Infotopics | Apps for Tableau
Infotopics | Apps for Tableau
WriteBackExtreme Product Guide2023-02-23T09:56:37+01:00

WriteBackExtreme

Product Guide

Tableau helps people see and understand data. They make sure that, in the process of exploring and analyzing data, there are no changes made to the data. Most analytics tools are based on strictly read-only technology. Sometimes however, you want to have the ability to add, delete or edit existing data behind a Tableau visualization and instantly see how those changes are reflected in the Viz. You can support and solve a lot of your use cases in Tableau with this flexible and solid WriteBackExtreme extension. 

This product guide helps you to get around in the WriteBackExtreme extension and helps you in deploying and managing your extension. 

STAY IN THE FLOW  |  STAY IN TABLEAU  |  USE YOUR WRITE BACK SCENARIO

Learn everything about..

Introduction

All the WriteBackExtreme information you need about architecture, supported databases, system requirements, and field types

Management Console

Manage and control the configuration and authorization of the schemas, database connections, extension updates and its users

Modules and Templates

Choose the module(s) you need to solve your use cases:

Data Helper

Add Data

Data Correction

Front-End Dashboard

The interface many users, both dashboard creators and as well as dashboard users, will see and interact with

Secure on-premises solutions.

Governance and Security are one of the biggest priorities in developing Apps for Tableau Products. All our products are available as on-premises solutions, we comply with ISO 27001 and NEN7510 and our data and user access is secured under Tableau’s governance.

Supported Database Platforms

Currently, we support different database platforms to write data back to. Our goal is to support as many platforms and use cases our customers can think of. If your preferred database platform is not yet supported by the Write Back Extreme extension, you can still use the WriteBackExtreme extension with a supported secondary-use database platform. The DATA HELPER and ADD DATA modules can integrate seamlessly with your existing datasources using a supported database platform like MySQL or MS SQL.

 

Microsoft MS SQL Database Platform

Microsoft SQL

MySQL Database Platform

MySQL

PostgreSQL Database Platform

PostgreSQL

Snowflake Database Platform

Snowflake

Azure Synapse database platform for Azure

Azure Synapse

Oracle Database

Oracle Database

Google Big Query

Google Big Query

Teradata

Teradata

FAQ

Do you have a partner programme?2023-08-30T14:24:01+01:00

Yes! You can find a partner overview here.

Do you offer a free trial for WriteBackExtreme Enterprise?2023-08-30T15:05:47+01:00

Yes, please use the contact form on the pricing page.

Does Apps for Tableau look at any of my data?2023-08-30T14:22:28+01:00

No, we have no access to your environment. WriteBackExtreme does not require any internet connection and therefore we will never have access to your environment.

Which databases are supported?2023-08-30T15:05:03+01:00

Please have a look at the WriteBackExtreme features page to find the latest list of supported databases. 

Do you offer installation support?2023-08-30T14:21:22+01:00

Yes, you can contact us for the possibilities.

Do you offer WriteBackExtreme as On-Premises solutions?2023-08-30T14:20:44+01:00

Yes, this is our main deployment method of WriteBackExtreme.

Do you offer WriteBackExtreme as a SAAS solution?2023-08-30T14:20:17+01:00

Yes, we offer WriteBackExtreme as a SaaS Solution, please contact sales for more information. 

How do I upgrade or install WriteBackExtreme?2023-09-21T12:36:57+01:00

The advanced installation, testing, and setup procedure for WriteBackExtreme on Windows is incredibly user-friendly. No technical expertise is required and there is no need for additional products like IIS. View the installation manual for Windows here. For Linux we have a different installation procedure which you can find here.

Can I purchase Extensions/modules seperately?2023-08-30T14:01:21+01:00

Yes, we also offer combined licenses, feel free to contact sales about this. 

Does Apps for Tableau look at any of my data?2023-08-30T14:02:14+01:00

No, WriteBackExtreme is a on-premises solution without the need of any internet connection. Our SaaS solutions are hosted in an isolated Azure environment only accessible for a by you approved group of engineers.

Can I cancel my subscription at any time?2023-08-30T13:59:40+01:00

You can contact sales at any time to request a cancellation.

 

Are all WriteBackExtreme modules included when I buy?2023-08-30T15:04:06+01:00

Yes! 

What is the renewal period?2023-08-30T15:04:36+01:00

We offer an annual renewal.

Can I change my licenses at a later moment?2023-08-30T13:58:03+01:00

Yes, you can contact sales at any time to upgrade or extent your license.

Is blending essential for the writeback functionality?2022-09-06T10:06:52+01:00

You can use a blend, Join or Relationship to connect primary data with writeback data. With Data Correction you can write back in the primary data source (if on a live connection) and you only need a Blend/Join or Relationship if you want to combine your primary data with the writeback data in the same visualization. You can also use an ETL process to combine primary data with WriteBack data.

Is WriteBackExtreme supported when Tableau dashboard is set to Extract mode2022-09-06T09:50:56+01:00

Yes. The write back connection where the data from the writeback forms is stored needs to be on a live connection. The rest of your data sources can be on an extract.

What databases are supported with WriteBackExtreme?2022-04-04T11:39:57+01:00

Currently we support branches of SQL, we support MySQL, MicrosoftSQL and PostgreSQL. We also support a few cloud data warehouses like Snowflake and Amazon Redshift and Synapse and we also support the Oracle database for the WriteBackExtreme extension.

Snowflake – Schema creation throws error undefined2021-11-03T11:08:15+01:00

When creating a new schema for Snowflake an error message was thrown that it could not create the schema.

