What is a Tableau web data connector?
Tableau Web Data Connector or WDC are web pages that allow you to connect with web-based data sources from the Tableau interface. Using WDCs, you can connect with a vast majority of web-based data sources and create data extracts that can be used in Tableau workbooks and views. Typically a WDC is an HTML file that contains Javascript code that can be run over a command prompt to create a data connection. Tableau WDC can support connecting a range of web data sources such as internal web services, JSON data, Tableau web data connector REST API, and other sources that are available over HTTP or HTTPS that are not otherwise natively supported in Tableau. You can also create your custom version of Tableau WDC or use the WDC created by other users.
You must host a Tableau WDC on a web server that can be run locally on a user machine, a web server in a domain, or any 3rd party web server. A typical Tableau web data connector looks like the one provided below
Key Takeaways
- Tableau Web Data Connector or WDC allows you to connect with web-based data sources from the Tableau interface.
- Using WDCs, you can connect with a vast majority of web-based data sources and create data extracts that can be used in Tableau workbooks and views.
- Tableau WDC can support connecting a range of web data sources such as internal web services, JSON data, Tableau web data connector REST APIs, and other sources that are available over HTTP or HTTPS that are not otherwise natively supported in Tableau.
- You can also create your custom version of Tableau WDC or use the WDC created by other users.
- You must host a Tableau WDC on a web server that can be run locally on a user machine, web server in a domain, or any 3rd party web servers
- Tableau WDC allows you to schedule data refreshes in Tableau server, Tableau online, and Tableau desktop.
How to Connect a Data Source through Tableau Web Data Connector?
To connect a data source through Tableau Web Data Connector (WDC), follow the steps provided below:
Step 1: Launch Tableau Desktop on your machine. You can also use Tableau Public.
Step 2: Navigate to the Tableau homepage. Under Connect, click on More…
Step 3: This will expand the window to display the Installed Connectors. Click on the Web Data Connector option.
Step 4: This will open a Web Data Connector window, as shown below.
Enter the URL of the web data connector that you would like to connect to, and then hit Enter.
Tableau will connect to the URL of the web data connector and load the page.
Note: If you provide any URL other than the web data connector, you will see the below error page.
Step 5: Specify details on the prompt page that will open when you enter the correct URL and then submit the page details.
Tableau will extract the data from the URL using the web data connector and extract the data from the WDC in Tableau.
Step 6: Choose the required sheet for performing data analysis.
To understand it better through a Tableau web data connector example, refer to the Tableau documentation. When you connect to a Web Data Connector (WDC) for the 1st time, you will see the instructions on how to use the web data connector.
When you provide the details and connect to WDC, you will notice recent connectors on the screen.
The data connector will navigate to the web page on your Tableau screen.
Then you can import the extract into Tableau for your data analysis.
Note: Tableau Web Data Connector 3.0 is the latest web data connector version to connect with web apps and services exposed through APIs instead of any ODBC/JDBC drivers. Using Tableau Web Data Connector 3.0 SDK, you can customize the web data connector to connect with the web data.
Similarly, you can use FileMaker Tableau Web Data Connector to import any data from a hosted FileMaker Pro into Tableau. FileMaker Tableau Web Data Connector can help you integrate with Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, and Tableau cloud products.
As mentioned above, the data connectivity steps for FileMaker Tableau Web Data Connector are similar to those of other WDCs.
How to Use Tableau Web Data Connector on Tableau Online and Tableau Server?
To use Tableau Web Data Connector on Tableau Online and Tableau Server, you can follow the instructions provided below:
Tableau Server
Step 1: Publish the data source or workbook to the Tableau server. Provide the required credentials for login by embedding the details into the data source.
Step 2: Test and vet the web data connector. Add the URL for the connector to the safe list on the server. This can be done by the Tableau server administrator.
Step 3: Enter the URL of the web data connector. Specify the required details in the prompt that may appear on the screen for user inputs.
Step 4: Use the web data connector on the Tableau server to access the data source and perform activities such as refreshing the extracts. You can also perform data analysis and views using the data source.
Tableau Cloud/Online
Step 1: Publish the data source to the Tableau cloud. Note that, as a security measure, Tableau can’t access or apply refresh to the extract created by WDC.
Step 2: Use the Tableau bridge to refresh the web data connector extracts. Then, you can create workbooks and views and perform your analysis using them.
How to Manage Connectors in a Safe List?
