Write Back Extensions – 3 in 1 Quickstart

Written by

In this blog post you can get all 3 Tableau Write Back Extensions as part of a larger demo asset – a Tableau Server Site which demonstrates all kinds of cool things on the Tableau Platform. Nevertheless people are regularly asking how to just quickly demonstrate how Tableau Write Back capabilities can look like. So this blog post is just about how to get the 3 Tableau Workbooks from above which include (Write Back Extensions) up and running as fast as possible?!

How can I get it?

Demo

Demo

System Requirements:

Windows operating system
Port 8888 needs to be open/free (Webserver)
Port 3306 needs to be open/free (MySQL)
Tableau Server 2018.3 or above

&lt;span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”&gt;&lt;/span&gt;

Step-by-Step Installation

Step-by-Step Installation

1. Download this customized XAMPP
  - Port 8888 needs to be open & free (Webserver)
  - Port 3306 needs to be open & free (MySQL)
2. Extract it into C:
3. Start the xampp_start.exe within C:\xampp-tableaufans
4. Download and open the Tableau Workbooks
5. Database password is “admin“

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)

FYI

P.S. Database User/Password are both “admin/admin” for all examples where workbooks leverage the MySQL database on Xampp you’ve been downloading above. You can have a look at the tables being used via http://localhost:8888/phpmyadmin/db_structure.php?server=1&db=tableaufans

Please let us know if this has been helpful and what kind of scenarios you’re looking forward to solve with it.

TREX Files

Download Tableaufans-WriteBack-Extensions-TREX-Files

Write Back

Comments

73 responses to “Write Back Extensions – 3 in 1 Quickstart”

26. September 2019

tableaufans.com » Tableau Write Back Extensions

[…] this blog post if you want to get them up and running in just a few minutes […]

Reply
26. September 2019

tableaufans.com » Tableau Extension API – Write Back – Source Code

[…] LATEST VERSION OF THIS WRITE BACK EXTENSION => CLICK HERE […]

Reply
26. September 2019

tableaufans.com » Tableau Extension API – Write Back – Updated Source Code for Tableau 2018.2

[…] LATEST VERSION OF THIS WRITE BACK EXTENSION => CLICK HERE […]

Reply
30. September 2019

Omar

Hello Timo,

Appreciate this documentation and walkthrough for the writeback extension! I’m looking to set up this extension to write back to MS SQL or Teradata. Are there any possible negative consequences are setting up part of this writeback extension, other than a warning that something was set up wrong (eg. database corruption, etc)?

Omar

Reply
1. 2. October 2019
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Omar,
  you’re welcome and please feel free to adjust it to your own needs!!! You can absolutely adjust the Extensions to write data back to your backend of choice! I unified/adjusted the original table names a little bit for this blog post, but for MSSQL you can have a look at the steps necessary in this post “Write back to MSSQL Server“
  
  Reply
2. October 2019

Benoit

Hello Timo,

Thank you very much for your work!
I am looking to write back data to an Excel spreadsheet (locally hosted).
Would it be possible to use the Write Back extension to do so? I guess it should be pretty simple but I can’t find a way.

Best Regard,

Benoit

Reply
1. 2. October 2019
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Benoit,
  that is absolutely possible. You could adjust the “writeToDb.php” file within htdocs\extensions-api-master\myExtensions\Tableaufans--Extension\php. One library I just found within my first Google result was the following one: https://github.com/PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet. Please feel free to choose from many others out there. It would be awesome if you could keep the community posted about your approach! 😉
  
  Reply
  1. 3. October 2019
    
    Benoit
    
    Thank you very much for your informative (and quick) answer, I will try that and keep you posted!
    
    Reply
  2. 16. January 2020
    
    Alex Leung
    
    HI Timo,
    
    I am having trouble changing the “writeToDb.php”.
    
    Please can you give further guidance on it?
    
    Thank you.
    
    Reply
    1. 20. January 2020
      
      Timo Tautenhahn
      
      Hi Alex,
      what kind of trouble do you have?
      
      Reply
9. October 2019

Max Henrion

Timo, these write-backs look great! Would you be available for some consulting to assist us with a modification to the extension? If not, can you suggest someone else?
Thanks
Max

Reply
1. 10. October 2019
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Max, I can highly advise you to reach out to a Tableau partner for this type of customization. Check out this list and find one in your region. You can also reach out to your Tableau seller directly so that he can help you find one.
  
