How do I connect to the EDW using Tableau?


How do I connect to the EDW using Tableau?

Note: These instructions are for Tableau Desktop for Windows.  If you are using Tableau Desktop for Mac, you can connect if you are running Windows on your Mac. For more information on connecting to Tableau with a Mac, please visit our Tableau-specific FAQ! To find out more about the BI team's Tableau report offerings, or how to request licensing please visit the Tableau page. 

First, ensure you're running Tableau Desktop with your UW NetID credentials. Then:

  1. Make sure you're connected to the VPN and open Tableau Desktop.
  2. From the 'To a Server' section, select Microsoft SQL Server

 Thumbnail of Tableau screenshot

  1.  On the Microsoft SQL Server window, enter the following, and then click Sign In:
    • Sever: edwpub.s.uw.edu
    • Database: Optional - Choose a specific database that you want to connect to. For example, WDFinDataMart.
    • Authentication: Use Windows Authentication (preferred)

Microsoft SQL Server dialog box with Server set to edwpub.s.uw.edu, Database set to WDFinDataMart, and Authentication set to Use Windows Authentication (preferred)

  1. You are now connected to the EDW server. Tableau's Connecting to Databases video shows you how to select tables and manage joins.

Screenshot of dashboard data source where some tables are highlighted. Such as AcademicRank (sec.AcademicRank), AcademicUnit (sec.AcademicUnit), AcademicUnitPersonList (sec.AcademicUnitPersonList)

  1. It's very important that you only try to query EDW secured views. Secured views are prepended with "sec." in front of the object name. You will not be able to connect to non-secured tables.