Use PDF subscriptions, new in Tableau 2019.3, for report bursting (2024)

With the new PDF attachment to subscription, users can easily create a report bursting workflow in Tableau by combining PDF attachment in subscriptions and User Filters in workbooks. Let’s take a look at how you can build out report bursting for your organization.

Sean Li

Senior Product Manager, Tableau

With the new PDF attachment to subscription, users can easily create a report bursting workflow in Tableau by combining PDF attachment in subscriptions and User Filters in workbooks.

If a sales analyst needs to send individual performance reports or dashboards to their salespeople on a regular basis, he or she needs a way to deliver the reports efficiently without having to create separate reports for each recipient. This is often called report bursting⁠—the ability to send user specific reports to a large group of recipients with data filtered for each⁠—and PDF subscriptions which is included in Tableau 2019.3 makes it possible.

Let’s take a look at how you can build out report bursting for your organization.

1. Add a User Filter to Your View

This will filter the view to display only the data that a user is allowed to see.

There are multiple methods to set up User Filters in your dashboard. As an example, we use a static user filter mapped in the workbook to illustrate this step.

Take the following view that shows sales by region.

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Add a user filter to filter the view for individual users by selecting Server > Create User Filter in Tableau Desktop, and then selecting a field to use for filtering. In this example, we select the Region field.

In the User Filter dialog, type a name for the filtering rule. In this example, we use Regional Managers.

Now map the users to their regions in the dialog.

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After the user filter is created, drag it from the Sets area to the Filters shelf.

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The user filter becomes a context filter, and the view adjusts to show data based on which user is opening it.

In the example, a user mapped to the east region will see the following.

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Meanwhile, another user mapped to the west region will see the following instead.

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2. Create a Subscription and Add the Users and Groups to Receive the Subscription Emails

This will subscribe the targeted audience to the view with the selected format.

In Tableau 2019.3, users can now select to include PDF attachment in their subscription emails. When subscribing to a Tableau dashboard or view, just select a format you want to receive the subscription email with, image, PDF, or both.

Workbook owners can open their views on Tableau Server or Online, click the Subscribe button in the toolbar, and subscribe all the users and groups they want to receive the subscription emails. In the Format dropdown, select to include PDF attachment.

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For existing subscriptions, workbook owners can change the format from the Workbook Subscriptions page to add PDF attachments.

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With the above two steps, users can now create a report bursting workflow to have personalized reports or dashboards delivered to the inbox of the targeted users on a schedule they select.

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Use PDF subscriptions, new in Tableau 2019.3, for report bursting (2024)

FAQs

Use PDF subscriptions, new in Tableau 2019.3, for report bursting? ›

Manage all user subscriptions by selecting the subscription you want to update under Tasks > Subscriptions from the side navigation. The Actions menu has options such as Change Schedule or Change Subject. For more information, see the Tableau Online Help.

How do I manage subscriptions in Tableau? ›

Manage all user subscriptions by selecting the subscription you want to update under Tasks > Subscriptions from the side navigation. The Actions menu has options such as Change Schedule or Change Subject. For more information, see the Tableau Online Help.

Can you subscribe to Tableau reports? ›

On the view toolbar, select Watch > Subscriptions. Add the Tableau users or groups you want to receive the subscription. To receive a subscription, users must have the View and Download Image/PDF permissions and their accounts must also have email addresses. If you own the workbook, select Subscribe me.

Can Tableau extract data from PDF? ›

As far as I understand Tableau, it's not the right tool to extract data from PDF to Excel. You need to have the data in excel and then you could consume the same in Tableau to drive insights.

Is it possible to export data or print PDF in Tableau? ›

Utilize the PDF export on Server/ Cloud

Now that it's all configured, let's publish it on Tableau Cloud and see how it works. By clicking the Download button, you can select what content to be exported. The dashboard has many views and sheets, so that is selectable under Include.

Can you import data from PDF? ›

Import PDF data into Excel

Select your PDF file & click Import. You'll now see a Navigator pane displaying the tables & pages in your PDF along with a preview. Select a table & click Load. The table you selected will now be imported on to your Excel sheet.

Why do Tableau subscriptions fail? ›

If you receive a subscription with this error message, there could be several reasons: Missing credentials: Some views are published with embedded credentials. You may receive the above error if the embedded credentials are now out-of-date, or if the view was republished without the embedded credentials.

How can I manage all of my subscriptions? ›

Manage your Google Account.

At the top, tap Payments & subscriptions. Tap Manage purchases, Manage subscriptions, or Manage reservations.

How do I add subscribers to my Tableau dashboard? ›

To subscribe another user, click the subscribe button for any workbook or view you own or created. Choose your schedule and subject, then search for and add users to the subscription.

Can we automate Tableau reports? ›

Automating reports in Tableau offers numerous benefits. Firstly, it saves time and resources by eliminating the need for manual report generation. Instead of spending hours creating reports, you can set up automated processes that generate them automatically at specified intervals.

Do you need a Tableau license to view reports? ›

Yes. They would need a Tableau Viewer license.

How much does Tableau reporting cost? ›

Tableau Reader and Tableau Public are both free products. Tableau Creator licenses, which include Tableau Prep Builder and Tableau Desktop, are currently available for $70/user/month. Licenses for Tableau Explorer currently cost $42/user/month. The cost of Tableau Viewer licenses is $12/user/month.

Can Tableau generate reports? ›

Tableau is a powerful data visualization tool that allows users to create interactive and insightful reports. However, manually generating these reports can be time-consuming and inefficient. Thankfully, Tableau offers various automation features that can help you save time and effort.

How do I create a PDF from a Datatable? ›

No need to convert the datatable to excel, If the datatable is in the excel then you can use the excel activities to save the excel as pdf, for that you can use the Save Excel File As PDF activity. → Use the Use excel file activity and pass the excel file path.

How do I send a PDF from Tableau Server? ›

You can't use Tableau to do that, you're going to have to write some code. Tableau wants you to develop and use an interactive dashboard, so sending a full PDF is possible but only if you write additional code to make it happen.

How do I export a report from Tableau? ›

Select Worksheet > Export > Data. Enter a location and name for the Access database, and then click Save. In the Export Data to Access dialog box, specify a database name and what data to export, and then click OK.

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