Plan and Prepare Data Connections22% of the exam
Transformation strategy with Tableau Prep flows
Decide where each transformation belongs (a Tableau Prep flow, a workbook calculation or the physical layer of the data model), pick the right Prep step for the job, and spot what a flow cannot do on Tableau Cloud.
Recommend an appropriate data transformation strategy.
~8 min read · 8 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Recommend whether a transformation runs once in a Tableau Prep flow or stays in the workbook because it depends on viewer input.
- Choose the Prep step for a shaping problem: pivot, Aggregate before a join, union, Group Values or a data role.
- Flag flow features that won't run where the flow is published, such as script steps on Tableau Cloud.
- Rewrite a slow workbook calculation, and move a filtering join into the physical layer.
Key terms:
- Flow: a Tableau Prep sequence of steps from Input to Output.
- Grain: the level of detail one row represents.
- Data role: a Prep field setting that validates values against a known domain or pattern.
- Physical layer: joins and unions inside one logical table, below the relationships canvas.
Key facts
Flow outputs
- Detail
- File (Prep Builder only), published data source or database
Scheduled flow runs
- Detail
- Need Data Management with Tableau Prep Conductor enabled
Where calculations run
- Detail
- Basic, aggregate and LOD in the database; table calculations on the result set
Union step inputs
- Detail
- Performance tip: at most 10 per union step; union more in the Input step
Pronunciation, Common Characters
- Detail
- Not available for data roles
Grouping threshold
- Detail
- Groups are saved; the slider setting is not
Email and URL roles
- Detail
- Validated against patterns; invalid values get a red exclamation point
Custom data roles
- Detail
- Page says retirement is set for Tableau Cloud February 2024 and Tableau Server 2024.2
Script steps
- Detail
- Not supported on Tableau Cloud; Server needs Rserve or TabPy
Sources for this section (6)
- Get Started with Prephelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Efficient Calculationshelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Aggregate, Join, or Unionhelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Clean and Shape Datahelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- Data roleshelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- R and Python scriptshelp.tableau.com (opens in a new tab)
- When you reopen the Group Values editor after adjusting the Spelling slider, where does the slider sit?
- Why does Tableau suggest Display As for a string-type parameter used in a calculation?
- Why can filtering out NULL values from unmatched rows make a related data source faster?
- What does the data-roles page say is retired in Tableau Server 2024.2 that affects data-role validation?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
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