Foreword xix
Introduction xxi
Part I Desktop 1
1 Creating Visual Analytics with Tableau Desktop 3
The Shortcomings of Traditional Information Analysis 4
The Business Case for Visual Analysis 4
Three Kinds of Data that Exist in Every Entity 5
How Visual Analytics Improves Decision-Making 5
Turning Data into Information with Visual Analytics 8
The Tableau Software Ecosystem 8
Tableau Desktop and Tableau Reader 8
Introducing the Tableau Desktop Workspace 14
Using the Workspace Controls Effectively 14
The Start Page and Data Connection Page 14
What You Need to Know about the Menu 18
Leveraging Toolbar Icons 20
The Data Window, Data Types, and Aggregation 22
Building Visualizations with the Row and Column Shelves 25
Number of Records, Measure Values, and Measure Names 26
Understanding Color in Icons and Pills 27
Using the View Cards to Identify Trends and Outliers 28
How the Status Bar Helps You Understand Visualizations 30
Saving Time by Using the Show Me Button 31
Notes 33
2 Connecting to Your Data 35
How to Connect to Your Data 35
Connecting to Desktop Sources 36
Connecting to Database Sources 37
Connecting to Public Datasources 38
What Are Generated Values? 39
Measure Names and Measure Values 40
Tableau Geocoding 41
Number of Records 42
Knowing When to Use a Direct Connection or a Data Extract 43
The Flexibility of Direct Connections 43
The Advantages of a Data Extract 44
Using Tableau’s File Types Effectively 45
Tableau Workbook Files 45
Tableau Packaged Workbooks 46
Tableau Datasource Files 46
Tableau Bookmark Files 47
Joining Database Tables with Tableau 47
The Default Inner Join 49
The Left and Right Join Types 50
Customizing Tableau’s Join Script 51
Blending Different Datasources in a Single Worksheet 54
When to Use Blending vs. Joins 54
How to Create a Data Blend 54
Factors that Affect the Speed of Your Data Connections 59
Your Personal Computer 59
Your Server Hardware 60
The Network 61
The Database 61
How to Deal with Data Quality Problems 61
Quick Solutions in Tableau 62
Correcting Your Source Data 63
Note 63
3 Building Your First Visualization 65
Fast and Easy Analysis via Show Me 65
How Show Me Works 66
Chart Types Provided by the Show Me Button 67
Text Tables (crosstabs) 67
Maps (Symbol and Filled) 68
Heat Maps, Highlight Tables, Treemaps 69
Bar Chart, Stacked Bar, Side-by-Side Bars 69
Line Charts For Time Series Analysis 70
Area Fill Charts and Pie Charts 71
Scatter Plot, Circle View, and Side-by-Side Circle Plots 72
Bullet Graph, Packed Bubble, Histogram, and
Gantt Charts 72
Trend Lines and Reference Lines 74
Adding Trendlines and Reference Lines to Your Charts 76
Trend Lines 76
Reference Lines 76
Why the Concept of Scope is Important 78
Changing the Scope of Trend Lines 79
Sorting Data in Tableau 81
Manual Sorting via Icons 81
Calculated Sorts Using the Sort Menu 83
Enhancing Views with Filters, Sets, Groups, and Hierarchies 84
Making Hierarchies to Provide Drill-Down Capability 84
Creating and Using Filters 86
Creating a Filter with the Filter Shelf 86
Grouping Dimensions 90
How Tableau Uses Date Fields 97
Tableau’s Date Hierarchy 99
Rearranging Time with Tableau 100
Creating Customized Date Fields 101
Taming Data with Measure Names and Values 102
Notes 107
4 Creating Calculations to Enhance Your Data 109
What is Aggregation? 110
Count Distinct Versus Count 110
Median 111
Dimension versus Attribute 111
What Are Calculated Values and Table Calculations? 112
How Do Calculated Values Work? 113
How Do Table Calculations Work? 114
A Word on Calculations and Cubes 115
Using the Calculation Dialog Box to Create
Calculated Values 115
Field Selection 117
Function Selection 117
Parameter Selection 117
Building Formulas Using Table Calculations 118
Editing Table Calculations to Suit Your Purpose 120
Understanding Table Calculation Behavior 122
Customizing Table Calculations 123
Secondary Table Calculations 125
Using Table Calculation Functions 128
Adding Flexibility to Calculations with Parameters 129
What are Basic Parameters? 130
What Are Advanced Parameters? 132
Using the Function Reference Appendix 135
Notes 136
5 Using Maps to Improve Insight 137
Creating a Standard Map View 138
How Tableau Geocodes Your Data 140
Typical Map Errors and How to Deal With Them 142
