Well, file this under "just because you can doesn't mean you should." Search the forums on parsing strings with Tableau and you'll find a lot of guidance which pretty much says "don't do it!" and "better to do it in your source!" These people are undoubtedly right. But, what if your source is an existing… Continue reading Tableau – Parse Parameters From URL
SSRS: Parse parameters column from ExecutionLog
Ever worked on a quick little project, come across what you assume is a common need and think "I'll just google up some code that someone else has written and then be off to the races"? Have you done this and not been able to find the code you're looking for? Well, that was me… Continue reading SSRS: Parse parameters column from ExecutionLog
Tableau + Git: Ignore default directories and preference files.
Here's a quick little item you might find handy. If you find it annoying that git keeps showing some of your default Tableau directories and files (which would probably only happen if you change your Tableau default repository) then you can set git to exclude those files and directories when it checks for modifications. In… Continue reading Tableau + Git: Ignore default directories and preference files.
Tableau: Format Date As String mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm
gah. Why is some of this stuff so challenging in Tableau? You have a date and you want to format it as a string? Why? So you can concatenate it with another string perhaps? Maybe you're creating a calculated field to use in a label (that's what I was doing). Unfortunately, when you convert a… Continue reading Tableau: Format Date As String mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm
Tableau: Custom Date Range Picker
For Tableau requirements like: Allow user to choose "Last 7 Days", "Last 30 Days", etc. this is your ticket. It turns out one parameter and one calculated field are all you need.
Tableau – Where is the path to my extract!?!
Suppose you create an extract in your desktop version of Tableau and everything is running great. Then one of your peers casually asks "how big is that .tde file anyway?" You quickly check file explorer and discover the extract is not in the default location (What is the default path?). It seems like there should… Continue reading Tableau – Where is the path to my extract!?!
Tableau – What is the default path for extracts?
What is the default path for tableau extracts on a windows desktop? C:\Users\<your user name>\Documents\My Tableau Repository\Datasources For example mine is: C:\Users\psteffek\Documents\My Tableau Repository\Datasources Boom.
Parse pg_dump Functions and Views Into Their Own Files (GreenPlum / Postgres)
Here's what we wanted: Each function from our GreenPlum (aka Postgres) database scripted out into it's own file. I think after much hacking I've got something working that only requires a small amount of manual intervention. For whatever reason PostgreSQL/GreenPlum doesn't seem to have a native way to split objects into separate files. This functionality is… Continue reading Parse pg_dump Functions and Views Into Their Own Files (GreenPlum / Postgres)
Easy SQL Server Snapshot Script / Proc
Man!!!! Why is the code to create a database snapshot so ridiculously complicated? Actually, I guess I understand why but how about allowing it to be done through SSMS and then setting a bunch of the parameters as defaults for us? Come on Microsoft! Help a SQL brother out! Well luckily, where Microsoft fails, I'm… Continue reading Easy SQL Server Snapshot Script / Proc
DBFit and SQL Server: How to connect and create your first test
I love the idea of DBFit (being able to run tests against every database system under the sun) but have found it very challenging to get up and running. There is documentation but it seems to assume a level of familiarity with FitNesse that I definitely did not have. The primary hurdle for me was… Continue reading DBFit and SQL Server: How to connect and create your first test