Blog

07
DEC
2018

Tableau Commenting Extension

Kommentare : 24

Which problem does it solve?
It solves the problem of having discussions around particular outliers in visualizations. You can basically select any mark on a dashboard, create a new comment for it and review what other people discussed about it. This particular Tableau Extension is commenting on Order IDs, but you can easily adjust it to comment on mark you want!
                                                
                                            
                                                

How does this look like? 

How can I get it? 

Step-by-Step

Step-by-Step Installation

  1. Extract both Extensions into “My Tableau Repository/Extension”
    Download Extensions here
  2. Extract Xampp (Webserver + MySQL directly into your C: drive)
    Download Xampp here
  3. Start C:/xampp/xampp_start.exe as administrator
  4. Start Tableau Desktop 2018.3.x or a higher version and open up one of the following workbook
    Download Workbooks here

 

 

Video Installation

Video Installation

 

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

  • Port 8888  is already in use before starting Xampp
    (Change the port)
  • Port 3306 is already in use before starting Xampp
    (Change the port)
  • You’re using an older Tableau Version than 2018.3.x
    • Download and install Tableau Desktop 2018.3.x or above
    • Open up the workbooks from step 4
    • Go to File > Export As and select the version that you want to downgrade to  
    • Keep in mind that the version needs to support Tableau Extensions. Therefore 2018.2 or above is required

 

  • If it’s still not working see how you can debug Tableau Extensions generally

    Files from the Video:
    1. Download Chromium
    2. Start Tableau Desktop 2018.3 (with Extension in Debug Mode)

 

 

Timo Tautenhahn
Über den Autor
Timo originally coded his own BI-application by making use of different JAVA libraries. He Worked for IBM as BI-specialist and BA-architect before he joined Tableau. Favorite subject: JavaScript API

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24 Kommentare

  1. Timo Tautenhahn
    Timo Tautenhahn 19. December 2018 at 9:02 Reply

    If you’re already using the “Tableau Photo Booth” you don’t need to repeat step 2. Just do the following steps instead of step 2 from above and leverage your existing Xampp:

    1) Start your XAMPP from the “Tableau Photo Booth” blog post

    2) Navigate to phpMyAdmin within the browser (via http://localhost:8888 and the button on the top right)

    3) Import the following 2 SQL statements by extracting this zip file and copy+paste the content into phpMyAdmin->Import

  2. Avatar
    Srinivas 16. May 2019 at 12:34 Reply

    Hi Everyone,

    I am trying to implement Tableau Write Back functionality and followed step by step procedure mentioned in the below link. https://tableaufans.com/extension-api/tableau-commenting-extension/

    But for some reason, when I click on Submit after entering the comment, the comment is not inserting into database.

    Below is the version which I am using to test the functionality:

    Desktop Version : 2018.3

    Server protocol configuration: HTTP

    Can you please help me to fix this issue.

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 16. May 2019 at 15:29 Reply

      Hey Srinivas,
      did you try to open up Tableau Desktop in debugging mode as described in the troubleshooting section? What do you see in the console?

  3. Avatar
    Santhosh Sekar 2. September 2019 at 23:31 Reply

    Hi,
    Im getting this error when I try to start the xamp_start.exe. PLease help.

    only one usage of each socket address is normally permitted.
    could not bind to address 0.0.0.0:443
    no listening sockets available. Shutting down.
    unable to open logs

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 3. September 2019 at 18:30 Reply

      Hi Santosh,
      Did you adjust some configurations as my setup is not using port 443? Does it work with the default settings?

      It looks like something is already running under the port 443 (which shouldn‘t be used in my default setup as this requires some more adjustments).

      Cheers,
      Timo

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 26. September 2019 at 17:16 Reply

      You can also simply use this QUICKSTART guide
      (XAMPP with DB fully set up incl 3 Write Back Extensions)

  4. Avatar
    Dwayne Bates 24. September 2019 at 20:20 Reply

    Can this be used with SQL Server?

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 26. September 2019 at 9:28 Reply

      Hi Dwayne,
      absolutely! Just find the following post: https://tableaufans.com/extension-api/how-to-write-back-data-to-microsoft-sql-server/

  5. Avatar
    Abraham 18. June 2020 at 19:53 Reply

    Cool feature – Do you have installation instructions for the Tableau Hosted version? I assume I have to make some additional changes to write back to a db (snowflake in my case)

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 22. June 2020 at 10:45 Reply

      Hey Abraham,
      thx a lot! There is no hosted version for this particular Extension, but here you can find the “Write back to Snowflake Extension”.

  6. Avatar
    Franco 8. July 2020 at 17:35 Reply

    Hi Timo,

    How can you keep comments in databases that are updated daily?

    Regards

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 10. July 2020 at 8:49 Reply

      Hi Franco,
      you simply create an additional table with at least 3 columns:

    • comment_id (id of the comment)
    • comment_text (comment itself)
    • commented_on_id
    • The last column is the one you then join to the table which contains your data. So for example you comment on transaction_id (master data table) and you join this to commented_on_id (commenting table). By just adding more columns like user, timestamp and other information you can enrich your commenting so that it becomes even more powerful and to see the full history of all comments per transaction (like you can see in above’s video).

  • Avatar
    Susan Fritz 29. July 2020 at 19:18 Reply

    Does this have to be set up on every PC that would enter and view comments? Or would it be set up by Tableau Admins for the Tableau Server? We have executive level users that need to enter comments through Tableau Server that all other users of the workbooks can see. What your video shows looks great! But before we get with our service desk to assist with downloads and changing it to write to MS SQL Server I wanted to confirm that it can be set up once for the Service Instance. Thank you!