Plotting Your Own Locations on a Map 144
Adding Custom Geocoding to Your Datasource 144
Importing Custom Geocoding into Tableau 145
Using Custom Geographic Units in a Map 146
Replacing Tableau’s Standard Maps 149
Why Replace Tableau’s Standard Maps? 149
Replacing Tableau’s Standard Maps to
Enhance Information 150
Using Custom Background Images to Plot Spatial Data 152
Why Are Non-Standard Plots Useful? 152
The Steps Required to Build a Custom Spatial Plot 152
Positioning Marks on a Non-Standard Map 153
Publishing Workbooks with Non-Standard Geographies 156
Shaping Data to Enable Point-to-Point Mapping 157
Animating Maps Using the Pages Shelf or Slider Filters 159
Notes 160
6 Developing an Ad Hoc Analysis Environment 161
Generating New Data with Forecasts 162
How Tableau Creates Forecasts 162
Providing Self-Service Ad Hoc Analysis with Parameters 166
What Are Parameters? 167
How Can Parameters Be Used? 167
Basic Parameter Controls 167
Advanced Parameter Controls 171
Editing Views in Tableau Server 175
Note 176
7 Tips, Tricks, and Timesavers 177
Saving Time and Improving Formatting 177
Double-Click Fields to Build Faster 177
Reduce Clicks using the Right-Mouse Button Drag 179
Quick Copy Fields with Control-Drag 179
Replace Fields by Dropping the New Field on Top 180
Right-Click to Edit or Format Anything 181
Editing or Removing Titles from Axis Headings 181
Speed Up Your Presentation Page Views 182
A Faster Way to Access Field Menu Options 183
Improving Appearance to Convey Meaning
More Precisely 184
Changing the Appearance of Dates 184
Formatting Tooltip Content 185
Change the Order of Color Expressed in Charts to
Compare Related Values more Easily 185
Exposing a Header in a One-Column Crosstab to
Add Meaning and Save Space 186
Unpacking a Packaged Workbook
File (.twbx) 187
Make a Parameterized Axis Label 187
Using Continuous Quick Filters for Ranges of Values 188
Create Your Own Custom Date Hierarchy 189
Assemble Your Own Custom Fields 190
Let Tableau Build Your Actions 191
Formatting Table Calculation Results 192
When to Use Floating Objects in Dashboards 195
Customizing Shapes, Colors, Fonts, and Images 196
Customizing Shapes 196
Customizing Colors 198
Customizing Fonts 199
Customizing Images in Dashboards 200
Advanced Chart Types 201
Bar in Bar Chart 201
Box Plots 202
Pareto Charts 204
Sparklines 207
Bullet Graphs 208
8 Bringing It All Together with Dashboards 211
How Dashboard Facilitates Analysis and Understanding 211
How Tableau Improves the Dashboard-Building Process 212
The Wrong Way to Build a Dashboard 213
The Right Way to Build a Dashboard 215
Best Practices for Dashboard Building 216
Size the Dashboard to Fit the Worst-Case Available Space 216
Employ 4-Pane Dashboard Designs 217
Use Actions to Filter Instead of Quick Filters 218
Build Cascading Dashboard Designs to
Improve Load Speeds 219
Limit the Use of Color to One Primary Color Scheme 219
Use Small Instructions Near the Work to Make Navigation Obvious 220
Filter Information Presented in Crosstabs to Provide Relevant Details-on-Demand 221
Remove All Non-Data-Ink 223
Avoid One-Size-Fits-All Dashboards 223
Work to Achieve Dashboard Load Times of Less
than Ten Seconds 223
Building Your First Advanced Dashboard 224
Introducing the Dashboard Worksheet 224
Defining the Dashboard Size 227
Position the Worksheet Objects in the Dashboard Workspace 227
Using Layout Containers to Position Objects 231
Positioning and Fitting the Dashboard Objects 234
Using Actions to Create Advanced Dashboard Navigation 245
Embedding a Live Website in a Dashboard 254
Adding Details on Demand with Tooltips 262
Sharing Your Dashboard with Tableau Reader 266
Security Considerations for Publishing via
Tableau Reader 266
Sharing Dashboards with Tableau Online or Tableau Server 267
Designing for Mobile Consumption 268
The Physics of Mobile Consumption 268
Security Considerations for Mobile Consumption 269
Typical Mobile Usage Patterns 269
Using the Tableau Performance Recorder to Improve Load Speed 278
Notes 279
Part II Tableau Server 281
9 Installing Tableau Server 283
The Reasons to Deploy Tableau Server 284
Data Governance 284
Efficiency 284
Flexibility 285
Licensing Options for Tableau Server and Tableau Online 286
Determining Your Hardware and Software Needs 286
