Since Salesforce purchased Tableau in August last year, the Tableau community has been waiting with bated breath for news about how the two market-leading platforms can exist and advance together.

Salesforce has made it clear they want to accelerate Tableau’s mission “To help people see and understand their data.” Tableau and Salesforce have both made acquisitions and developments in the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning sphere, yet the platforms themselves are still primarily two separate platforms, providing entirely different functionality.

Tableau and Salesforce Advancing Together

Embedding Tableau dashboards into Salesforce is not something new as a concept, as this has been possible for many years through various avenues. The initial option was simple embedding of Tableau’s iframe code into a Visualforce page, which was closely followed by the Salesforce Canvas Adaptor for Tableau, otherwise known as Sparkler.

Both options had very specific pros and cons when compared against each other on a like-for-like basis. Both did, and still do, have very valid use cases depending on how the organisation wants to structure and surface its dashboards to the end users. However, as expected, Tableau have now released a third option within the Component Store in the Salesforce App Exchange called the Tableau Viz Lightning Web Component.

Tableau Viz Lightning Web Component

In recent months, this connector has been through Alpha and Beta testing, with it now becoming available to the Salesforce community. The Lightning Web connector is a managed app that removes the requirement for the developer to write any Visualforce code and does not require an additional web server like the Sparkler App does in its current form.

The process of embedding a dashboard into a Salesforce page using this component is extremely simple and very effective.

When in Salesforce as a developer, locate the page you wish to add the visualisation to. Select the setting Gear icon and select Edit Page:

This action opens the Lightning App Builder Page. On the left, you will see all the components available for use. Scrolling down the list includes the Custom Apps where you will find the Tableau Visualisation Component:

The page can be set up using layout templates, where individual components can be arranged. From here, simply drag the Tableau Visualization icon onto the page area and into a free component space indicated, like so:

Once the component has been added to the page, a pane is displayed on the right-hand side identifying the required parameters for embedding. The URL for the Tableau view is automatically populated with a Tableau Public visualisation. To replace this, you will need to log into your Tableau Server and obtain the link from the Share option.

NOTE: Please be aware that simply copying the URL will not work here.

If you have the correct access and authentication, the visualisation should already be populated within the component area:

Additional parameters are also available to Show or Hide Toolbars and Tabs, through simply a tick box. Dashboard height is also available to ensure the page area is sufficiently long enough to hold and display the Tableau dashboard.

Additional Filtering

Finally, we have filtering options available to allow the developer to align filters from the specific Salesforce pages against the Tableau dashboard:

I have built my page inside the Account Record page. I indicate that I want to filter the Tableau view based on my Salesforce Record by selecting the tick box. I know that within my Tableau dashboard, I have a field called Account Name which matches my Salesforce Account Record Account.Name. I enter my Tableau field name [Account Name] into the first filter definition, followed by selecting the Salesforce Object.

Here, we are kindly presented with a list of all the Salesforce objects we can use for filtering and select the Account Name. This object drop-down feature will be invaluable to a lot of new developers that have not had as much Salesforce experience, and it reduces the requirement to search for specific identifiers.

Once you are happy with the parameters, simply save the page and activate the page if required. Returning to the Record page will now display the visualisation as expected:

My Take on the Lightning Component

The introduction of this new Lightning Component is a great step toward simplifying the process of embedding Tableau in Salesforce. The app which uses Tableau’s Javascript API is slick, secure and extremely simple to use without setting up Visualforce code manually. Plus, it has the ability to list the Salesforce objects available for filtering as a great addition.

A Note About Authentication

Currently, the Tableau Viz Lightning Component only offers a Single Sign-on option to those users that have Salesforce and Tableau under the same SAML provider or, alternatively, if Tableau is authenticated using Salesforce as the Identity Provider (IdP). This, therefore, does have its limitations when considering authentication between the two platforms and the possibility that some users may need to sign into the Tableau Server interface within the Salesforce page.

Alternatively, the Sparkler Canvas app is still a valid alternative to non-SAML users who want to provide the One-Platform Solution option to their users. The following flow diagram has been designed to assist you in determining the best options available when looking at embedding Tableau into Salesforce at this time:

Try It out with a Hands-on Demo

Here at InterWorks, we know that the best way for you to experience the Salesforce and Tableau integration is to have a hands-on play with the tool. We have just the thing! We have set up demo sites that allow you to do precisely that as either an Executive user or a Business user.