  Reply
23. October 2019

FT

Hi Timo,

I have some problems when i open the extension in 2019.2 it crashes…
When i look at the xampp in the embedding there is no writeback folder..
If i open http://localhost:8888/TableaufansDemoOverview/ and click on writeback i get url like this but there nothing there: http://localhost/t/tableaufans/views/TableaufansWriteBackExtension/WriteBack
Need a update i think?

Best

Reply
1. 25. October 2019
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi FT,
  
  The workbooks within the demo are created with 2019.3. Attached you find one of it as v2019.1 workbook in order to be able to test it: DOWNLOAD If it works I’m happy to provide you with the other workbooks, too since this is very easy to achieve.
  
  The write back code is located deeper in the folder structure: “xampp-tableaufans\htdocs\extensions-api-master\myExtensions\Tableaufans-WriteBack-Extension\php\writeToDb.php”
  
  The XAMPP for this blog post is just being used to host the database + webserver. Therefore don’t open up the browser, but open up the workbooks instead. (I’ve been updating the XAMPP anyway to make this page not even appear for this asset anymore)
  
  The link works if you setup this site on your local Tableau Server
  
  Cheers,
  Timo
  
  Reply
24. October 2019

Simone Magagnini

This is awesome but it doesnt work…perhaps the issues with the IT ppl 🙁

Reply
1. 25. October 2019
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hey Simone, What exactly is not working?
  
  Reply
7. January 2020

Anuj

Hey Timo, this wsa working earlier and now it seems to stop working.. its not doing anything after you select the Mark.
i tried debugging but didnt make much headway. i even download a fresh copy from the web and saw the same thing..
function loadSelectedMarks
console.log(“worksheetName:” + worksheet.name );
// Call to get the selected marks for our sheet
worksheet.getSelectedMarksAsync().then(function (marks) {
// Get the first DataTable for our selected marks (usually there is just one)
const worksheetData = marks.data[0];
// console.log(“in loadSelectedMarks”);
//console.log(“worksheetData :” + worksheetData);
// console.log(“totalRowCount :” + marks.data[0].totalRowCount);

// Map our data into the format which the data table component expects it
const data = worksheetData.data.map(function (row, index) {
const rowData = row.map(function (cell) {
//selected marks per row and index (= column)
return cell.formattedValue;
});
console.log(“rowData:” + rowData);
print(“rowData:” + rowData);

it doesnt print any data in the console log

Reply
16. January 2020

Wannie W

Hi Timo,
Thank you for sharing such an awesome tool!
Is there any way for the extension to connect to Oracle Database instead of MySQL? If so, what are the configuration changes?

Reply
1. 20. January 2020
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Wannie,
  thank you very much for your feedback and you’re welcome! 😉
  
  Absolutely! 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 similiar 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.
  
  Reply
22. January 2020

Hema

Hi Timo,
Thanks a ton for sharing this!! Can we use Teradata for this? Also, can we host the extension on our internal server?
Thanks!
Hema.

Reply
1. 28. January 2020
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Hema,
  2x absolutely yes.
  
  1) Teradata: Just have a look at the last comment above yours.
  2) Host on internal Server: Yes. You just need a normal web server for it. You can theoretically use Tableau’s built in web server (NOT SUPPORTED!), but also any other one.
  
  Reply
18. February 2020

Matt

Hi Timo:

We upgraded our QA Tableau Server to 1019.4.3. However, now the writeback functionality no longer works. Anuj’s post from January 7th sounds like the exact issue we’re having because it’s failing in the same place. Using “Alerts” I was able to pinpoint where the issue is:

const data = worksheetData.data.map(function (row, index) {
const rowData = row.map(function (cell) {
//selected marks per row and index (= column)
return cell.formattedValue;
});

Any thoughts?

Reply
1. 28. February 2020
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Matt,
  Does it work for Tableau Desktop locally?
  And in case the Extension is not running locally, did you setup HTTPS between Tableau Server and the Extension Web Server?
  
  Reply
24. February 2020

Mohan

Hello Timo,

I have followed your instructions but when i opened the workbook and enter the password as admin, the “Sign In” is still grayed out and not actcivated. I am using 2019.3 desktop version.

Any help is appreciated.

-Mohan

Reply
1. 28. February 2020
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Mohan,
  could you please try to connect to the MySQL database in an empty workbook?
  
  Reply
  1. 2. March 2020
    
    Mohan
    
    Thank you for your reply.
    Yes, It works when I try to connect from an empty workbook. we have a few dashboards that run on my SQL. The samples are the only ones I am not able to open.
    