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 30. July 2020 at 11:23 Reply

      Hi Susan,
      the scenario you’re describing is absolutely possible and you don’t need to set this up on every PC! Your Tableau admin team could configure Tableau Server to support such a Tableau Extension within your browser easily. Then you simply:

      – provide your executives with a dashboard which includes this extension
      – provide normal users with the same dashboard without the extension

      Just connect your IT with a Tableau consultant and send him this blog post. They can then set it up.
      Cheers,
      Timo

  • Avatar
    Aamir 24. May 2021 at 19:53 Reply

    Hi Timo,
    I am not able to select the worksheet when I add the extension to the dashboard. It just says choose one sheet from and doesn’t give me any options to chose from.

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 21. April 2022 at 7:19 Reply

      It‘s possible that I hardcoded the selection for this example. The other option is that I‘m using a public JS library which prevents it from working. Simply open up the chrome debugger in order to see if you get an error like „library degraded“ (find a short tutorial within the debugger section)

  • Avatar
    rachel 31. May 2021 at 11:05 Reply

    Hi,
    When I dragged the extension into the testing workbook, there was a ‘Choose 1 sheet from’ bolded text at the bottom, and when I click submit comment, nothing happens. Any idea why?

    Also, how do I use this extension with the dashboard I already created? Or does it only work with the sales order id example?
    Thank you!

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 21. April 2022 at 7:18 Reply

      It‘s possible that I hardcoded the selection for this example. The other option is that I‘m using a public JS library which prevents it from working. Simply open up the chrome debugger in order to see if you get an error like „library degraded“ (find a short tutorial within the debugger section)

  • Avatar
    Andrea Valdez Hernandez 1. July 2021 at 0:11 Reply

    Hi, Tim! I love your extension, however i cannot login. Have you change the user or password?

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 21. April 2022 at 7:12 Reply

      Nope, I don‘t think I changed the PW. It should be admin/admin for this asset. What‘s the exact error message you get?

  • Avatar
    Kimberly 20. April 2022 at 11:58 Reply

    Hello Timo,
    I know this post is a while ago, but what you have shown is something my users really need. I tried to duplicate the scenario on my local laptop first. However, I am using a mac, but your download file for xampp is for windows. I tried to download it myself, but that one won’t have “yoursqldb” database. Also I am not entirely sure if I have set it up correctly. Could you assist on how this works for mac?
    Many thanks!

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 21. April 2022 at 7:11 Reply

      You could setup any webserver + database yourself and use this tutorial to setup the ports + database yourself like it‘s described here: https://tableaufans.com/extension-api/tableau-extension-api-write-back-updated-source-code-for-tableau-2018-2/

  • Avatar
    Liu Zhu 17. May 2022 at 11:00 Reply

    I want to change mysql to oracel, Could you give me solution

    • Timo Tautenhahn
      Timo Tautenhahn 13. July 2022 at 13:05 Reply

      Just look at the following posts which describe what you need to adjust to write data to MS SQL, SAP HANA or Snowflake and make similar adjustments to write data back to Oracle.

      – Snowflake
      – MS SQL
      – SAP HANA

      If you want to contribute your work back to the community I’m happy to let you post about it once you’ve successfully set it up.

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    07
    DEC
    2018

    Tableau Commenting Extension

    Kommentare : 0

    Какую проблему это поможет Вам решить? (Which problem does it solve?)

    Иногда достаточно сложно вести дискуссии вокруг отдельных элементов анализа. Это расширение позволит вам просто выбрать конкретные точки на визуализации, добавить комментарий, а также посмотреть комментарии, сделанные ранее. В данном примере используется поле ID Продукта, но вы можете легко адаптировать это расширение под свои данные!

    Как это выглядит? (How does it look like?)

    Как я могу это установить? (How can I get it?)

                                                
                                                    

    How does this look like? 

    How can I get it? 

    Step-by-Step

    Step-by-Step Installation

    1. Extract both Extensions into “My Tableau Repository/Extension”
      Download Extensions here
    2. Extract Xampp (Webserver + MySQL directly into your C: drive)
      Download Xampp here
    3. Start C:/xampp/xampp_start.exe as administrator
    4. Start Tableau Desktop 2018.3.x or a higher version and open up one of the following workbook
      Download Workbooks here

     

     

    Video Installation

    Video Installation

     

    Troubleshooting

    Troubleshooting

    • Port 8888  is already in use before starting Xampp
      (Change the port)
    • Port 3306 is already in use before starting Xampp
      (Change the port)
    • You’re using an older Tableau Version than 2018.3.x
      • Download and install Tableau Desktop 2018.3.x or above
      • Open up the workbooks from step 4
      • Go to File > Export As and select the version that you want to downgrade to  
      • Keep in mind that the version needs to support Tableau Extensions. Therefore 2018.2 or above is required

     

    • If it’s still not working see how you can debug Tableau Extensions generally

      Files from the Video:
      1. Download Chromium
      2. Start Tableau Desktop 2018.3 (with Extension in Debug Mode)

     

     

    Timo Tautenhahn
    Über den Autor
    Timo originally coded his own BI-application by making use of different JAVA libraries. He Worked for IBM as BI-specialist and BA-architect before he joined Tableau. Favorite subject: JavaScript API

    Teilen

    • google-share

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