Visualize Live Workday Data in Tableau



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

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

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

About Workday Data Integration

CData provides the easiest way to access and integrate live data from Workday. Customers use CData connectivity to:

  • Access the tables and datasets you create in Prism Analytics Data Catalog, working with the native Workday data hub without compromising the fidelity of your Workday system.
  • Access Workday Reports-as-a-Service to surface data from departmental datasets not available from Prism and datasets larger than Prism allows.
  • Access base data objects with WQL, REST, or SOAP, getting more granular, detailed access but with the potential need for Workday admins or IT to help craft queries.

Users frequently integrate Workday with analytics tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and Excel, and leverage our tools to replicate Workday data to databases or data warehouses. Access is secured at the user level, based on the authenticated user's identity and role.

For more information on configuring Workday to work with CData, refer to our Knowledge Base articles: Comprehensive Workday Connectivity through Workday WQL and Reports-as-a-Service & Workday + CData: Connection & Integration Best Practices.


Getting Started


Connect to Workday in Tableau

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

To connect to Workday, users need to find the Tenant and BaseURL and then select their API type.

Obtaining the BaseURL and Tenant

To obtain the BaseURL and Tenant properties, log into Workday and search for "View API Clients." On this screen, you'll find the Workday REST API Endpoint, a URL that includes both the BaseURL and Tenant.

The format of the REST API Endpoint is: https://domain.com/subdirectories/mycompany, where:

  • https://domain.com/subdirectories/ is the BaseURL.
  • mycompany (the portion of the url after the very last slash) is the Tenant.
For example, in the REST API endpoint https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com/ccx/api/v1/mycompany, the BaseURL is https://wd3-impl-services1.workday.com and the Tenant is mycompany.

Using ConnectionType to Select the API

The value you use for the ConnectionType property determines which Workday API you use. See our Community Article for more information on Workday connectivity options and best practices.

APIConnectionType Value
WQLWQL
Reports as a ServiceReports
RESTREST
SOAPSOAP

Authentication

Your method of authentication depends on which API you are using.

  • WQL, Reports as a Service, REST: Use OAuth authentication.
  • SOAP: Use Basic or OAuth authentication.

See the Help documentation for more information on configuring OAuth with Workday.

Discover Schemas and Query Data

  1. Select CData from the Database pull-down menu.
  2. Select Workday 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 Tableau Connector for Workday with Tableau, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Workday data. Download a free, 30-day trial and get started today.

Ready to get started?

Download a free trial of the Workday Tableau Connector to get started:

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The fastest and easiest way to connect Tableau to Workday data. Includes comprehensive high-performance data access, real-time integration, extensive metadata discovery, and robust SQL-92 support.