    -Mohan
    
    Reply
    1. 5. March 2020
      
      Timo Tautenhahn
      
      Hey Mohan,
      you might want to have a look at the latest comment from Matt. He realized a change within the naming convention of Tableau’s Extension API.
      
      Reply
28. February 2020

Raj

Hi Timo,
This is a great blog, I followed the all steps to test out the extension. However for some reason when I add the extension to the dashboard it isn’t working. I’m getting the texts displayed but i’m not able to interact with the extension. It’ll be really helpful if you can guide me on this !

Reply
1. 28. February 2020
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Raj,
  2 questions:
  
  1. Did you use my pre-built dashboards which already contain the extension?
  2. Did you follow the Troubleshooting tab video?
  
  Reply
  1. 2. March 2020
    
    Raj
    
    Thanks for your reply Timo,
    
    The extension works fine with your latest version, where all the steps are automated. However I was trying the manual setup process where the extension interface is failing.
    
    I was trying manual process because it’ll help me understand underlying steps better, as I’ll have to tweak the scripts and eventually want the extension to write back on HANA DB.
    
    Reply
29. February 2020

Matt

Hi Timo:
Thanks for getting back to me. It does not work within desktop either. Yes the https is setup between the Tableau server and the extension server. This functionality has been working under 2018.3.1 since April. It still works today and is used in existing dashboards, again under 2018.3.1.

Reply
4. March 2020

Matt

I came across this known issue in 2019.4.3:
1052015 TABLEAU DESKTOP, TABLEAU SERVER
In Rest Api Schema, Public schemas missing attributes for viewType and siteType.

FIXED IN 2019.2.9, 2019.2.9, 2019.3.5, 2019.3.5, 2019.4.4, 2019.4.4

Let me install 2019.4.4 and see if I have better luck.

Reply
4. March 2020

Matt

Okay, it didn’t work in Tableau Desktop 2019.4.4 either. Looks like the same issue. I’m having trouble getting the dashboard into debug mode. I went ahead and used alerts to track to the point of failure which is occuring in the loadSelectedMark function:

In the below source, I receive the “Load Title” and the “Row Data1 alerts, but never make it to the “Row Data2” or “Row Data3” alerts:

function loadSelectedMarks (worksheetName) {

// Remove any existing event listeners
if (unregisterEventHandlerFunction) {
unregisterEventHandlerFunction();
}

// Get the worksheet object we want to get the selected marks for
const worksheet = getSelectedSheet(worksheetName);
alert(‘Load Title’);
// Set our title to an appropriate value
$(‘#selected_marks_title’).text(worksheet.name);

// Call to get the selected marks for our sheet
worksheet.getSelectedMarksAsync().then(function (marks) {
// Get the first DataTable for our selected marks (usually there is just one)
const worksheetData = marks.data[0];
// Map our data into the format which the data table component expects it
alert(‘Row Data1’);
const data = worksheetData.data.map(function (row, index) {
alert(‘Row Data2’);
const rowData = row.map(function (cell) {
//selected marks per row and index (= column)
alert(‘Row Data3’);
return cell.formattedValue;

});

return rowData;

});

Reply
1. 4. March 2020
  
  Matt
  
  Here is our tableau extensions library include:
  
  Reply
  1. 4. March 2020
    
    Matt
    
    Reply
2. 4. March 2020
  
  Matt
  
  Hi Timo:
  
  We figured it out. I had to go back and download the latest version of the Tableau Extension Library – And replace the “lib” folder on our site with the new one from git. The naming convention changed from tableau-extensions-1.latest.js to tableau.extensions.1.latest.js. So we’re good.
  
  Reply
  1. 5. March 2020
    
    Timo Tautenhahn
    
    AWESOME Matt!!! Thx a lot for sharing this resolution!!!
    
    Reply
4. March 2020

Matt

“lib/tableau-extensions-1.latest.js”

Reply
5. May 2020

Redona

Hello, I was able to follow all the described steps and open the demo workbooks. But I am wondering how can I use this extensions with another Workbook I have created. I cannot find any .trex files, which are the only ones that can be selected when an extension is added to a dashboard.
Thank you in advance

Reply
1. 3. June 2020
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Radona,
  sure, here we go: TREX Files
  
  Reply
  1. 15. June 2020
    
    Redona
    
    Thank you 🙂
    
    Reply
4. June 2020

Akash Lamba

Hi Timo,

Thanks for your wonderful blog. I am facing a issue while dropping the write back extension on my tableau dashboard. The error which I am getting is Error 404 – Object not found error. please see it below :

The requested URL was not found on the server. The link on the reffering page seems to be wrong or outdated.