Interact with the demos now, or reach out to our team for more direct InterWorks support, including our customisable solution for embedded analytics, Curator by InterWorks.

The post Embedding Tableau in Salesforce with the Lightning Web Component appeared first on InterWorks.

In our last guideline, we’ll revisit another tip on how your dashboard’s layout can impact performance:

“Fix dashboard size relative to end-user consumption. Automatic sizing is less efficient than specifying dashboard size.”

It’s not all about size … though I’ve heard it’s mightily important.

Automatic Sizing

There is a setting for size in the bottom left-hand corner of your dashboard. This drop-down allows you to specify the height and width dimensions of your dashboard when it is served up by Tableau Server:

Selecting the Automatic option on the Size drop-down menu means that Tableau will automatically scale the dashboard to fit each viewer’s screen or window when it is served. Automatic scaling does present some unpredictable results when it automatically scales in terms of appearance, but the big problem lies with performance.

Tableau Server will remember every size of a dashboard that it renders so that dashboard can be faster the next time it gets served up. So, if twenty people are all viewing the dashboard at slightly different sizes, then Tableau Server will consider this dashboard to be twenty different dashboards.

Ouch.

Fixed Sizing

The solution to this problem is twofold. First, you need to understand how your users are viewing your dashboard. An easy way to find this is to use an analytics program to get some of the basic demographics of your viewers’ profile, such as a screen resolution. Google Analytics is quite capable of this task and it’s offered for free by Google.

In the above example, you can see that our users are coming in on a large variety of devices. The more you can pinpoint your tracking to your report consumers the better. Let’s try to accommodate three different audiences – mobile phone users, tablet users and computer users.

For mobile phone, a resolution of 320×568 will cleanly display our visualization (without scrollbars) to over 50% of our users. For tablet users, we’ll go with a 768×1024 display (18.52%). Finally, for our computer users, we’ll use 1366×768 (7.4%).

Once you have some idea of which screens to plan for, revisit the size setting on your dashboard and select the option that best fits the size that you need. Or you can choose the Exactly option and enter the height and width yourself to a pixel level:

As you can see, Tableau will automatically adjust the dashboard in the canvas area to conform to the size needed, this helps you as the developer to understand how the dashboard will look to the interactors on Server as well as its contents and how its contents sits within the window. To produce the other sizes we need, simply Copy Sheet, Paste Sheet and adjust the new size.

It may seem like a little extra work to create three versions of the same dashboard, but it will save Tableau Server a lot of unneeded work over Automatic sizing. This will, in turn, help performance as a whole on the server. By anticipating the most common sizes and fixing your dashboards and visualizations to those limits, you’re taking a considerable amount of work off of Tableau Server. 

If your Tableau is published through a portal, always contact the portal owners to determine what your window limits may be. In many instances, this is the determinant size required. Should Tableau be relatively new to your business, consider contacting your internal computer hardware suppliers to determine the hardware (desktop/laptops/tablets) distributed within the business. You may find the majority of users are assigned the same model of laptop, and you can use this as a good guide for initial dashboard sizing.

Always test different sizes on different media devices. Don’t assume that the sizing is correct without a full test prior to production. 

Mastering Best Practices

If you’re interested in becoming a Tableau Server guru, then learning these performance best practices is essential. Check back frequently as we add new posts and dive deeper into each point in the Tableau Performance Checklist.

Another great way to identify best practices is to leverage the insights offered by our Performance Analyzer, part of Workbook Tools for Tableau. It will examine all of your workbooks, worksheets, dashboards and data sources against a list of best practices to ensure that you’re using all the tips and tricks to guarantee your visualizations are moving at light speed.

As always, feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions regarding performance or anything Tableau related! We’d be happy to help.

Contact Us!

The post The Tableau Performance Checklist: Dashboard Layout – Fix Dashboard Size appeared first on InterWorks.

