The Start page in Tableau Desktop Version 9 has been improved to include more links to training and idea resources. Tableau has also made it easier to search the growing number of data sources that you can access. All of the examples in this text reflect Version 9. The figures were created using an iMac or MacBook Pro unless specifically noted otherwise.
For those readers using the Windows version, the menus, functions, and location of controls are virtually identical. The only differences relate to the ways that Windows and OS X handle menu positioning and keyboard shortcuts. A detailed explanation of the differences between the two operating systems is outside the scope of this text. The biggest difference between the Windows and Mac editions relates to the number of connectors available. The Windows edition has more connectors at this time. See Appendix B for a complete list of connections.
Go to Appendix C to see a complete listing of Windows and Mac keyboard shortcuts. You can also search the Tableau manual to find the latest list of keyboard shortcuts.
Using the Start Page Controls Effectively
If you are accustomed to working with spreadsheets or other analysis tools, learning Tableau’s desktop environment will be a breeze. If you have no familiarity with database terminology or spreadsheets, you can still be using Tableau effectively within a few hours.
Tableau’s Start page has been redesigned in Version 9 to provide more convenient access to your data, workbooks, and learning resources for new users. The new design of the Start page should also be more appealing to experienced users because it provides convenient access to Tableau’s web content and to interesting public content features such as the Tableau Public Viz of the Week.
The Start Page
Open Tableau and you are presented with the Start page displayed in Figure 1-4.
Clicking the small tableau logo displayed in the upper left allows you to toggle between the Start page and the Tableau sheet workspace. Think of the Start page as the control center and the sheet workspace as your building environment. The Start page is divided into three sections from left to right.
• Connect pane
• Open pane
• Discover pane
Figure 1-4: Tableau Start page
In the Connect pane, you connect to several kinds of data sources. The Open pane in the center of the screen displays your nine most recently opened workbooks. It also provides options for connecting to your work files or to sample workbooks provided by Tableau. The Discover pane provides links to training videos, the Tableau Public Viz of the Week, and other links including Tableau’s blog, company news, and the popular Tableau user forum.
If you want to follow along in Tableau, select and open one of the saved data sources that are provided. Alternatively, go to this book’s companion website (see Appendix F for the address), download the Chapter 1 sample file, and use the File menu option in the Start page to open the sample workbook. This will allow you to see the actual sheets used to create the figures in this chapter.
The Connect Pane
The Connect pane provides convenient access to data stored in files on your computer, data stored in databases, and sample data sources provided by Tableau, as well as to frequently used data sources that you have saved for easy access.
In a File
Look on the top-left side of the Start page right below the Connect heading. This area includes options for connecting files available to you, including Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access (Windows only), Statistical files, and Text files.
To a Server
You must be using Tableau Desktop Professional to have access to the To a Server connections. If you are using Tableau Desktop Personal edition, you can’t connect to data sources in this area. If you are using Tableau Desktop Professional, you should see five connections, starting with Tableau Server. At the bottom of this group of connections is an additional option to connect with more server data sources. Clicking “more servers” will expose more server connection types to a variety of databases and web services.
The order in which server connections appear in this area will change depending on which server connections you use most frequently. In Figure 1-4, Google Big Query appears just below Tableau Server because I’ve been using that data source recently. The order that connections appear on your connection pane will be different.
Saved Data Sources
At the bottom of the Connect Pane displayed in Figure 1-4 is the Saved data sources area. Tableau allows you to save frequently used data source connections here. This is a big time-saver because you don’t have to enter all the connection and security information very time you need to access the saved connections for items that reside in a database on a server. It also provides a convenient way for you to access the files that you use often on your personal computer.
Tableau populates this area with sample data sources that you can use for learning. Any connection that appears has been saved to a folder called My Tableau Repository. This folder is created when you install Tableau Desktop. Don’t worry about the details of how these work right now. Be confident that files or connections you choose to save will appear in this area. You learn to connect to and save data sources in Chapter 2.
The Open Pane
If you’ve just installed Tableau Desktop, the white space to the right of the Connect pane will be empty on your screen. This area is used to display your most recently opened workbooks. In Figure 1-4, there are two workbook images. These are workbooks on my laptop that includes the sheets used to create the content for this chapter and another workbook created from a Google BigQuery database. If you have made any workbooks, they should appear in this space. Once you start building workbooks, you will continuously cycle through the last nine workbooks in this space. You can also pin frequently used workbooks to this area.
Pin or Delete a Workbook from the Save Workbooks Area
In Figure 1-5, you see the options for pinning workbooks to this area or deleting workbooks from the Connect page. When you want to pin or unpin a workbook, hover your mouse pointer over the blue pin icon in the image of the workbook you want to pin, as you can see on the left workbook displayed in Figure 1-5. Clicking the blue pin will keep the workbook displayed in this space. Clicking that blue pin again will unpin the workbook and allow more recent work to displace it in the space.
Figure 1-5: Pin a workbook to the Start page.
To see how to remove a workbook from this space, look at the right image in Figure 1-5. Hovering your mouse pointer over the red X button and clicking that deletes the workbook image from this area. This will not delete the workbook for your hard disk – only the image in the workbook Open pane.
Sample Workbooks
At the bottom of the Open pane in Figure 1-4, you will find the Sample Workbooks area. These are workbooks that are included with Tableau when you install Desktop. They were created by Tableau as a learning resource.
More Samples
Clicking the More samples link at the bottom right of the Open pane shown in Figure 1-4 will take you to