Accessing the Web Server in Tableau Server
You can use the built-in Web server in Tableau Server to include additional dynamic content on your dashboards. This feature can be useful if you want to provide Web content, Help files, or similar content on your dashboards.
Create a Web-friendly file
Before beginning this example, you need to place two simple HTML files that Tableau can access from C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau Server\data\tabsvc\config\httpd. If you need to create these files, follow these steps.
Step 1
In a text editor, create a new file and insert this text: "Hello World! This is page 1."
Step 2
Save the file as hello1.htm in the C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau Server\data\tabsvc\config\httpd directory.
Step 3
Create a second text file and insert this text: "Hello World! This is page 2."
Step 4
Save the file as hello2.htm in the C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau Server\data\tabsvc\config\httpd directory.
Step 5
Open each file in a browser to verify that the file is in the correct place. The URLs are http://localhost/errors/hello1.htm and http://localhost/errors/hello2.htm.
Create a simple view on a worksheet to drive your dynamic Web page.
Step 1
Copy the following table into a blank Tableau workbook:
Name
|
Page
|
Hello World Pg1
|
Hello1.htm
|
Hello World Pg2
|
Hello2.htm
|
Note: When you use Copy and Paste functionality, Tableau treats the Clipboard like a data source.
Step 2
On the Rows shelf, right-click the Page field and cancel the selection of Show Header.
In Tableau, the table looks like this:
Create a dashboard.
Step 1
Select Edit > New Dashboard.
Step 2
From the Dashboard pane, drag Sheet 1 and drop it onto the Dashboard 1 tab.
Step 3
From the Objects pane, drag a Web Page object and drop it onto the Dashboard tab.
Step 4
The Web Page object does not need a name at this point, so when the Edit URL dialog box opens, leave the text box empty, and click OK.
Use Tableau Actions to link the table and the Web Page object.
Step 1
Select Edit > Actions.
Step 2
In the Actions dialog box, click Add Action, and then select URL.
Step 3
In the Add URL Action dialog box, under Run action on, click Select.
Step 4
In the URL text box, type http://localhost/errors/, and then click Test Link.
The Web page doesn't open, but the URL is displayed in the dialog box next to the Test Link button.
Step 5
When finished, click OK.
The base Web directory for Tableau Server is http:///errors/. The page dimension is inserted into the URL to display your selected Web page.
Note: You can also use Calculated Fields for more powerful interactivity.
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