faqs | data and databases

Both! Tableau can be used with a number of different databases as well as Microsoft Excel files and Microsoft Access files. In fact, many people use Tableau with only Excel or Access.

Typically, the best layout for Excel data is a table format. A table contains all of the field names in the first row followed by all the data in subsequent rows Note that Tableau can help you analyze whole worksheets, or just “Named Ranges” on specific worksheets.

Open the Excel spreadsheets included with Tableau for some common examples. These files are located in My Documents\My Tableau Repository\Datasources. There are also some spreadsheets specific to industries in My Documents\My Tableau Repository\Bookmarks\Sample Industries.

Yes. Tableau lets you connect to multiple data sources simultaneously. For information on how to connect to more than one data source refer to “Connect to Data" in the online help.

You can connect to both relational and multidimensional databases, as well as spreadsheets using Tableau. The specific databases you can connect to depends on the product you've purchased. Refer to the Technical Specifications page for a complete list of databases you can use with Tableau.

No. Many times charting and reporting wizards have limits to the amount of data that can be used. For example, Excel has a 65, 000 row limit. Other software won't allow you to put more than 4,000 points in a scatter plot. There is no limit to the number of rows or fields you can analyze, or the number of fields you can look at simultaneously in Tableau.

Yes, Tableau can connect to InterSystems Caché databases. However, this type of connection requires a special license. In addition, you will need to load a stored procedure into your database. Learn more on our Additional Downloads for Caché page.