Tableau Interview Questions and Answers

1. Types of files in tableau.

1. Tableau Workbook (.twb): This particular Tableau file type contains information about worksheets
and dashboards present within a workbook. All the information regarding the fields, aggregation
types, styles, formatting, filters, etc. is present in these files. This Tableau file type is that we can
only create them if we are using live data connections and share them only with the users having
access to the same live data connection.

2. Tableau Packaged Workbook (.twbx): Tableau packaged workbooks have the .twbx file extension.
A packaged workbook is a single zip file that contains a workbook along with any supporting local
file data and background images. This format is the best way to package your work for sharing with
others who don’t have access to the original data.

3. Tableau Data Source (.tds): Tableau data source files have the .tds file extension. Data source files
are shortcuts for quickly connecting to the original data that you use often. Data source files do not
contain the actual data but rather the information necessary to connect to the actual data as well as
any modifications you've made on top of the actual data such as changing default properties, creating
calculated fields, adding groups, and so on. To create a .tds file, from Tableau Desktop, right click
on your data source connection and select Add to Saved Data Sources. Alternatively you can publish
the .tds to Tableau Server by right clicking and selecting Publish to Server instead.

4. Extract (.hyper or .tde): Depending on the version the extract was created in, Tableau extract files
can have either the .hyper or .tde file extension. Extract files are a local copy of a subset or entire
data set that you can use to share data with others, when you need to work offline, and improve
performance. To create a Tableau Data Extract (.tde) file, go to the Data tab present on the top left
of the Tableau toolbar. Select a data source and click on the Extract Data option. After this, you can
either select fields from the data source that you wish to extract or just click on Extract to create a
data extract file (.tde) of the entire data set present at the data source.

5. Packaged Data Source (.tdsx): Tableau packaged data source files have the .tdsx file extension. A
packaged data source is a zip file that contains the data source file (.tds) described above as well as
any local file data such as extract files (.hyper or .tde), text files, Excel files, Access files, and local
cube files. Use this format to create a single file that you can then share with others who may not
have access to the original data stored locally on your computer.

6. Tableau Bookmark (.tbm): Files with the extension .tbm are Tableau Bookmark files. These Tableau
file types are most commonly used to save worksheets and share them with others so that they can
use it in their workbooks without having to create a new worksheet from scratch.To create a .tbm
file, go to the Windows option present on the toolbar. From there, select Bookmark and then click
on Create Bookmark. This will create a .tbm file of the active worksheet.

7. Tableau Preferences (.tps): This is an extension for the Tableau Preference file. This file is mainly
for color preferences across all the worksheets of the workbook. If you want to make your workbook
with a consistent look and feel. In other words, if you want to apply a custom theme to your
workbooks this Tableau Preference File is useful.
2. Types of source connect to tableau.
 Connecting to a File: MS Excel, MS Access, JSON, text file, PDF file, spatial file, etc.

 Server-based Relational Database: Tableau Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL,
Salesforce, IBM DB, Mongo DB, PostgreSQL, Maria DB, etc.
 Cloud-based Data Sources: Cloudera Hadoop, Google Cloud SQL, Amazon Aurora, etc.

Web-based Data Sources: Web Data Connector

 Big Data Sources: Google BigQuery
 In-memory Database: SAP HANA
 ODBC and JDBC connections

