Showing Tableau Data in MVC view

Question

I am new to Tableau and need some direction to resources that could help me understand and then ultimately implement the requests. I need to connect to the Tableau Server, which has already been set up at our end. The reports are specific to a customer.

I need to display the data inside the MVC views. Logged in user belongs to a specific customer so Customer ID will tie the logged-in user to the report for the data. What is the best way to query Tableau to get the data? Should I use jquery/JSON and directly connect to Tableau or via web API/controllers using some assembly? Do we have some thing like DBAmp (for SalesForce) which could simplify the process?

Another issue is Tableau's authentication from the website. Should we create a virtual directory under a specific user since Tableau at our end uses Active Directory authentication? The website uses its own custom authentication.

Thanks.

Answer 1

• You can embed a Tableau server view in a web page of your choosing. The easiest way is to visit the Tableau server view you wish to use, hit the Share button and then follow the instructions. You can also pass some parameters, adjust the size etc. See the online documentation for embedding views.

• If you want the Tableau view to interact with other parts of your web page, you can also use the JavaScript API to send commands to Tableau server, or get notified of events. http://onlinehelp.tableausoftware.com/current/server/en-us/help.htm#js_api.htm

• In order to let a Tableau Server defer authentication to an external server, like a front end web server or portal, Tableau has a feature. Read about trusted authentication in the Tableau Server documentation and knowledge base articles.

• In the last several years, Tableau Server has also added support for additional authentication methods, including SAML, Kerberos and Open ID. Trusted authentication today is mostly suited for visualizations that are embedded in some larger web page or application. If you are completely within a Windows corporate network, you can also use Windows single sign on to defer authentication to Active Directory.

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