Integrations → Tableau for SQLi

About Tableau

Tableau is desktop software for creating interactive data visualizations and dashboards. Tableau Desktop allows you to quickly connect, visualize, and share data with a seamless experience from virtually anywhere. With the Tableau Connector SDK, the Incorta Connector has been built to connect Tableau to Incorta using a JDBC driver. With the Tableau JDBC Capabilities Customizations Reference, the connector has been further customized with respect to how it generates and executes SQL.

Enable the Tableau External Integration Instructions

To display the Tableau external integration instructions within Incorta, the Cluster Management Console (CMC) Administrator must enable Tableau in the CMC with the following steps:

Enable the Tableau External Integration Instructions for the Default Tenant Configuration

Here are the steps to enable the Tableau external integration instructions for the Default Tenant Configuration:

Sign in to the CMC.
In the Navigation bar, select Clusters.
In the cluster list, select a Cluster name.
In the canvas tabs, select Cluster Configurations.
In the panel tabs, select Default Tenant Configurations.
In the left pane, select External Visualization Tools.
In the right pane, enable Tableau.
Select Save.

Enable the Tableau External Integration Instructions for a Tenant Configuration

Here are the steps to enable the Tableau external integration instructions for a specific tenant:

Sign in to the CMC.
In the Navigation bar, select Clusters.
In the cluster list, select a Cluster name.
In the canvas tabs, select Tenants.
For the given tenant, select Configure.
In the left pane, select External Visualization Tools.
In the right pane, enable Tableau.
Select Save.

View the Tableau External Integration Instructions

Here are the steps to view the Tableau external integration instructions within Incorta:

Sign in to the Incorta Direct Data Platform™.
In the Navigation bar, select Content.
In the Action bar, select + New → Connect other Visualization Tools.
In the Connect other Visualization Tools page, select Tableau to view the procedure.

External Integration for Tableau

The Incorta Connector for Tableau uses the PostgreSQL JDBC v42.2.1 driver. This version of the driver supports how the Incorta SQLi interface implements the PostgreSQL protocol for external integrations.

Tableau Connector Deployment Steps

Install the Postgres JDBC Driver

Here are the steps to install the Postgres JDBC driver on Windows or macOS:

Download the Postgres JDBC Driver JAR (postgresql-42.2.1.jar) from the Tableau Extensions Gallery.
Place the JAR file in the folder for your operating system as shown below:
Windows: C:\Program Files\Tableau\Drivers
macOS: /Users/[user]/Library/Tableau/Drivers

Install the Tableau Connector (TACO) File

Download the TACO file from the Tableau Extensions Gallery. There are differing steps for installing the TACO file on Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server.

Install the TACO file on Tableau Desktop

Here are the steps to install the TACO file on Tableau Desktop for Windows or macOS:

Copy the packaged connector file with the .taco filename extension into the folder for your operating system as shown below:
Windows: C:\Users\[Windows User]\Documents\My Tableau Repository\Connectors
macOS: /Users/[user]/Documents/My Tableau Repository/Connectors
Open Tableau Desktop.

Note

This step is built into Tableau Desktop version 2021.1 and later, which means you no longer need to manually install the TACO file.

Install the TACO file on Tableau Server

Here are the steps for the Tableau Administrator to install the TACO file on Tableau Server:

Option 1: Single Node

Copy your .taco file into [Your Tableau Server Install Directory]/data/tabsvc/vizqlserver/Connectors. On a default install, this will be in the ProgramData folder. For example, C:\ProgramData\Tableau\Tableau Server\data\tabsvc\vizqlserver\Connectors.
Restart your server.

Option 2: Multiple Node

Create a directory for Tableau Connectors. This needs to be the same path on each machine. For example, C:\tableau_connectors.
Copy your packaged connector file (with a .taco filename extension) into the folder your created on each node.
Set the native_api.connect_plugins_path option. For example:
```
tsm configuration set -k native_api.connect_plugins_path -v C:/tableau_connectors
```
If you get a configuration error during this step, try adding the --force-keys option to the end of the command.
Apply the pending configuration changes. This restarts the server.
```
tsm pending-changes apply
```