Saving Data in Tableau: A Road to Tableau Desktop Specialist Certification

Author(s): Daksh Trehan

Originally published on Towards AI.

Chapter 14: A comprehensive guide on various file types in Tableau with free Udemy Dumps.

Welcome to the fourteenth chapter, In this piece, we are going to learn about different file types in

Tableau.

If you want to navigate through other chapters, visit: Tableau: What it is? Why it is the best?; A road to Tableau Desktop Specialist Certification.

If you want to directly go on Tableau Desktop Specialist notes, access them here → https://dakshtrehan.notion.site/Tableau-Notes-c13fceda97b94bda940edbf6751cf30

Use the link to get access to free Tableau certification dumps (Valid till 6 July 2022):

https://www.udemy.com/course/tableau-desktop-specialist-certification-dumps-2022/?couponCode=E3F08189FA4BAFAE72BC

You created some visualizations, and designed some beautiful dashboards. Now what? How will you share your workbook with stakeholders/other creators?

Tableau offers different file types/extensions to save and share your data.

Table of Content

• .twb files
• .twbx files
• .hyper/.tde files
• .tds files
• .tdsx files
• Summing up
• Sample Certification Questions from this topic

.twb files

.twb files contain no data source but it constitutes how Tableau interacts with the data source i.e. all the connections and mapping. In addition, it contains one or more worksheets, and zero or more dashboards.

.twb files are useful for local purposes only i.e. sharing .twb files makes no sense as it will crash once the data directory is modified.

.twb files are XML files.

Creating a .twb file

Step1: File>Save As

Step2: Choose “.twb” extension.

.twbx files

.twbx files are packaged workbook that contains the workbook along with the data source.

.twbx files can be shared as it contains a local copy of your data source along with worksheets and dashboards. Others can easily open the twbx files with Tableau Desktop or Tableau Reader.

The default directory to save .twbx files is “Tableau Repository>Workbooks” but we can change the default locations.

Along with a copy of your data source, a .twbx also includes:

• Background images
• Custom geocoding
• Custom shapes
• Local cube files
• Microsoft Access files
• Microsoft Excel files
• Tableau extract files (.hyper or .tde)
• Text files (.csv, .txt, etc.)

Creating a .twbx file

There are two ways to create a .twbx file.

Way1 →

Step1: File>Save As

Step2: Choose “.twbx” extension.

Way2 →

File>Import packaged Workbook

.hyper/.tde files

In Chapter x, we learned about live and extract connections. To save our files in extract forms we use .hyper/.tde extensions.

.hyper/.tde formats create a local copy of our data. This file format is useful when we want to share our data source with our colleagues.

This format only contains a local copy of our data and no worksheet or dashboard. But make sure, you don’t share any confidential data.

.tde files are discontinued and the extension name has been changed to .hyper.

Creating a .hyper file

There are two ways to create a .hyper file.

Way1 →

Step1: Data>” Your data source name”>Extract Data

Step2: Filter the data(if required) and choose if you wish to refresh the data automatically. Click on “Extract”.

Way2 →

Step1: Right-click on the data source name and choose “Extract Data”.

Step2: Filter the data(if required) and choose if you wish to refresh the data automatically. Click on “Extract”.

.tds files

.tds files contain no data source but all the connections and mapping i.e. data model along with additional modifications done by you, such as parameters, calculated fields, default properties, etc.

.tds contains no worksheets or dashboards.

Creating a .tds file

Step1: Data>” Your Data Source”>Add to saved Data Source.

Step2: Choose “.tds” file.

Locally saved Tableau data source (.tds) files appear under Saved Data Sources, on the Connect page.

.tds files are by default saved at ‘My Tableau Repository>DataSources’.

.tdsx files

.tdsx files are packaged data source files.

.tdsx contains a copy of your data, and modifications made by users in data(parameters, filters, calculations, etc).

Creating a .tdsx file

Step1: Data>” Your Data Source”>Add to saved Data Source.

Step2: Choose “.tdsx” file.

Summing up

Sample Certification Questions from this topic

_____________ contains the visualizations, info needed to build the visualizations, and a copy of the data source.

a. .twb
b. .twbx
c. .tds
d. .tdsx

Solution: .twbx

You have cleaned a data source properly, created some calculated fields, and renamed some columns. You want to save these changes for future use cases. Which of the following would BEST satisfy this requirement?

a. Save it as .tds
b. Save it as .twbx
c. Save it as .twb
d. Save it as .tdsx

Solution: Save it as .tds

Does packaged workbook have an encryption facility?
a. True
b. False

Solution: False

Where does Tableau automatically stores files?
a. My Tableau Repository
b. My Documents
c. Downloads
d. My Datasources

Solution: My Tableau Repository

Which extension is best to share data sources and worksheets?
a. .twbx
b. .tds
c. .tdsx
d. .tde

Solution: .twb

Use the link to get access to free Tableau certification dumps (Valid till 6 July 2022):

https://www.udemy.com/course/tableau-desktop-specialist-certification-dumps-2022/?couponCode=E3F08189FA4BAFAE72BC

References:

[1] Tableau Help U+007C Tableau Software

[2] Personal Notes

[3]Tableau Desktop Specialist Exam (New Pattern — 2021) — Apisero

Thanks for Reading!

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