Can you please help to resolve the above mentioned issue. Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Akash Lamba

Reply
1. 4. June 2020
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Akash,
  thank you very much for your kind words!!! Are you using the TREX files which I just uploaded or the dashboards which do have the Extension built in? In both ways the Extension points to the following path:
  
  http: //localhost:8888/extensions-api-master/myExtensions/Tableaufans-WriteBack-Extension/index.html. This means the Xampp I put into this blog post needs to be up and running and within the htdocs folder within Xampp there needs to exist this file within this exact path: extensions-api-master/myExtensions/Tableaufans-WriteBack-Extension/index.html
  
  Please let me know if this is the case and if this works fine.
  TT
  
  Reply
4. June 2020

Akash Lamba

Hi Timo,

Thanks for your quick response. Yes I am using the latest TREX files which are uploaded by you.Also, I am using the exact path of the extension in htdocs folders. My Xampp is up and running. but still when I use the extension on your dashboard I get the same error which I described in my previous query.

I would really appreciate if you can help me out with this. Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Akash Lamba

Reply
1. 8. June 2020
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Akash,
  what ahppens if you copy and paste this URL into a normal Google Chrome tab? http://localhost:8888/extensions-api-master/myExtensions/Tableaufans-WriteBack-Extension/index.html
  
  Reply
3. October 2020

Nihar

Hello Timo,

Thanks for sharing this cool feature. Will the write back work with Alteryx server and AWS redshift? If possible, can you please let me know on how to write back to Alteryx server and AWS redshift?

Reply
1. 27. October 2020
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Nihar,
  YES, you can trigger an Alteryx workflow via API and therefore the scenario you described would be possible
  
  Reply
22. October 2020

Ricardo

Hi Nihar,

Writing to Alteryx Server should be done indirectly by first writing to a DB like AWS Redshift and then reading that data with an Alteryx input.

If you don’t want to build the extension on your own and take advantage of more advanced features you can check https://writeback4t.com/ a commercial Tableau extension built by Xpand IT that provides OOTB write back to Redshift among others DBs.

Reply
23. December 2020

chakith

Hi team,

Thanks for providing this extension.

writeback comments on Tableau desktop was working but changes not showing on desktop, could you please let us know where the comments are getting saved and why are they not reflecting on desktop?

Reply
1. 27. December 2020
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Chakith,
  The comment do get written into a MySQL database for this example. If you hit F5 twice after you’ve been selecting the sheet which does show the comments, does this show you the comments you’ve been entering?
  
  Reply
  1. 29. December 2020
    
    chakith
    
    Hi Timo,
    
    Thanks for your response.
    
    We tried refreshing it twice but still no comments are visible.
    
    Check this screenshot: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B0X1jMe5W0VL6YzMZwrfepfDar7tSR9b/view
    
    We selected a circle and gave a comment input. After refreshing, it doesn’t seem to show my comment in the top right box.
    
    Let us know if we are doing anything wrong.
    
    Reply
    1. 29. December 2020
      
      Timo Tautenhahn
      
      You‘re welcome! The screenshot shows a statement within the extension which says „Choose 1 sheet from“. This shouldn‘t be visible after one has got selected which sheet to listen to (for selections). Therefore I assume that the JavaScript code doesn‘t know what you‘ve been selecting and therefore can‘t write sth into the database. Just follow the steps within the troubleshooting section.
      
      Reply
      1. 30. December 2020
        
        chakith
        
        Thanks a lot Timo! It works!
3. February 2021

Matthias

Hi Timo,
thanks alot for this great extension! We’re using it succefully for several months, then updatet our Server to Linux. No the extension is working only for the admin-role, no longer for viewer or explorer roles.
Someone else experienced this issue?
Regards, Matthias

Reply
1. 11. February 2021
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Matthias,
  this sounds like more of a general Tableau Extension / OS / Upgrade issue. I haven’t experienced this, yet. Could you please ask this question in the Tableau Community Dev by adding the versions to your ask?
  
  Thank you very much!
  
  Reply
19. February 2021

Uday

Hello,

I’m trying to configure write-back API on one of our tableau server, but struck at some point where adding writeback URL to tableau server, it would be really helpful if you provide me some insight on fixing this issue.

Thanks,
Uday Reddy

Reply
1. 22. February 2021
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Uday,
  could you please specify your question?
  
