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Connect to live data from Printful with the API Driver

Connect to Printful

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Visualize Live Printful Data in Tableau


Use CData Tableau Connectors and Tableau Desktop to visualize live Printful data.

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 Printful data within Tableau. This article shows how to connect to Printful in Tableau and build a simple chart.

The CData Tableau Connectors enable high-speed access to live Printful data in Tableau. Once you install the connector, you simply authenticate with Printful and you can immediately start building responsive, dynamic visualizations and dashboards. By surfacing Printful data using native Tableau data types and handling complex filters, aggregations, & other operations automatically, CData Tableau Connectors grant seamless access to Printful 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 API Driver for Tableau. If you wish to connect to Printful data in Tableau Cloud, you will need to use CData Connect.

Connect to Printful in Tableau

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

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

Printful API Profile Settings

In order to authenticate to Printful, you'll need to provide your API Key. To get your API Key, first go to 'Settings' then 'Stores'. Select the Store you would like to connect to, then click the 'Add API Access' button to generate an API Key. Set the API Key in the ProfileSettings property to connect.

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 Printful data. Download a free, 30-day trial and get started today.