3. What is difference between LIVE and EXTRACT

Extract is a snapshot of the data, the extract will need to be refreshed to receive updates from the original
data source, whether it is a local file or an on-premise database. Live connections offer the
convenience of real-time updates, with any changes in the data source reflected in Tableau.
4. What are the measures and dimensions?
Measures are the numeric quantities or measurable metrics of data analyzed easily by the dimension table.
They are stored in the table containing foreign keys which refers uniquely to the associated dimension
tables. The data stored in the table is in atomic form thereby allowing more number of records to be inserted
at a particular time. A sales table, for instance, can contain product key, customer key, items sold, promotion
key, etc. details which are referring to a particular event.
Dimensions, on the other hand, are descriptive attribute values used for multiple dimensions of an attribute
which defines different characteristics. A dimension table can consist values like product name, type,
product size, description, color, etc.
5. what is data joins and data blending
Data Blending: Combining the data from two or more different sources is Data Blending. We can combine
data between two more variety of sources such as Oracle, Excel, SQL Server and others.
Example: Combining the Oracle Table with SQL Server Table (OR) Combining Two Tables from Oracle
Database (OR) Combining Two Sheets from Excel (OR) Combining Excel Sheet and Oracle Table and so
on.
 In Data Blending, each data source contains its own set of Dimensions and Measures.
Data Blending is useful when there is a need to combine the data from variety of sources such as Oracle,
DB2, Sybase, SQL Server, Excel Files and others. We can NOT have common set of Dimensions and
Measures which limits to create groups, formulas and other entities across the data.
Data Joining: Combining the data between two or more tables or sheets within the same Data Source is
Data Joining.
Example: Combining Two Tables from the same Oracle Database (or) DB2 (or) Sybase (or) SQL Server
and others. Combining two or more worksheets from the same Excel file.
In Data Joining, all the combined tables or sheets contains common set of Dimensions and Measures.
Data Joining is useful when there is a need to combine the data from single source but multiple tables or
sheets and others, such as two or more Oracle tables or DB2 tables or Sybase tables or SQL Server tables
or Excel Files and others. We CAN have common set of Dimensions and Measures which extends the
ability to create groups, formulas and other entities across the data.
6. How can we improve performance of dashboard?
Minimize the number of fields based on the analysis being performed. Use the hide all unused
fields’ option to remove unused columns from a data source.
Minimize the number of records. Use extract filters to keep only the data you need.
Optimize extracts to speed up future queries by materializing calculations, removing columns and the use
of accelerated views.
Reduce the marks (data points) in your view Remove unneeded dimensions from the detail shelf.
Reduce the number of filters in use.
Use a continuous date filter.
Use parameters and action filters.
Perform calculations in the database.
Reduce the number of nested calculations.
Minimize joined tables.
Delete or consolidate unused worksheets and data sources.
7. tell the filters availble in tableau
Extract Filters. ...
Data Source Filter. ...
Context Filter. ...
Dimension filter. ...
Measure Filters. ...
Table Filters.
8. What is windows function tell two windows functions.
A window function performs a calculation across a set of table rows that are somehow related to the
current row.
 Windows functions are the inbuilt function in Tableau which are used for comparative analysis. Some of
the common windows functions are -window_Avg, window_min, window_max etc.

9. What are table calculations give example.

Table calculations in Tableau are basically transformations you apply to the values in a visualisation.
They are calculated based on what is currently in the visualisation and do not consider any measures or
dimensions that are filtered out of the visualisation.
You can use table calculations to transform values in ways including but not limited to:
 Rankings
 Running totals
 Per cent of total
10. What is context filter and what are its limitations?
It makes the filtering process smooth and straightforward. It is used to establish a filtering hierarchy
where all the present filters are used to refer to context filters while other filters process the data which
has been already passed by the context filter. More than one context filter creation is used to improve
performance as extra filters are not created and thus the query execution time is also maintained. This can
be created by dragging the field into filters tab and right click on the field and select “Add to context”.

Limitations of context filter: By default time is taken to place a filter in context. A temporary file is
created as soon as the filter is set to context one for that context filter. The table will reload every time and
it will contain the values not filtered by either context filter or by custom SQL filter.

11. What are Schedules and Extracts in a Tableau server?

Data extracts are the first subdivisions or copies of actual data from original data sources. The workbook
using data extracts instead of living connections is faster. After the extraction of data users can publish their
workbook. Scheduled refresh is the scheduled task set used to refresh the data extract. This saves from the
effort of republishing the workbook every time the data gets updated.
12. What is the page shelf?
It is a distinct and powerful tool to control the output display. It fragments the view into the line of pages
thereby giving a different view on every page. This minimizes the scrolling and makes it more user-friendly.
The pages can be flipped through specific controls and compared at the common axle.
13. How we can see the sql code generated by tableau during dashboard creation
Navigate to the Logs folder inside the My Tableau Repository folder.
By default, the My Tableau Repository can be found inside the My Documents folder on Windows or
the Documents folder on a Mac.
If you have a live connection to the data source, check the log.txt and tabprotosrv.txt files.
 If you are using an extract, check the hyperd.log (Tableau 10.5 and newer versions) or tdeserver.txt
(Tableau 10.4 and older versions) file.
The tabprotosrv.txt file often shows detailed information about queries.

