Visualize Live Carbone Data in Tableau

Tableau is a visual analytics platform transforming the way businesses use data to solve problems. When paired with the CData API Driver for Tableau, you can easily get access to live Carbone data within Tableau. This article shows how to connect to Carbone in Tableau and build a simple chart.

The CData Tableau Connectors enable high-speed access to live Carbone data in Tableau. Once you install the connector, you simply authenticate with Carbone and you can immediately start building responsive, dynamic visualizations and dashboards. By surfacing Carbone data using native Tableau data types and handling complex filters, aggregations, & other operations automatically, CData Tableau Connectors grant seamless access to Carbone data.

NOTE: The CData Tableau Connectors require Tableau 2020.3 or higher. If you are using an older version of Tableau, you will need to use the CData JDBC Driver.

Connect to Carbone in Tableau

Open Tableau and click More under Connect -> To a Server. Select "Carbone by CData," then configure the connection and click "Sign In."

Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Carbone Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Carbone.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Carbone (see below).

Carbone API Profile Settings

Carbone uses API key authentication via a Bearer token in the Authorization header. To obtain an API key:

1. Log in to your Carbone account at https://account.carbone.io
2. Copy the API key shown on the account home page

After obtaining your API key, set the following connection properties:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to your Carbone API key (Bearer token).
• CarboneVersion: (Optional) The major version of the Carbone API to target via the carbone-version request header. Defaults to 5. Accepted values: 5, 4, 3, staging.

Discover Schemas and Query Data

1. Select CData from the Database pull-down menu.
2. Select API from the Schema pull-down menu.
3. Drag the tables and views you wish to visualize onto the join area. You can include multiple tables.
4. Select Update Now or Automatically Update. Update Now lets you preview the first 10,000 rows of the data source (or enter the number of rows you want to see in the Rows text box). Automatically Update automatically reflects the changes in the preview area.
5. Click the tab for your worksheet. Columns are listed as Dimensions and Measures, depending on the data type. The CData Tableau Connector discovers data types automatically, allowing you to leverage the powerful data processing and visualization features of Tableau.
6. Drag a field from the Dimensions or Measures area to Rows or Columns. Tableau creates column or row headers.
7. Select one of the chart types from the Show Me tab. Tableau displays the chart type that you selected.

Using the CData API Driver for Tableau with Tableau, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Carbone data. Download a free, 30-day trial and get started today.