DATA for user selection.

Global Filter: Global Filter helps to share the same filter using the same source data across multiple (or) all worksheets within a workbook. We can apply global filter for all the work sheets using the same data (or) It can be applied to only selected worksheets.

Example: Filter with Complex calculation in one worksheet can be applied to some other worksheet which using the same source data to avoid repetetive work.

Geocoding :

Tableau FILLED and SYMBOL MAPS require Geocoding information to create a geographical map in the background. Longitude and Latitude information provides the ability to locate specific geographical locations. Tableau GENERATES latitude and longitude details in FILLED and SYMBOL MAPS. When Tableau is not able to get latitude and longitude information by default (or) If there is a need to use EXTERNAL GEOCODING file, Tableau provides the ability to IMPORT gecoding file with .CSV extension.

Creating Geocoding .csv File

Create a geocoding file with .csv extension in a folder by using the following format.

Workbooks (.twb)

Tableau workbook files have the .twb file extension. Workbooks hold one or more worksheets, plus zero or more dashboards and stories.
(Saves the all the sheets and their connection information in a workbook file. The data is not included.)

Packaged Workbooks (.twbx)

Tableau packaged workbooks have the .twbx file extension. A packaged workbook is a single zip file that contains a workbook along with any supporting local file data sources and background images. This format is the best way to package your work for sharing with others who don’t have access to the data.
(Saves all the sheets, their connection information and any local resources (e.g., local file data sources, background images, custom geocoding, etc.).

What is a Hierarchy ?

From Data Warehouse concepts point of view and Data Analytics point of view, Hierarchy is arrangement of UNIQUE ATTRIBUTES in LOGICAL ORDER.

Example: TIME can have YEAR, MONTH and DAY hierarchy (or) LOCATION can have COUNTRY, STATE and CITY hirarchy.

Relation between Drill downs, Roll ups and Hierarchies.

Drill downs and Roll ups are dependent on the Hierarchy unique attributes. In TIME hierarchy we can Drill down from YEAR to MONTH, MONTH to DAY. We can also roll up from DAY to MONTH, then MONTH to YEAR.

Tableau Actions

Using Actions we can create navigation between high level details to low level details to support analysis. This navigation can take place between worksheets (or) withing dashboard between worksheets (or) between two difference workbook.

Options in Tableau Actions

There three options to implement ACTIONS in TABLEAU.

* FILTER
* HIGHLIGHT
* URL

Tableau Actions Using FILTER

The FILTER option helps to navigate from source worksheet to target worksheet. One worksheet can carry high level details and the target worksheet can have detail level information in relation to the source worksheet.

Example: Source worksheet can have category level information and target worksheet can have category, subcateogry details. Upon selection of a category we can navigate to target worksheet to see sub-category level details.

Workbooks and sheets :

Trend Analysis :

Tableau Dektop 9.2 New Features ( Includes Tableau 9.2, 9.1, 9.0) :

Overview: Level of Detail Expressions