WEB DATA CONNECTORS

Atlanta Tableau User Group

February, 2017
C.J. Jaskoll
linkedin.com/in/cjaskoll
WHAT IS IT?

The Tableau Web Data

Connector (WDC) is
essentially the Extract API
embedded directly into
Tableau Desktop with
javascript used as the
wrapper to send data to it -
Slalom Consulting
 DEMO
(CONNECT TO A BASIC WDC)
 VERSION HISTORY
Tableau Version WDC Version Year Notes

9.1.5-
1.1.0 June, 2015 Introduction
9.2.3-
9.1.6+
1.1.1 Feb, 2016 Released to Github
9.2.4+

9.3.0+ 1.1.1 July, 2016 v9.3 Released

multiple table support;
10.0.0+ 2.0.5 July, 2016
signal gathering data
standard connections,
10.1.0+ 2.1.0 Nov, 2016 progress reporting
STRONG COMMUNITY SUPPORT
• Sample of community-created connectors:

• a)

• b) &

• c)

• d) Explore the links on the final slide

 WDC DEVELOPMENT
CONCEPTS
• SDK, GitHub, & Samples

• Simulator, Chrome Developer Tools, JSONView,

& Error Handling

• Refresh Limitations, Parameters, & Workarounds

• JSON, CORS, Custom Maps, & HexaBins

WDC LIFECYCLE (VER 2+)

• Source: http://tableau.github.io/webdataconnector/docs/wdc_phases
 BUILDING YOUR OWN WDC
IS EASY…

• Start with a published example

• Remember the Lifecycle

• My Example Uses

• Sports Data

• Customs Maps

• Hexabin/Hexagon Mapping
 DEMO
(BUILDING YOUR FIRST WDC)
 UPCOMING FEATURES
• New Metadata APIs - Tell Tableau if your column is a
dimension, a measure, discrete, continuous, a State, a Zip
Code, an oddly formatted currency, and more!
• Clearer Authentication - Tell Tableau what your auth type is
and when your connector has authentication needs.
• Whitelisting functionality on Tableau Server - you are no
longer forced to use tabadmin import_webdataconnector.
• All new samples.
• A new community portal to browse community built
connectors.
• MORE…
• Code
LINKS
• Version 1.1 https://github.com/tableau/webdataconnector

• Version 2.0 http://tableau.github.io/webdataconnector/

• Build Your Own - https://tableau.github.io/webdataconnector/docs/wdc_tutorial

• Importing to Server https://onlinehelp.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/datasource_wdc.htm

• Examples

• Community Portal https://community.tableau.com/thread/178865

• Official List of Samples https://community.tableau.com/community/developers/web-data-connectors

• Unofficial List https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/listing-all-available-tableau-web-data-connectors-so-far-beck

• Advanced Topics

• WDC Generator https://www.eric.pe/terson/engineers/a-tableau-web-data-connector-generator

• Tableau Junkie http://tableaujunkie.com/

• Hexagonal Binning http://kb.tableau.com/articles/knowledgebase/hexagonal-binning-pitch-data

• Joshua Milligan’s V.10 Features (Clustering, Device Formatting) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIXMnZkNofY

 GLOSSARY
• Internal web services (piece of software that makes itself available over the
internet and uses a standardized XML messaging system)

• JSON data (JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for

structuring data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and
web application, as an alternative to XML.)

• XML (markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents
in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.)

• REST APIs (It relies on a stateless, client-server, cacheable communications

protocol -- and in virtually all cases, the HTTP protocol is used. REST is an
architecture style for designing networked )

• CORS - Cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) is a mechanism that allows

restricted resources (e.g. fonts) on a web page to be requested from
another domain outside the domain from which the resource originated.

• API (JS vs REST vs CLIENT API)