14. What is difference between SUM and WINDOWS SUM ?

SUM is nothing but the total of the values presents in the block. Window SUM in tableau performs a total
of the previous value, current value, and future value. It will perform aggregation of the first level row in
the tableau sheet. We always need to create a calculated field for the calculations to be performed in the
tableau. The syntax for this is – WINDOW SUM (), for these create calculated fields you can name
anything you want. Windows in tableau offers different functions such as total, average, sum, etc.
Windows SUM is one of them.
e.g. WINDOW_SUM(SUM([Sales]),-1,0) -1 for previous value and 0 for current value

15. If you have only one measure which graph will you prefer.
Histogram is for 1 measure and Bin field.
16.

17. How To Remove ‘all’ Options From A Tableau Auto-filter?

 The auto-filter provides a feature of removing ‘All’ options by simply clicking the down arrow in the
auto-filter heading. You can scroll down to ‘Customize’ in the dropdown and then uncheck the ‘Show
“All” Value’ attribute. It can be activated by checking the field again.
18. What Is Default Data Blending Join?
Data blending is the ability to bring data from multiple data sources into one Tableau view, without the
need for any special coding. A default blend is equivalent to a left outer join. However, by switching
which data source is primary, or by filtering nulls, it is possible to emulate left, right and inner joins.
19. How To Do Performance Testing In Tableau?
Performance testing is again an important part of implementing tableau. This can be done by loading
Testing Tableau Server with TabJolt, which is a “Point and Run” load generator created to perform QA.
While TabJolt is not supported by tableau directly, it has to be installed using other open source products.
20. Explain The Concept Of Dual Axis?
Dual Axis is an excellent phenomenon supported by Tableau that helps users view two scales of two
measures in the same graph. Many websites like Indeed.com and other make use of dual axis to show the
comparison between two measures and their growth rate in a septic set of years. Dual axes let you
compare multiple measures at once, having two independent axes layered on top of one another.
21. Define Parameters In Tableau And Their Working.
Tableau parameters are dynamic variables/values that replace the constant values in data calculations and
filters. For instance, you can create a calculated field value returning true when the score is greater than
80, and otherwise false. Using parameters, one can replace the constant value of 80 and control it
dynamically in the formula.
22. List The Difference Between Parameters And Filters In Tableau?
The difference actually lies in the application. Parameters allow users to insert their values, which can be
integers, float, date, string that can be used in calculations. However, filters receive only values users choose
to ‘filter by’ the list, which cannot be used to perform calculations.
Users can dynamically change measures and dimensions in parameter but filters do not approve of this
feature.
23. Define Fact Table And Dimension Table In Tableau?
Facts are the numeric metrics or measurable quantities of the data, which can be analyzed by dimension
table. Facts are stores in Fact table that contain foreign keys referring uniquely to the associated dimension
tables. The fact table supports data storage at atomic level and thus, allows more number of records to be
inserted at one time. For instance, a Sales Fact table can have product key, customer key, promotion key,
items sold, referring to a specific event.
Dimensions are the descriptive attribute values for multiple dimensions of each attribute, defining multiple
characteristics. A dimension table ,having reference of a product key form the fact table, can consist of
product name, product type, size, color, description, etc.
24. How To View Underlying Sql Queries In Tableau?
Create a Performance Recording to record performance information about the main events you interact
with workbook. Users can view the performance metrics in a workbook created by Tableau.
Help> Settings and Performance> Start Performance Recording
Help> Setting and Performance > Stop Performance Recording• Reviewing the Tableau Desktop Logs
located at C:Users\My DocumentsMy Tableau Repository. For live connection to data source, you can
check log.txt and tabprotosrv.txt files. For an extract, check tdeserver.txt file.
25. How Many Maximum Tables You Can Join In Tableau?
The maximum number of 32 tables can be joined in Tableau. A table size must also be limited to 255 columns
(fields).
26. What are user functions in Tableau?
The user functions in Tableau are unique functions that we use to perform operations on the registered users
on Tableau Server or Tableau Online. We use the User functions to apply user-specific filters or row-level
 security functions on Tableau users. For instance, if we want to restrict a view to just one user we can do
so by using one of the user functions. Some commonly used user functions are FULLNAME,
ISFULLNAME, ISMEMBEROF, ISUSERNAME, USERNAME, USERDOMAIN, etc.
27. What are the different data types in Tableau?

