What is the Tableau Exporter?

The Tableau exporter is a custom exporter designed to allow Denodo Scheduler Server to export data from different sources into a TDE file or into a hyper file according to the version of Tableau.  

Hyper and Tableau Data Extract (TDE) are data file format used by Tableau, a business intelligence software that helps people see and understand their data.

How to install the Tableau Exporter

If you're using Tableau 10.4 and earlier you have to use Tableau SDK to generate .tde files. In order to install the Tableau Exporter you have to download and install the Tableau SDK. See the How to install the Tableau SDK section.

If you're using Tableau 10.5 and later you have to install Extract API 2.0. See the How to install Extract API 2.0.

Additionally, you have to download Tableau Exporter from the Denodo Support Site. Once uncompressed, connect to the Scheduler Server via the Scheduler WebAdmin Tool and log in.

Once connected, click on Configuration → Plugins in order to access the Plugins Configuration section.

Click on the New Plugin button in order to access the new plugin input form.

Select the Tableau Exporter’s jar with dependencies file, which will be called something similar to denodo-tableau-exporter-[denodo_version]-[exporter_version]-jar-with-dependencies.jar (version numbers might change), and click on the Accept button, and after the success page, you will see your new exporter in the Plugins section.

How to install the Tableau SDK

The Tableau SDK is available on the Tableau website. Go to the https://onlinehelp.tableau.com/current/api/sdk/en-us/SDK/tableau_sdk_installing.htm page and choose the appropriate version for your platform. The programming language must be Java.

Note that the data extract process takes part in the Scheduler Server and therefore this is the server that must be configured.

Windows systems

The native libraries and the tdeserver32 file, if you are using a 32-bit architecture, or the tdeserver64 file, if you are using a 64-bit architecture, must be on Denodo Library Path. On Windows systems, after uncompressing the downloaded file you have a bin folder and you may copy all its contents to a global Library Path, to a special directory such as C:/WINDOWS/SYSTEM32. Some native libraries may already exist in the destination directory and may be used by other programs, so the system will not let you overwrite them but you can omit the copy of these libraries. If you copy the contents in a new folder, you have to make sure that the new folder it is in the System Variable PATH.

Linux systems

The native libraries and the tdeserver32 or the tdeserver64 file, dependending on your architecture, must be on Denodo Library Path. On Linux systems, after uncompressing the downloaded file you have a bin folder which contains the tdeserver32 file (32-bit architecture) or the tdeserver64 file (64-bit architecture). The native libraries are located at lib/tableausdk folder, if you are using a 32-bit architecture, or at lib64/tableausdk folder, if you are using a 64-bit architecture, and you must copy them to $DENODOHOME/dll/db where Denodo Platform will search for shared libraries. Note that the Java folder does not need to be copied. These libraries will try to load the tdeserver32 or the tdeserver64 file from these relative paths:

1. $PATH_TO_CURRENTLY_EXECUTING_LIBRARY/../bin

2. $PATH_TO_CURRENT_EXECUTABLE

3. Search regular environment variable $PATH

Given this sequence to find the file, you can copy the tdeserver32 or the tdeserver64 file to $DENODOHOME/dll/db and add its path to the environment variable $PATH.

There is a less recommended alternative in order to install the Tableau SDK. This second option allows the installation copying the native libraries from $TABLEAU_SDK/lib/tableausdk or $TABLEAU_SDK/lib64/tableausdk and the tdeserver32 or the tdeserver64 file from $TABLEAU_SDK/bin to the execution directory of Denodo Platform, $DENODOHOME/bin.

How to install the Extract API 2.0

The Extract API 2.0 is available on the Tableau website. Go to the https://onlinehelp.tableau.com/current/api/extract_api/en-us/help.htm#Extract/extract_api_installing.htm%3FTocPath%3D_____3 page and choose the appropriate version for your platform. The programming language must be Java.

Note that the data extract process takes part in the Scheduler Server and therefore this is the server that must be configured.

Windows systems

On Windows systems, after uncompressing the downloaded file, you have to add the bin folder to the System Variable PATH.

Linux systems

For Linux, after uncompressing the downloaded file, you need to include in the System Variable PATH the folder  /bin/hyper.

In addition, you have to copy the content of the folder install-dir/lib[64]/tableausdk to $DENODO_HOME/dll/db or you can set LD_LIBRARY_PATH to the install-dir/lib[64]/tableausdk

In this link it is also explained how to configure the installation to use Extract API 2.0.

Using the Tableau Exporter

The exporter offers some configuration parameters:

Mandatory

• Output folder (String): It specifies the folder where the output files will be generated.

• Output file name (String): Name of the generated file. The extension of the file has to be .tde or .hyper according to the version of tableau and it is mandatory. It offers support for placeholders that will be filled with execution parameters. The supported parameters are:

• @{projectName}: name of the project

• @{jobName}: name of the particular job.
• @{jobID}: id of the particular job
• @{jobTime}: time of execution of the job, in the format yyyyMMdd-HHmmss

NOTE: adding @{jobTime} to the output file name is normally a good idea to avoid file name collision, which might result in previous output files being deleted. For example, a useful output name could be: @{projectName}_@{jobName}_@{jobTime}.tde or @{projectName}_@{jobName}_@{jobTime}.hyper

Optional

• Remove file first if it already exists (Boolean): If true the file specified will be removed if it already exists. Default: "false"
• Append content if the file already exists (Boolean): If true the new content will be added to the existing file. Default: "false"

Creating a Tableau file

Select a job and edit it to add a new Tableau exporter.

Click on Edit Job → Exporters Section → New Exporter → TableauSchedulerExporter.

Fill, at least, the mandatory fields. For example:

• Output folder: C:\Temp
• Output file name: @{jobName}_output_file.tde

Execute the job, and the client_export_output_file.tde will be created into the selected folder. You can see the data by opening the file using Tableau Desktop and build views as you can see below:

Limitations

• Tableau Exporter only was tested with the version of Extract API 2.0 2018-3-0.

• The export to hyper files is only supported by Denodo Platform 7.0 and later.

• Under certain circumstances, exporting Hyper files in Linux requires the server to be run by the root user. This is a requirement of certain versions of the Tableau Extract API 2.0. Please refer to your Tableau documentation or support for more detail