We consistently aim to offer you flexibility through our RapidDox applications.


RapidDox BulkPro provides you with the capability to fully automate the generation of comprehensive output from your Tableau workbooks through two distinct approaches:


Option 1: Automatically download and process outputs with one command

Direct execution of commands, automating the download of workbooks, storage in a temporary server folder, and immediate processing of the output in the format you have configured.


Option 2:  Download Tableau workbooks first with one command and execute separate command to process the outputs.  

Should you prefer to initially download all workbooks from your Tableau server to a shared location and subsequently process the outputs in a separate step, this flexibility enables you to incorporate any desired curation to the workbooks between the download and output processing stages. 



Option 1: Automatically download and process outputs with one command


CLI command to generate documentation in PDF, MS Word, HTML, Excel, and CSV

 

Execute the following command to produce the output in one of the supported document formats:.


rapiddox start --tableau-server -f <<outputformat>> -o <<outputfolder>>


-f <<outputformat>>

The output format(s) that is/are to be generated by this start command. 

Document output options:  pdf | html | excel | csv 

 

-o <<outputfolder>>

The full path of the output folder into which the output files are to be created.


Note: This command will process the workbooks that the configured Tableau user has access to. For more information about user permissions on Tableau Server, please check out this link.


EXAMPLE:

 

For generating PDF output documents, you can use the start command with the following parameters:

 

rapiddox start --tableau-server -f pdf -o /home/output


 

For generating HTML output documents, you can use the same command with the following parameters:

 

rapiddox start --tableau-server -f html -o /home/output


 

Similarly, you can create output documents in Excel or CSV format by adjusting the value passed to the -f parameter.


CLI command to export metadata to a database


Use the below command to generate the output to one of the configured database.


rapiddox start --tableau-server -f db -d <<databasetype>>  -k <<keeplatest>> -o <<outputfolder>>



-f <<outputformat>>

The output format should be set to db if you want to export the data on to a database.

 

-d <<databasetype>>

Specifies the type of database to be used for exporting the output. This should be a database type that has been previously configured using the relevant configuredb command. This parameter is relevant only when the outputformat is set to db.

Possible options: mysql | mssql | postgres

 

-k <<keeplatest>>

Determines the behavior when processing the same twb/twbx file again. It denotes whether the existing records should be deleted or retained.

true : If true is passed as the option, then the output records pertaining to this file from the previous runs will be deleted and only the output records from this run will be created.

false : If false is passed as the option, then the database column “latest” for all the output records pertaining to this file from the previous runs will be updated to false and the output records from this run will be created with the “latest” column value as true.


Examples:

 

Exporting to a mysql database

rapiddox start --tableau-server -f db -d mysql  -k true


 

Exporting to a mssql database

rapiddox start --tableau-server -f db -d mssql  -k false


 

Exporting to a postgres database

rapiddox start --tableau-server -f db -d postgres  -k true





Option 2:  Download Tableau workbooks first with one command and execute separate command to process the outputs 


Step 1: Download workbooks


Execute the below command to download your Tableau workbooks to a desired location.

rapiddox tableau download -o <outputfolder>


-o <<outputfolder>>

The full path of the output folder into which the workbooks are to be downloaded.

 

Example: 

For generating PDF output documents, you can use the start command with the following parameters:

 

rapiddox tableau download -o /home/output



Step 2: Curation to the workbooks

Tailor and customize your workbooks according to your specific business requirements. For instance, you have the flexibility to add or remove Tableau workbooks as needed. Another scenario could arise when a user ID has access to the entire Tableau server; in such cases, you may opt to retain only the pertinent workbooks within the designated folder for BulkPro to efficiently process the output.  These steps can be performed manually or programmatically.  The RapidDox app does not provide any solution for these changes.



Step 3: Process output using BulkPro CLI commands

Using the CLI commands documented in this KB page, you can process output.



All these above steps can be scheduled via CronTab as described in this KB page.