28. What are the different types of functions generally used in Tableau?
1. String function: These functions like ASCII, CHAR, FIND,
ISDATE, LOWER, etc, are known as string functions because
they work on the string values or characters to manipulate
them.
2. Date function: We use date functions to apply logical as
well as arithmetic operations on date values present at the data
source. Using the date functions we can manipulate the date
values by changing the old values, creating new ones or
searching data on the basis of specific dates. Some commonly
used date functions in Tableau are DATEADD, MAKEDATE,
ISDATE, MAKETIME, MONTH, MIN/MAX, TODAY, NOW,
etc.
3. Logical function: We use logical functions to perform
logical or relational operations on data in Tableau. Some
commonly used logical functions in Tableau are, CASE, IF,
IFNULL, ISNULL, ZN, etc.
4. Aggregate function: We use aggregate functions to apply
aggregation on data values in different ways. Some important
aggregation functions used in Tableau are; AVG, ATTR, MAX,
MEDIAN, MIN, PERCENTILE, SUM, STDDEV, etc.
5. User function: We use functions to manage the users
registered on Tableau Server or Tableau Online. Commonly
used user functions are, FULLNAME, ISFULLNAME,
ISUSERNAME, USERDOMAIN, USERNAME, etc

29. What is data blending in Tableau? How is it different from joins?

The data blending brings data from two different data sources together in a single view or in a single Tableau
worksheet. For data blending in Tableau, there are two data sources; a primary data source and a secondary
data source. The relevant data of the secondary data source is taken and added with the main data of the
primary data source and a blended table is displayed.

Blending is different from creating joins because blending only combines relevant data from different data
sources, whereas joins work on a row-level and often duplicates data that is repeating in several rows. Also,
both data blending and joining create a left join between two data tables. But the main point of difference
is when the aggregation takes place, that is, when a join is created, the data is combined first and then
aggregated. Whereas, in data blending, the data from primary and secondary data sources are queried
 independently, aggregated, combined and then used for visualization. So, the order of operations are
different in both.

30. State some reasons for the low performance of Tableau? Explain in detail.

Following are the reason for low performance

 Filters - filters need to create an extra query and if it used in large numbers and inefficiently then they
can reduce the performance. So, it is advised to use filters whenever it is mandatory
 Live connection - Tableau extract works much better in comparison with live connection.
 Data sources - a wrong query to a wrong data source can reduce performance. Also data source’s
performance can also affect Tableau’s performance.
31. State some ways to improve the performance of Tableau.

 Use an Extract to make workbooks run faster

 Reduce the scope of data to decrease the volume of data
 Reduce the number of marks on the view to avoid information overload
 Try to use integers or Booleans in calculations as they are much faster than strings
 Hide unused fields
 Use Context filters
 Reduce filter usage and use some alternative way to achieve same result
 Use indexing in tables and use same fields for filtering
 Remove unnecessary calculations and sheets
32. Tell me different ways to use parameters in Tableau

 Filters
 calculated fields
 actions
 measure-swaps
 changing views
 auto updates
33. What is Forecasting in Tableau?
Forecasting means predicting the future value of a measure. There are various methods for
forecasting. However, in Tableau, the user can only use exponential smoothing.
34. How to create cascading filters without context filter?
I have filter 1 and filter 2..Based on filterl I need to filter2 data
Ex: Filter 1 as Country and Filter 2: States
I have chosen country as USA and filter 2 should display only USA states
Choose options of Filter2 states :
select option of "Only relevant values "
35. Explain about Actions in Tableau?
How many types of options are there in Tableau Actions?
Difference between Tableau Actions - filter vs highlight vs url ?
Difference between actions vs hierarchies?
Tableau actions in worksheets, dashboards, workbooks.
36. Tableau Actions
Using Actions we can create navigation between high level details to low level details to support analysis. This
navigation can take place between worksheets (or) withing dashboard between worksheets (or) between two
difference workbooks.
Options in Tableau Actions
There three options to implement ACTIONS in TABLEAU.

