Tableau connectors

1. Tableau connectors

In this video, we'll take a look at the variety of sources you can connect to in Tableau, and how you can share your data. Let's get started!

2. Data connectors

Throughout this course, we have used the connector for Microsoft Excel and text (csv) files, but there are many other options to connect to data in Tableau Desktop. The four offerings of the Connect page are;

3. Data connectors

connecting to a Tableau Server, which will help you find data using an internal Tableau Server or Tableau Public Online,

4. Data connectors

connecting to a file, which allows you to open different file types like Excel or PDF files,

5. Data connectors

connecting to a server, where you'll see common server types like SQL Server and MySQL,

6. Data connectors

and finally, after you've connected to data, you can save the connections to have them show up under the Saved Data Sources section on the Connect pane.

7. Data connectors

Let's take a closer look at the different server types.

8. More data connectors

Tableau dedicated an engineering team to developing and maintaining a remarkable number of Connectors for popular data products across the industry. From Teradata and Snowflake to Google Analytics or Google Sheets, Tableau has provided native connectors to over 80 environments.

9. More data connectors

If the file or database type you need is not listed, it is likely that the broader connectors are available as labeled "Other Databases (JDBC)", and "Other Databases (ODBC)", or the "Web Data Connector".

10. Tableau Desktop vs Tableau Public

Note that the number of data sources you can connect to in Tableau Public is limited to Files and only two Server options. To unlock everything you'll need to buy a Tableau Desktop license.

11. Sharing your data

Once you have created your data model and refined it with appropriate filters, sharing this state of the data can be accomplished through saving it as a Data Source, which generates a file with a tds extension. Data source files are shortcuts for quickly connecting to the original data that you use often and have customized. Data source files do not contain the actual data but rather the information necessary to connect to the actual data as well as any modifications you've made on top of the actual data such as changing default properties, creating calculated fields, adding groups, and so on. Use this format if everyone who will use the data source has access to the underlying file or database defined in the connection information. Note that at the moment saving TDS files is only possible in Tableau Desktop not on Tableau Public. So you’ll have to purchase a license if you want to access this functionality.

12. Let's demo!

Let's see how to do this in Tableau!

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