Transactions by active subscribers formulae in Tableau

This blog returns back from the dead (dormant?) with a quick note-to-self on how to do something that sounds simple but proved slightly complicated in practice, using Tableau. Here's a scenario, although many others would fit the same pattern. Imagine you have a business that is subscription based, where people can subscribe and cancel whenever … Continue reading Transactions by active subscribers formulae in Tableau →

Actually you can use variables, CTEs and other fancy SQL with Tableau after all

A few months ago, I blogged about how you can use Tableau parameters when connecting to many database datasources in order to exert the same sort of flexibility that SQL coders can build into their queries using SQL variables. This was necessary because Tableau does not let you use SQL variables, common table expressions, temp table creation … Continue reading Actually you can use variables, CTEs and other fancy SQL with Tableau after all →

Future features coming to Tableau 10.2 and beyond – that they didn’t blog about

Having slowly de-jetlagged from this year's (fantastic and huge) Tableau conference, I'd settled down to write up my notes regarding the always-thrilling "what new features are on the cards?" sessions, only to note that Tableau have already done a pretty good job of summarising it on their own blog here, here and here. There's little point … Continue reading Future features coming to Tableau 10.2 and beyond – that they didn’t blog about →

Remember the exciting new features Tableau demoed at #data15 – have we got them yet?

As we get closer towards the thrills of this year's Tableau Conference (#data16), I wanted to look back at one of the most fun parts of the last year's conference - the "devs on stage" section. That's the part where Tableau employees announce and demonstrate some of the new features that they're working on. No guarantees are made as to whether they'll … Continue reading Remember the exciting new features Tableau demoed at #data15 – have we got them yet? →

Workaround for the Tableau “custom SQL” restriction on SQL Server variables

SQL Server (among other databases) has a handy feature for easy re-use of queries, in the guise of variables. You can declare variables and use them repeatedly in any query in the current session. That's pretty handy for any complicated query forms you use repeatedly, where each time you might need to change some basic criteria. As … Continue reading Workaround for the Tableau “custom SQL” restriction on SQL Server variables →

A few notes on Tableau 10’s cross-database join feature

The new version of Tableau, number 10, got released whilst I was busy sunning myself on holiday. This mean there was at least something to look forward to in returning to the world of work 🙂 It has many, many new features. I suspect one of the most impactful, in this era of data lying around everywhere … Continue reading A few notes on Tableau 10’s cross-database join feature →

Creating my first Tableau web data connector : part 3

At last, the final part of the trials and tribulations of creating my first Tableau Web Data Connector... Part 1 went through the pre-requisites, and building what I might generously term my "user interface". Part 2 was a struggle against the forces of web security. And in this part, we battle against the data itself, until the error-message … Continue reading Creating my first Tableau web data connector : part 3 →

Creating my first Tableau web data connector – part 2

Now for the next part of the creating-a-web-data-connector journey: previously, I had got all the software I needed to create a web data connector installed (well, to be fair Notepad comes with Windows so that wasn't hard) and designed my user interface. Now it was time to move on to Tableau tutorial section 5 - … Continue reading Creating my first Tableau web data connector – part 2 →

The Tableau #MakeoverMonday doesn’t need to be complicated

For a while, a couple of key members of the insatiably effervescent Tableau community, Andy Cotgreave and Andy Kriebel, have been running a "Makeover Monday" activity. Read more and get involved here - but a simplistic summary would be that they distribute a nicely processed dataset on a topic of the day that relates to someone else's existing visualisation, and all the rest … Continue reading The Tableau #MakeoverMonday doesn’t need to be complicated →

Creating my first Tableau web data connector – the highs and the lows: part 1

After having successfully (enough) completed my introduction to creating a real live Tableau web data connector, I wanted to follow the lead of one of the inspirations for this otherwise unnecessary effort - Chris Love's Persiscope on the subject of sharing Tableau-related failure as well as unbridled success - and document something about the less smooth aspects of … Continue reading Creating my first Tableau web data connector – the highs and the lows: part 1 →