T-Minus 2 Days… (probably less if you read this before I update this countdown again!) The Training Camps are almost complete and the tapering down is in progress…. The Weigh-In is just around the corner which marks the Grand Finale in terms of preparations before the Main Event itself – “The Fight of the Century”

(Please click on the picture above to take you through to the live Dashboard hosted on Tableau Public)

For 6+ years, boxing fans from across the globe have waited for this fight to happen. The endless and tedious, ‘Will-they Won’t-they’ conundrum rattled on and on, far longer than anyone expected, and far longer than it ever should have. New discussions, new demands, purse agreements, drug testing, fight weight, glove weight…. All topics that in one way or another contributed to the fight not happening until now. With all this, the title of ‘The Best Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World’ is about to be decided either way and just to make it a little more interesting, let’s throw in the estimated $350 million in revenue it is likely to generate. It’s now quite easy to see why everyone is dubbing this ‘The Fight of the Century’. Whoever wins – this has been the most hyped boxing match in recent years and rightly so. Neither fighter needs the money… but boxing as a sport needs this more than anything. Gone are days of the regular Big Fight Weekends. Nothing will surprise its audience (apart from those at ringside whose pockets must feel considerably lighter). We all know each fighter’s capabilities, and are intrigued about both of their tactics going into the spectacle. Everyone has their favourite… it’s now just a case of who will WIN? Mayweather is the supreme fighter with an unblemished professional record of 47-0-0 but… can he cope with Pacquiao’s speed? Can he take Pacquiao’s volume of punches? Can he continue to deal with the pressure of an undefeated record and the possibility of hitting the mat? – And is he past his prime? Pacquiao in his own right is a phenomenal fighter. A sanctioned World Champion over 6 weight divisions throughout his career, but with some blemishes on 57-5-2 record. Have past defeats made him a better fighter? Can he play the long game against Mayweather? Can his speed and stance cause Mayweather to crumble? And is he past his prime? With Mayweather currently favourite at odds of 1/2 and Pacquiao at odds of 2/1 to win outright, this is the closest and best odds for a Mayweather fight in recent years. Looking at the odds for an early stoppage (KO,TKO or DQ), Pacquiao is now favourite at 5/1 vs Mayweather at 13/2. This all may sound weird but this directly correlates to each of the fighter’s careers and how they have won their previous bouts. Mayweather stays for the long game but for Pacquiao it’s all about the knockouts. Further information on each of the fighter’s professional careers can be found on the visualisation above. It provides historical fight data and statistics for each fighter in preparation for this weekend’s showdown. No matter what happens, it’s likely to be an amazing spectacle and hope it can live up to all its expectations. From a personal point of view, I would love to see Manny Pacquiao knock out Floyd Mayweather …… underdogs can still win (remember Rahman beating Lennox Lewis!?)

The post The Fight of the Century – Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather appeared first on InterWorks.

(Click on the image to show the dashboard in Tableau Public – opens in new window)

If you have any questions about creating visualisations, or simply fancy some post-match deliberations, feel free to comment below: 

The post RBS 6 Nations 2015 – Breakdown by Game appeared first on InterWorks.

8.3                                                               9.0 Beta

Click the image to view bigger.

The ‘To a File’ and ‘To a server’ sections were originally only available in the Data Tab, and the ‘Saved Data Sources’ only available on the Home Tab in all of the most recent versions of Tableau Desktop. Tableau has now consolidated all these options into the Home screen for version 9.0 and thus immediately assists the user in navigation for data connections. Within this blog we will be giving you an overview of the new data types and server connections that are now supported by Tableau 9.0

Connect To a File

There are a number of distinct changes here that will be instantly picked up by almost every user of Desktop:

Firstly, the selection headers have been simplified. Microsoft Excel has now been named as only “Excel”, and likewise with Access. Tableau has also removed the ‘Tableau Data Extract’ selection header, although this is still an option within the ‘Other File Types header’. And finally, and probably, the most significant: a new header of ‘Stats File’ has been introduced.

Tableau have again listened intently to their end user requirements when it comes to data connection options, as the release of Tableau 9.0 has proved to be a significant jump forwards in supplying more connections, both from file as well as server based data sources. When comparing Tableau 8.3 vs 9.0, we can see very significant additions to the connect to a file options.

New connections are now available for the following file types.

.sav – IBM SPSS file (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Binary Format Dataset with Data dictionary. .sas7bdat – SAS data file (Statistical Analysis software). Binary Database Storage file. Common in Pharmaceutical Analysis .rda – R data file Created by older versions of R Statistical Programming Language .rdata – R data file Created by new versions of R..xlsb – optimised Excel file .cub – Local Cube file data files created and referenced by Analysis Services (was available within 8.3 for those that didnt know) .tsv – A tab-separated file. A simple text format for storing data in a tabular structure for databases or spreadsheets. & .tbm – Tableau Bookmark A snapshot of a Tableau worksheet. Contains data source and sheet layout information. Commonly used to transfer worksheets between Tableau Workbooks.

