Tableau Your Data!, 2nd Edition

Tableau Your Data!, 2nd Edition

by Daniel G. Murray
Released January 2016
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781119001195

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Book description

Transform your organization's data into actionable insights with Tableau

Tableau is designed specifically to provide fast and easy visual analytics. The intuitive drag-and-drop interface helps you create interactive reports, dashboards, and visualizations, all without any special or advanced training. This all new edition of Tableau Your Data! is your Tableau companion, helping you get the most out of this invaluable business toolset.

Tableau Your Data! shows you how to build dynamic, best of breed visualizations using the Tableau Software toolset. This comprehensive guide covers the core feature set for data analytics, and provides clear step-by-step guidance toward best practices and advanced techniques that go way beyond the user manual. You'll learn how Tableau is different from traditional business information analysis tools, and how to navigate your way around the Tableau 9.0 desktop before delving into functions and calculations, as well as sharing with the Tableau Server.
Analyze data more effectively with Tableau Desktop

  • Customize Tableau's settings for your organization's needs with detailed real-world examples on data security, scaling, syntax, and more
  • Deploy visualizations to consumers throughout the enterprise - from sales to marketing, operations to finance, and beyond
  • Understand Tableau functions and calculations and leverage Tableau across every link in the value chain
  • Learn from actual working models of the book's visualizations and other web-based resources via a companion website

Tableau helps you unlock the stories within the numbers, and Tableau Your Data! puts the software's full functionality right at your fingertips.

Table of contents

  1. Titlepage
  2. Copyright
  3. About the Author
  4. About the Technical Editor
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Introduction: Overview of the Book and Technology
    1. How This Book Is Organized
    2. Who Should Read This Book?
    3. Tools You Will Need
    4. What's on the Companion Website?
    5. Summary
  7. Part I: Desktop
    1. Chapter 1: Creating Visual Analytics with Tableau Desktop
      1. The Shortcomings of Traditional Information Analysis
      2. The Business Case for Visual Analysis
      3. Tableau’s Desktop Tools
      4. Introducing the Tableau Desktop Workspace
      5. Summary
    2. Chapter 2: Connecting to Your Data
    3. Chapter 3: Building Your First Visualization
    4. Chapter 4: Creating Calculations to Enhance Data
      1. What Is Aggregation?
      2. What Are Calculated Fields and Table Calculations?
    5. Chapter 5: Using Maps to Improve Insight
      1. New Map Features
      2. Creating a Standard Map View
    6. Chapter 6: Developing an Ad Hoc Analysis Environment
      1. Data Discovery as a Creative Process
      2. Providing Self-Service Ad Hoc Analysis with Parameters
    7. Chapter 7: Tips, Tricks, and Timesavers
      1. Saving Time and Improving Formatting
      2. Customizing Shapes, Colors, Fonts, and Images
      3. Advanced Chart Types
    8. Chapter 8: Bringing It All Together with Dashboards
      1. How Dashboards Facilitate Analysis and Understanding
      2. How Tableau Improves the Dashboard-Building Process
      3. The Wrong Way to Build a Dashboard
      4. The Right Way to Build a Dashboard
      5. Building Your First Advanced Dashboard
      6. Sharing Your Dashboard with Tableau Reader
      7. Using the Tableau Performance Recorder to Improve Load Speed
      8. Sharing Dashboards with Tableau Online or Tableau Server
    9. Chapter 9: Designing for Mobile
      1. The Physics of Mobile Consumption
      2. Security Considerations for Mobile Consumption
      3. Offline Access
      4. Typical Mobile Usage Patterns
      5. Design Best Practices for Mobile Consumption
      6. A Tablet Dashboard Example
      7. Mobile Authoring and Editing
      8. A Note on Project Elastic
    10. Chapter 10: Conveying Your Findings with Stories
      1. Turning Analysis into Insight
      2. Building a Story
      3. Formatting Story Points
      4. Sharing Your Story Point Deck
  8. Part II: Server
    1. Chapter 11: Installing Tableau Server
      1. What’s New in Version 9?
      2. Reasons to Deploy Tableau Server
      3. Licensing Options for Tableau Server and Tableau Online
      4. Determining Your Hardware and Software Needs
      5. New Feature: Persistent Query Cache
      6. Determining What Kind of Server License to Purchase
      7. Tableau Server’s Architecture
      8. Sizing the Server Hardware
      9. Environmental Factors That Can Affect Performance
      10. Configuring Tableau Server for the First Time
      11. Security Options
      12. Managing Ownership Through Hierarchy
      13. Permissions
      14. What Is the Data Server?
      15. When and How to Deploy Server on Multiple Physical Boxes
      16. Deploying Tableau Server in High Availability Environments
      17. Leveraging Existing Security with Trusted Authentication
      18. Deploying Tableau Server in Multi-National Environments
      19. Tableau Server Performance Recorder
      20. Performance-Tuning Tactics
      21. Managing Tableau Server in the Cloud
      22. Monitoring Activity on Tableau Server
      23. Editing Server Settings and Monitoring Licensing
      24. Partner Add-on Toolkits
    2. Chapter 12: Managing Tableau Server
      1. Managing Published Dashboards in Tableau Server
      2. Navigating Tableau Server
      3. Organizing Reports for Consumption
      4. Options for Securing Reports
      5. Improve Efficiency with the Data Server
      6. Consuming Information in Tableau Server
      7. Authoring and Editing Reports via Server
      8. What Is Required to Author Reports on the Web?
      9. Saving and Exporting via the Web-Tablet Environment
      10. Sharing Connections, Data Models, and Data Extracts
      11. Embedding Tableau Reports Securely on the Web
      12. When Your Reports Are a Piece of a Larger SaaS Offering
      13. Using Trusted Ticket Authentication as an Alternative Single Sign-on Method
      14. Using Subscriptions to Deliver Reports via E-mail
    3. Chapter 13: Automating Tableau Server
      1. Tableau Server’s APIs
      2. What Do tabcmd and tabadmin Do?
      3. Automating Extracts with the Extract API
      4. REST API
  9. Part III: Case Studies
    1. Chapter 14: Ensuring a Successful Tableau Deployment
      1. Deploying Tableau—Lessons Learned
      2. Effective Use of Consultants
      3. The Tableau User Group at Cigna
      4. Taking Care of Vizness
  10. Part IV: Appendixes
    1. Appendix A: Tableau’s Product Ecosystem
      1. Tableau Desktop
      2. Tableau Server
      3. Tableau Online
      4. Tableau Public
      5. Tableau Reader
      6. Tableau Mobile
      7. Project Elastic
      8. Power Tools for Tableau
    2. Appendix B: Supported Data Source Connections
      1. Windows Connections
      2. Mac OS X Connections
    3. Appendix C: Keyboard Shortcuts
    4. Appendix D: Recommended Hardware Configurations
      1. Tableau Desktop for Windows: Professional and Personal Editions
      2. Tableau Desktop for Mac OS X: Professional and Personal Editions
      3. Virtual Environments
      4. Tableau Server
      5. Web Browsers
      6. Hardware Guidelines
      7. Tableau Server User Authentication and Security
      8. Virtual Environments
      9. Internationalization
    5. Appendix E: Understanding Tableau Functions
      1. Organization and Key for Appendix E
      2. R Integration via Script Functions
      3. Other Specialized Functions
      4. Alphabetical Function List—Summary
    6. Appendix F: Companion Website
    7. Glossary
  11. End-User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Tableau Your Data!, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Daniel G. Murray
  • Release date: January 2016
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119001195