As a prerequisite, ensure that the following aspects are actioned. These include:
- Run the Tableau server as a server administrator to approve web data connectors for use on Tableau servers
- Add the domain and port required by the connector to a safe list
- Include the domains that can be used for sending and receiving requests by connector on a secondary safe list
- Perform thorough testing to ensure that the connector is working as per the expectation
To manage connectors in a Safe List, you may follow the instructions below:
Step 1: Configure Tableau servers to allow connections to a URL that hosts a connector. You can do so by using a command provided below
tsm data-access web-data-connectors add
Running this command will enable you to add the desired web data connector (WDC) to the safe list and secondary safe list.
Step 2: Update any pending changes to WDCs by running the below command
tsm pending-changes apply
You can further run the commands below to ensure the desired outcomes outlined in the table below.
| Action | Commands |
|---|---|
| Perform server restart post applying pending changes in a command prompt | pending-changes apply |
| Suppress the prompt of server restart | –ignore-prompt |
Changes that don’t require any restart will automatically be applied without any prompt.
Step 3: Add connectors to the safe list and secondary safe list by using the command outlined below:
tsm data-access web-data-connectors add –name “USGS Earthquakes” –url https://tableau.github.io:443/webdataconnector/Examples/html/earthquakeUSGS.html –secondary https://tableau.github.io/.*,https://earthquake.usgs.gov/.*,https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/.*,https://ajax.googleapis.com/.*,https://connectors.tableau.com/.*
The above command contains the add command (highlighted in bold), name of WDC (highlighted in green), safe list URL (highlighted in dark red), and secondary safe list URL (highlighted in Purple)
As an alternative, you can also use the command web-data-connector-settings Entity.
Run the tsm pending-changes apply command to apply any pending changes.
You will see a prompt displaying the warning that the Tableau server will restart. Note that the Tableau server will restart if that’s running. However, if you stop the server, it may not restart and will remain stopped.
Step 4: Run the command below in the Tableau server.
| Action | Command |
|---|---|
| Allow WDC or WDC extract refreshes | tsm data-access web-data-connectors allow -r true |
| Disallow WDC or WDC extract refreshes | tsm data-access web-data-connectors allow -r false |
| Allow use of WDC | tsm data-access web-data-connectors allow -t true |
| Disallow use of WDC | tsm data-access web-data-connectors allow -t false |
By default, the Tableau server allows both WDC and WDC extract refreshes. However, you can change the settings by running the commands below
tsm pending-changes apply
Step 5: You can remove one or multiple WDCs from the safe list by running the command below
tsm data-access web-data-connectors delete
For any changes to the current setting, ensure that you run the below command
tsm pending-changes apply
Step 6: Finally, you can list all the WDCs on the safe list by running the command below
tsm data-access web-data-connectors list
Importance
The key importance of Tableau web data connector includes:
- Access to a wide range of web data sources – Through Tableau WDC, you can access a wide range of data sources through Tableau especially any web-based data sources such as any HTTP, Tableau web data connector REST APIs, JSON, and web services that are not natively supported in Tableau.
- Data refreshes – Enables you to perform scheduled data refreshes automatically keeping your data sources up-to-date which is highly useful given the web pages are dynamic.
- Data customization – You can apply customization using the WDC as per your requirements and hence provide a lot of flexibility in hosting the data connector locally, web server in a domain, or third-party web server.
- Integration ecosystem – Tableau WDCs have seamless integration with other Tableau products such as Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, and Tableau Online.
- Data security – By adding the URLs to a safe list, the Tableau server allows you to manage WDCs through controlled access.
- User interactivity – Tableau web data connector allows you to interactivity through forms of user selection and any filtering applicable to your data
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Some of the key prerequisites for using a Web Data Connector in Tableau include:
Good understanding of Javascript, HTML, Tableau web data connector REST API, JSON, or other web services.
Hands-on experience in working with web development tools.
Familiarity with Tableau Server, Tableau Online, or Tableau Desktop.
Understanding of WDC SDK
For Tableau Server, you must be a server administrator.
Good knowledge of web testing using tools like Fiddler, Charles HTTP Proxy, Wireshark, etc. for WDC testing.
Yes, you can use WDCs with Tableau Public. To use WDCs with Tableau Public, navigate to Connect – More (under To a Server) – Web Data Connector.
Note: Tableau public doesn’t support scheduling of WDC extract refresh unlike Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, or Tableau Cloud.
Yes, you can schedule data refreshes with a Web Data Connector in Tableau.
For the Tableau server, you can create a schedule to perform a data refresh of the WDC extract.
For Tableau Bridge, you can set up manually a refresh schedule for WDC
As far as Tableau Desktop is concerned, an automatic refresh schedule is not supported and you will have to manually refresh it.
Yes, you can use a web data connector in Tableau for most of the web-based data sources but not all. Tableau web data connector allows you to connect with internal web services, JSON data, Tableau web data connector REST APIs, and other sources that are available over HTTP or HTTPS.
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