Although some of these options are closely related to already existing basic connectors, the addition of the .sav, .sas7bdat and the R source files are of greater interest. Connections to these data types are created under a new selection header of ‘Stats File’. The inclusion of such a header reinforces Tableau’s vision into enhancing its statistical capabilities and is a natural progression following the introduction of R in Tableau 8.1.

Connect To a server

Click the image to view bigger.

As expected, a new release of Tableau brings with it additional server connections. The list has been growing for a number of years with some minor releases also bringing in new connections which may or may not have been picked up by the end user.

New connections scheduled for Tableau 9.0 release are as follows.

MonetDB – An open source column-oriented DBMS Amazon EMR ** – Elastic MapReduce. Web service for data processing and analysis using Hadoop framework. Spark SQL ** – Open source processing engine for Big Data. ** These are listed server connections within the 9.0.0 Beta release but are not providing function as yet.

Additional connectors which you may not have noticed in Tableau 8.3 are:

IBM Big Insight – Hadoop with Enterprise level features Marklogic – Enterprise level NoSQL (Not Only SQL) Database

Yet again, Tableau has delivered what its users want and increased the software capabilities by extending is connections.

Keep an eye out for the rest of our blog series for more info on Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server v9. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email or, if you’re ready to download Tableau, click here to get started on a free 14 day trial!  

The post Tableau 9.0 Brings us more connections! appeared first on InterWorks.

Game Previews:

The first match taking place on week 2 has the Scots hosting the Italians at Murrayfield.  The Scots, coming off a dismal second half performance against England in the Calcutta Cup in week 1, had revenge in mind after falling at the hands of the Italians last year in the Stadio Olimpico.  That subsequent defeat relegating Scotland to last place in the table and receiving the Wooden Spoon for their efforts.

Second match of the weekend sees Wales travel to Paris to meet a French team in disarray.  With little possibility of winning the championship after both experiencing defeats in week 1, this game is about team rebuilding with a lot of pride at stake.  The Welsh, having not won a game in 8 consecutive outings need to get the monkey off their back if they want to return as a force to be reckoned with. As for the French, who didn’t really turn up in Rome, are out to show they are still one of the teams to beat…. as well as trying to quell any ideas that the French National Side is breaking at the seams after years of dominant performances.

Any real hopes of a Grand Slam in 2013 rest on a young English side, or a determined old school Irish side as we turn to Game 3.  Ireland return home to the Aviva Stadium after a good win against the Welsh last weekend in Cardiff. Hoping to build on this success, they are hoping to deny the travelling English a win yet again with the last England win in Dublin almost a decade ago.  England are hoping to take their game further with a young back line determined to make a statement of intent.  A keenly contested forward battle is expected with the match winner expecting to be crowned 6 nations champions come March.  

All results can now be viewed within the updated Vizualisation. I have also added a results field and yellow card feature for all matches. Further Analysis to follow.

After selecting your game of choice, feel free to select or hover over the icons within the Scoring Information Table for Player and Points Scored Analysis.

The post Interactive 6 Nations – Week 2 appeared first on InterWorks.

Individual Game Scoring Analysis

Welcome to my first ever Blog as part of InterWorks Europe. It’s an exciting time here at InterWorks Europe which just so happens to coincide with the Annual 6 Nations Rugby Championship. Rugby for me is a passion, being an avid Ulster and Ireland supporter, I thought how best to introduce myself to Tableau Interactive Dashboards and the start of my InterWorks Europe Blogging journey.

Rugby, as like any sport, has the normal array of statistics and data to supplement the post game scrutiny and subsequent win/loss diagnosis. Although these statistics are standard throughout the Rugby world, they don’t really give us an opportunity to display the game visually without boring even the most obsessed fans.

I have, in part, taking this to task. To try and make a number of data visualizations that are informative, interactive, and for the most part INTERESTING. Letting people know what happened in the game, Not just a Final Score and various percentages.

Over the next few weeks and months as the 6 Nations Championship plays out before our eyes on the TV screens and packed Stadiums throughout Europe, I will be dissecting the data from each and every match to bring updated and new visualizations to publish and post here on the InterWorks Europe  Blog. 2013 RBS 6 Nations Visualization 1.

This first visualization shows the Scoring details within each of the three matches played over the opening weekend of the 2013 RBS 6 Nations.  Please select a Game from the ‘Matches Played’ box.

After selecting your game of choice, feel free to select or hover over the icons within the Scoring Information Table for Player and Points Scored Analysis.

The post Interactive 6 Nations appeared first on InterWorks.