Introduction. Tableau version 8.2 is an absolute GAME CHANGER for me. The big file/data size boundaries that I was flirting with are now gone. Say good bye to the 4GB file issues that plagued us with the Jet driver.Tableau has done a great job once again in improving their software.
Preamble A few days ago, I started writing this blog post because of a problem I encountered using a big data set in Tableau. The following day, after having written most of this blog post, Tableau released version 8.2. In the 8.2 release, the problem I describe herein is supposed to be solved with a new…
Introduction A few days ago, I wrote about feeling like I was in the Tableau “Data Zone” and the confidence this has given me when working with a wide array of data. I really didn’t think anyone would read the post, but for some reason I was wrong. Every time I write something that seems to me…
Background My brain has been assembling the thoughts discussed in this blog post for the past year and all these thoughts are mine. I completely own them and they are strictly my perspectives. No one has ever asked me to write this blog post or any other post, but I will readily admit that I have…
Introduction Although Tableau gives us many ways of counting and labeling data points on the charts we create, every once in a while we have to be creative to get the counting and labeling the way we want it to be. This post shows one example that required me to be a little creative to get…
Introduction The Tableau data reshaper is an outstanding tool and you should have it in your toolbox of Tableau techniques if you are serious about doing a lot of data analytics in Tableau.
Introduction I have a pretty good memory and I’m generally well organized, but I now have to admit that my brain gets overloaded at times with work, family, and life in general.
Introduction I was recently using Alteryx (www.alteryx.com) to blend an XML and a CSV file when a buddy at work asked me if I could do the same thing in Tableau.
Introduction For more than 20 years, I did a lot of groundwater flow and transport numerical modeling. This work prepared me well for my current career in business analytics, but life sure would have been easier if I had Tableau Desktop back then!
Introduction I have used many hundreds of comma-delimited (*.csv) files with Tableau over the past few years. I like to use csv files because Tableau reads them really fast and I can easily build gigantic files. Over the years, I have been using business-related files that have continued to increase in size from thousands, to millions,…
Introduction It was about one year ago tonight when I discovered what maximum pain really means. It was Good Friday night in 2013 at about 1 am, and I was getting ready for bed and taking a natural break. Suddenly and without warning, Mike Tyson, in the prime of his boxing career, entered my bathroom…
“Why ask the question, if you aren’t going to follow the directions?” Introduction This post is not what you think it is going to be. This has nothing to do with the critically-acclaimed show of a similar title. That show was brilliant and ended with Badfinger’s “Baby Blue“. This post contains nothing but pure, unadulterated badness created…
Introduction The problem described herein has happened to me far too many times and I am somewhat embarrassed to have to write this post, but I feel that someone has to do it.
Introduction About two months ago, I received a few files that contained patient hospitalization data from a group of hospitals. For this, I will be forever grateful because I’ve had a lot of fun working with the data. After giving me the files, one senior analyst told me: “Good luck to you because no one has ever been…
Introduction Jett is now 2.5 years old. He knows his ABC’s, can count to 20 in English and to 10 in Spanish. His brain is a sponge. So tonight, we decided to play with his new group of blocks to practice learning words and the difference between small and capital letters. It was a lot…