* FILTER
* HIGHLIGHT
* URL
Tableau Actions Using FILTER
The FILTER option helps to navigate from source worksheet to target worksheet. One worksheet can carry
high level details and the target worksheet can have detail level information in relation to the source
worksheet.

Example: Source worksheet can have category level information and target worksheet can have category,
subcategory details. Upon selection of a category we can navigate to target worksheet to see sub-category
level details.
Tableau Actions Using HIGHLIGHT
The HIGHLIGHT option helps to navigate within DASHBOARD between source worksheet and target
worksheet. One worksheet can carry high level details and the target worksheet can have detail level
information in relation to the source worksheet.

Example: Dashboard with Sales by Category, Sub-category. Assume there are two worksheets in the
dashboard. One worksheet can have category level information and target worksheet can have category,
subcateogry details. Upon HOVER of a category we can HIGHLIGHT the sub-category level details in the
target worksheet.
Tableau Actions Using URL
The URL option helps to navigate from one PUBLISHED WORKBOOK to ANOTHER PUBLISHED
WORKBOOK. When report gets published in the Tableau Server it gets an unique URL. One Workbook can
have high level details and the other workbook can have low level details.

Example: Workbook with Sales by Category. Another workbook with Sales by Category, Sub-category. Upon
SELECTION of a category in one workbook the other workbook URL opens.
NOTE: We can trigger actions using SELECT, HOVER and MENU.
HOVER is best match with HIGHLIGHT in the Dashboard.
SELECT is good with FILTER across worksheets.
MENU is best when multiple actions exists.
37. Explain Tableau Architecture or Framework ?
 38. What is Pivoting in Tableau?
In Tableau, pivoting means transposing data from a crosstab format into a columnar format–from wide,
short tables into thin, tall tables.

39. What tool in Tableau can help in Data Cleaning and Data Preparation?
Data Interpreter

40. What types of Charts are used for Correlation?

Scatter plots are primarily used for correlation and distribution analysis. Good for showing the
relationship between two different variables where one correlates to another (or doesn't).
Scatter charts can also show the data distribution or clustering trends and help you spot anomalies or
outliers.

41. What is Clustering all about?

Clustering is a powerful feature in Tableau that allows you to easily group similar dimension members. This
type of clustering helps you create statistically-based segments which provide insight into how different groups
are similar as well as how they are performing compared to each other.

Tableau Server
1. What is user function?
User Functions can be used to create user filters or row/column-level security that affect visualizations published to
Tableau Server or Tableau Online, so that only certain people can see certain views of your visualization.
One example of row-level security (RLS) is that you may want to restrict data access so that the sales representatives
can only see their own sales figures whereas the managers may be able to see all figures. For column-level security,
you may want to restrict access so that some people can see a measure (such as profit margin), whereas others may
not.
1.fullname 2.isfullname 3. Ismemberof 4. Userdomain 5. Isusername 6. Username
. The functions start with IS… returns boolean results (True or False) whereas the other functions return strings.
2. what are user filters.
To see the answer go to this link
https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/publish_userfilters_create.htm

2. what is Row Level security in Tableau?

Row Level Security (RLS) in Tableau refers to restricting the rows of data a certain user can see in a given workbook or
data source at the time they view the data. This allows you to better control what data users see in a published view
based on their Tableau Server login account. Using this technique, a regional manager is able to view data for her region
but not the data for the other regional managers. With these data security approaches, you can publish a single view or
dashboard in a way that provides secure, personalized data and analysis to a wide range of users on Tableau Server.