  – Within the PHP folder of the Extension you’ve downloaded here you can specify into which database you want to write data back into
  – Within Tableau Server/Online you enable the Extension to have the right to run (https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/dashboard_extensions_server.htm)
  – If you want to not just test it locally on Tableau Desktop make sure you enable HTTPS!!!!! Otherwise it won’t work. (https://help.tableau.com/current/server/en-us/security_extensions.htm)
  
  Reply
17. July 2021

Ron L

Hi,

Where in your tableau code should I change the php port from 8888 to whatever I set it in xampp? I can’t use port 8888 for some reason so I changed it to 8889 but I get this error when I open tableau (inside the extension window):
Where in your code should I change the php port from 8888? I had to change it in xampp but now I get an error:
Requested URL http://localhost:8888/extensions-api-master/myExtensions/Tableaufans-WriteBack-Extension/index.html

Physical Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\extensions-api-master\myExtensions\Tableaufans-WriteBack-Extension\index.html

Reply
1. 23. March 2022
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Please check the TREX file for the port
  
  Reply
9. September 2021

sravan

Hi Timo

I downloaded extensions-api-master but I could not find my extensions or any trex files

Reply
1. 23. March 2022
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  The folder myExtensions should exist within the large download file. How many MB did you download?
  
  You should find the TREX in a ZIP file within the last tab of this blog post
  
  Reply
1. October 2021

Anil

Hi Timo,

Am unable to download TREX files from above link. Can you please share it here?

Reply
1. 23. March 2022
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  You should find it in a ZIP file within the last tab of this blog post
  
  Reply
24. November 2021

Tableau Write Back to Database | Write Back Tableau – Question Answer

[…] tableaufans.com […]

Reply
23. March 2022

Carl

Can this be a sandboxed extension or does it need to be a network enabled extension? Thanks

Reply
1. 23. March 2022
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Carl,
  It could be a sandboxed extension. You just need to package the external libraries I‘m using in the example above and you‘d be good to go.
  
  Reply
5. April 2022

Akash Jain

Hi Timo,

Great Work, you have solved a big problem of mine.
I am trying to access the Writeback Worksheet getting below error, entered “admin” as password
“An error occurred while communicating with MySQL
Invalid username or password.
Error Code: DAFFF161
[MySQL][ODBC 8.0(w) Driver]Access denied for user ‘admin’@’localhost’ (using password: YES)
Invalid username or password.”

Reply
1. 9. April 2022
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Glad to hear! Invalid username/PW errors are usually the easiest ones. Just try admin/admin for this asset
  
  Reply
23. August 2022

Marek Cernansky

Hi Timo, this is great Extension. We really appreciate you amazing work.
We would like to use it for on-the-fly Forecasting editing (“classic approach 🙂 on the server.

Before implementing it on Tableau server 2022 we are trying to test it on local laptops using Win 10 Pro, Tableau 2022.2 and MySQL 8 / MsSQL Server 2017

However after downloading I started .exe file as discribed in steps, but when opened Workbook it was not possible to login into MySQL.

admin/admin is not working.
When I open Workbench I can get into root, see the MySQL server running. Testing dbs I have, but not able to locate “tableaufans”. Not sure what I am doing wrong.

Last issue is 8888 port is already taken so Apache is showing in command line:

“Diese Eingabeforderung nicht waehrend des Running beenden
Bitte erst bei einem gewollten Shutdown schliessen
Please close this command only for Shutdown
Apache 2 is starting …
(OS 10048)Normßlný je povoleno pouze jedno pou×itÝ ka×dÚ adresy (protokolu, sÝŁovÚ adresy, portu) soketu. : AH00072: make_sock: could not bind to address [::]:8888
(OS 10048)Normßlný je povoleno pouze jedno pou×itÝ ka×dÚ adresy (protokolu, sÝŁovÚ adresy, portu) soketu. : AH00072: make_sock: could not bind to address 0.0.0.0:8888
AH00451: no listening sockets available, shutting down
AH00015: Unable to open logs

Apache konnte nicht gestartet werden”

Thank you very much for any advice.
Greeting from Slovakia

Reply
1. 24. August 2022
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  Hi Marek, it sounds like there is just one issue which causes all of it which is port 8888. Please try it on a machine/VM where this port is not being used.
  
  Reply
29. March 2023

Tableau Write Back to Database Extensions | Write Back Tableau – Question Answer

[…] tableaufans.com […]

Reply
18. April 2023

Arslan

Following all the steps, but submit button is not inserting values in the database.
Moreover, I am getting error in MarkSelection.js.

Reply
1. 5. June 2023
  
  Timo Tautenhahn
  
  What is the exact error message you’re getting?
  
  Reply