SQL Data Modeling Guide (PDF)

MarkLogic 10 Product Documentation
SQL Data Modeling Guide — Chapter 6

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Connecting Tableau to MarkLogic Server

This chapter describes how to set up your Tableau to communicate with MarkLogic Server, using the MarkLogic Connector for Tableau. The MarkLogic Connector for Tableau supports Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server.

Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server version 2020.3 is the minimum version of Tableau that is compatible with the MarkLogic Connector for Tableau.

The MarkLogic Connector for Tableau works with MarkLogic Server versions 9.0-1 up to the latest release.

The main topics are:

Install Tableau and Connector

Tableau Desktop

This section describes how to install Tableau Desktop and the MarkLogic Connector for Tableau.

  1. Install Tableau, as described in the Tableau documentation.
  2. Download the marklogic_odbc.taco file at https://extensiongallery.tableau.com/connectors/202.
  3. Move the marklogic_odbc.taco file to:
    • Mac OS: /Users/[your-username]/Documents/My Tableau Repository/Connectors
    • Microsoft Windows: C:\Users\[your-username]\Documents\My Tableau Repository\Connectors
  4. Download and install the MarkLogic ODBC driver:
  5. Restart Tableau Desktop.

Tableau Server

This section describes how to install Tableau Server and the MarkLogic Connector for Tableau.

  1. Install Tableau, as described in the Tableau documentation.
  2. Download the marklogic_odbc.taco file at https://extensiongallery.tableau.com/connectors/202.
  3. Move the marklogic_odbc.taco file to:
    • Linux: /home/[your-username]/Documents
    • Microsoft Windows: C:\Users\[your-username]\Documents

      MarkLogic recommends putting the marklogic_odbc.taco file in the same directory as your other Tableau connector files.

  4. As the root user, tell Tableau Server where to find the marklogic_odbc.taco file:
    • tsm configuration set -k native_api.connect_plugins_path -v <path-to-taco-file> --force-keys
  5. As the root user, apply the changes made with the previous tsm command:
    • tsm pending-changes apply

      This command will give you the option to restart Tableau Server.

  6. Restart Tableau Server.
    • The tsm pending-changes apply command gives you the option to restart Tableau Server. Press y.
  7. Download and install the MarkLogic ODBC driver:

Connect Tableau to MarkLogic Server

This section describes how to connect Tableau Desktop to MarkLogic Server, using the MarkLogic Connector for Tableau.

The procedure described in this section assumes you have first installed the MarkLogic ODBC driver and configured it as an ODBC data source on the client server, as described in Installing and Configuring the MarkLogic Server ODBC Driver.

  1. Open Tableau Desktop, and click MarkLogic by MarkLogic.

    If the ODBC driver is not installed, you will be reminded to download and install the ODBC driver for your platform.

  2. In the MarkLogic by MarkLogic window, enter the name of your MarkLogic server, the port number of your ODBC App Server (5432, in this example), and login credentials. Click Sign In.

Add Tables to Tableau Workbook

This section describes how to use Tableau Desktop to add tables to Tableau Workbook. After successfully connecting Tableau to MarkLogic Server, you can add the defined views, as tables, to your workbook.

  1. In the Data Source window, click Select Table to populate the menu below with the views from your schema:

  2. Drag the views in the Tables menu to the canvas. In this example, the employees view is dragged to the workbook:

  3. Drag another view to the workbook. In this example, the expenses view is dragged to the canvas and joined with employees with an inner join. The results are shown below.

  4. At the top of your canvas, select the desired Connection type:

    Connection Type Description
    Live Creates a direct connection to your data. As reports are generated, data is pulled live from the data source. The speed of your data source will determine performance.
    Extract Imports the entire data source into Tableau's fast data engine as an extract. The extract is saved with the workbook.
  5. At the bottom of the Tableau window, navigate to Sheet1.

  6. In the Sheet1 window, drag EmployeeID, FirstName and LastName from the employees view in the Dimensions pane to the Rows field. Drag Category and Amount from the expenses view to the Rows field. You should see your data stored in MarkLogic Server displayed in table on the right.

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