Determining What Kind of Server License to Purchase 287
Tableau Server’s Architecture 288
Sizing the Server Hardware 289
Environmental Factors That Can Affect Performance 290
Configuring Tableau Server for the First Time 291
General: Server Run As User 291
General: User Authentication and Active Directory 292
Setting-up Security Rights 294
Enabling Row-Level Security via Filters 296
When and How to Deploy Server on Multiple
Physical Machines 300
Deploying Tableau Server in High Availability
Environments 301
The Three Node Cluster 301
The Four Node Cluster 302
Leverage Existing Security with Trusted Authentication 303
Deploying Tableau Server in
Multi-National Entities 306
Using Performance Recorder to Improve Performance 307
Timeline Gantt Chart 308
The Events Sorted by Time 309
Query Text 309
Performance-tuning Tactics 309
Managing Tableau Server in the Cloud 311
What Does it Mean to be in the Cloud? 311
Tableau’s Cloud-Based Versions of Server 311
Putting Tableau Server In The Cloud 312
Monitoring Activity on Tableau Server 313
The Status Section 314
The Analysis Section 314
The Activities Section 314
The Settings Section 315
Notes 315
10 Using Tableau Server to Facilitate Fact-Based Team Collaboration 317
Publishing Dashboards in Tableau Server 317
Project 319
Name 319
Tags 319
View Permissions 319
Views to Share 320
Options 320
Organizing Reports for Consumption 321
Adding Tags to Workbooks 322
Creating a Favorite 323
Options for Securing Reports 325
The Application Layer 325
Defining Custom Roles 326
A Permission-Setting Example 328
Improve Efficiency with the Data Server 330
Incremental Updates 335
Consuming Information in Tableau Server 335
Finding Information 336
Sharing Comments and Views 338
Customized Views 339
Authoring and Editing Reports via Server 340
What Is Required to Author Reports on the Web? 340
Server Design and Usage Considerations Related to
Web and Tablet Authoring 341
Differences between Desktop and Web or Tablet
Authoring 341
Saving and Exporting via the Web-Tablet Environment 346
Recommendations for Implementing
Web-Tablet Authoring 347
Sharing Connections, Data Models, and Data Extracts 348
Offering a Common Data Library 348
Sharing Data Models 348
Inheritance of Updates 349
Embedding Tableau Reports Securely on the Web 349
When to Embed a Dashboard 349
How to Embed a Dashboard 350
Tips and Tricks for Embedding Dashboards 352
Using Subscriptions to Deliver Reports via E-mail 354
Administrators Subscription Management 355
Creating Subscription Schedules 355
Notes 356
11 Automating Server with Tableau’s Command Line Tools 357
What do tabcmd and tabadmin do? 357
Installing the Command Line Tools 358
Setting the Windows Path 360
What Kinds of Tasks Can Be
Done with Tabcmd? 361
Learning to Leverage Tabcmd 362
Manually Entering and Running a Script in Tabcmd 363
Running Tabcmd Scripts Via Batch Files 364
Common Use Cases for Tabcmd 368
Retrieving Forecast Data from Workbooks 368
Manage Data Governance Via Tabcmd 368
Using Tabadmin for Administrative Task Automation 368
Starting Tableau Server 369
Part III Case Studies 371
12 Use Cases for Rapid-Fire Visual Analytics 373
Rapid-Fire Analysis at a Public Utility 373
Aggregating Disparate Datasources at a Large University 375
Getting Started with Tableau 375
Prototype Report Development 375
Leveraging Tableau Further 376
Tepper’s Outcome and Example Dashboards 376
Analysis in a Major Railway Logistics Team 378
Modalgistics Does Transportation Research 379
How Modalgistics Uses Tableau 379
The Outcome for Modalgistics 381
Quality Metrics in a Hospital 382
Obamacare and Medicare Reimbursements 382
How Tableau Was Used to Analyze VBP 383
Southern Maine’s Outcome 386
Planning for a Successful Tableau Deployment at ACT 386
Value Drivers for ACT 386
Building User Base Interest and Skill 387
A Properly Staged Evaluation and Roll Out 387
How ACT Uses Tableau 388
Ensuring Sustainability 388
Employing Visual Analytics to Aid Succession Planning 389
A Framework for Spurring Effective Conversation
and Action 389
Providing Progressive Information for Succession Planning 390
Part IV Appendices 393
A Understanding and Using Tableau Functions 395
B Tableau Data Shaper Excel Plug-In 475
C Companion Website 479
D Glossary 481
Index 493