Book Image

Tableau Prep Cookbook

By : Hendrik Kleine
Book Image

Tableau Prep Cookbook

By: Hendrik Kleine

Overview of this book

Tableau Prep is a tool in the Tableau software suite, created specifically to develop data pipelines. This book will describe, in detail, a variety of scenarios that you can apply in your environment for developing, publishing, and maintaining complex Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) data pipelines. The book starts by showing you how to set up Tableau Prep Builder. You’ll learn how to obtain data from various data sources, including files, databases, and Tableau Extracts. Next, the book demonstrates how to perform data cleaning and data aggregation in Tableau Prep Builder. You’ll also gain an understanding of Tableau Prep Builder and how you can leverage it to create data pipelines that prepare your data for downstream analytics processes, including reporting and dashboard creation in Tableau. As part of a Tableau Prep flow, you’ll also explore how to use R and Python to implement data science components inside a data pipeline. In the final chapter, you’ll apply the knowledge you’ve gained to build two use cases from scratch, including a data flow for a retail store to prepare a robust dataset using multiple disparate sources and a data flow for a call center to perform ad hoc data analysis. By the end of this book, you’ll be able to create, run, and publish Tableau Prep flows and implement solutions to common problems in data pipelines.
Table of Contents (11 chapters)

Installing Tableau Prep Builder

In this recipe, you'll install Tableau Prep Builder. We'll download the software, perform the installation, and open Tableau Prep Builder for the first time.

Getting ready

To enjoy the many benefits of Tableau Prep Builder, you need a license key. Typically, this would be issued by your administrator. Alternatively, you may have purchased a license yourself at https://buy.tableau.com/.

If you do not have a license key, Tableau offers a free trial so you can start right away.

As with all recipes in this book, the installation is performed on an Apple MacBook running macOS Big Sur. The steps are nearly identical on Windows machines and you can follow along on either operating system.

How to do it…

Ensure you're connected to the internet and have your favorite browser open:

  1. Navigate to https://www.tableau.com/products/prep/download, enter your business email, and click START FREE TRIAL:

    Figure 1.1 –...