Reason
This is happening because the PDO/ODBC implementation of Snowflake has some quirks with preparing a SQL query. Our intended workflow of all of our database implementations should be: Prepare data (escape/sanitises data) -> execute query. Only the default Snowflake ODBC implementation fires the query directly instead of preparing the query.

Solution
Within the ODBC driver configuration file we need to set the configuration `NoExecuteInSQLPrepare=true` re-enable the original intended functionality of the prepare statement of the PDO/ODBC. Checkout this documentation for help.

References:
– https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2020-08.html#odbc-driver-2-21-6-changes-to-the-handling-of-ddl-statements-in-sqlprepare-and-sqlexecute
– https://appsfortableau.infotopics.com/support/documentation/write-back-extreme-installation-manual-linux/

The extension doesn’t work on Tableau Online/Server2021-09-27T15:57:59+01:00
  • Make sure the extension domain is whitelisted on Tableau Online/Server.
  • Webserver services content with proper X-Frame-Options and Content-Security-Policy headers.
  • Extensions feature is turned on, on Tableau Online/Server.
  • The Extension server/domain has a valid SSL Certificate.
  • Tableau Online/Server has access to the Extension Server to load the extension.

You can find any issues by doing the following: While running on Tableau Online/Server in the browser open the “console” tab in Chrome Developer’s tools. To open the developers tools can be done via: Hamburger menu top right > More Tools > Developer tools. Refresh the page while the developers tools is open. Now you can see if there any issue while embedding.

Note: Tableau will show warnings with something like: ‘cannot load source map’ by default, these are not caused by our extensions. They can be identified based on the domain of the url that it warns with.

Make sure to follow our installation guide to setup the right configuration!

Common issues

CSP Header error or X-Frame-Options error.

Make sure the following headers are properly set:

X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors 'self' *.online.tableau.com;

For Tableau Server *.online.tableau.com should be your domain.

Check all security headers with the following website: https://securityheaders.com/

Does the no auth method work with MS SQL Server Auth or is it between the backend and frontend?2021-08-16T15:01:09+01:00
The connection with the database is managed by the backend. The no auth is only for access to the frontend of the extension.
A printable extension part is something Tableau needs to incorporate as other dashboard items can’t be printed. To connect to the backend data would still be possible to join or relate it to the other data and do something printable, right?2021-05-19T10:22:47+01:00
That is correct. Tableau is working really hard to make that possible. Luckely you can query, join or relate the Write Back data right into your dashboard and visualize it and then print it of course :).
How can we manage the jurisdiction to correct or add data ?2021-05-19T10:15:55+01:00

Within the management console administrators will be able to create groups and assign permissions to the groups. 

Can we use 2 instances or 2 different schemas of the WriteBackExtreme extension in the same dashboard?2021-08-17T08:19:45+01:00

Yes you can! And they can all integrate in one container on your dashboard.

When we have extra wishes or general improvements regarding the WriteBackExtreme extension, how do we let you know?2021-08-17T08:19:54+01:00

We understand you might have some extra ideas and use cases that might be solved with this extension with a slight addition of functionality. You can email [email protected] or use our information form.

We would like to purchase a subscription to the WriteBackExtreme extension. Is it possible to start with 1 module?2021-08-17T08:20:05+01:00

Yes that is possible. You can start with 1 module and if needed you can upgrade to 2 modules or 3. We also offer a discount for the second and third module.

Which users in my Tableau environment need to be licensed to use the WriteBackExtreme extension?2021-08-17T08:20:18+01:00

Only users that are actually going to interact with Write Back Extreme need to be licensed license, this includes all Tableau  Creators, Explorers and Viewers that are going to use the extension.

Currently we work with the Annotations extensions. Can we migrate to WriteBackExtreme Add Data module?2021-08-17T08:20:32+01:00

Yes of course. You can migrate and use all the value of Write Back Extreme. We can migrate your Annotations subscription to the Write Back Extreme | Add Data module at no extra costs.

We like to do a proof of concept with the WriteBackExtreme extension. How can we start?2021-08-17T08:20:41+01:00

If you want to start with Write Back Extreme, you can contact us to plan a meeting to talk about your use cases and have a live demo that meets your requirements.

We can grant you access to our online demo server and after a functional PoC we can also agree on an installation on your server if you like to use your own data, infrastructure and dashboards.

Do we need licenses to deploy the extension in development and test environments?2020-10-29T09:21:56+01:00

No, you only need licenses for your production environment and you can use the extension on your development and test environment without extra need for licenses.

How can we set permissions and authorizations for the write back users?2020-10-29T09:17:37+01:00

We have developed a permissions system which is very similar to Tableau Server. You can set permissions on your schema’s for every group. These permissions will be pushed to the extension automatically.

Do you have a partner programme?2023-08-30T14:24:01+01:00

Yes! You can find a partner overview here.

Do you offer a free trial for WriteBackExtreme Enterprise?2023-08-30T15:05:47+01:00

Yes, please use the contact form on the pricing page.

Does Apps for Tableau look at any of my data?2023-08-30T14:22:28+01:00

No, we have no access to your environment. WriteBackExtreme does not require any internet connection and therefore we will never have access to your environment.

Which databases are supported?2023-08-30T15:05:03+01:00

Please have a look at the WriteBackExtreme features page to find the latest list of supported databases. 

Do you offer installation support?2023-08-30T14:21:22+01:00

Yes, you can contact us for the possibilities.

Do you offer WriteBackExtreme as On-Premises solutions?2023-08-30T14:20:44+01:00

Yes, this is our main deployment method of WriteBackExtreme.

Do you offer WriteBackExtreme as a SAAS solution?2023-08-30T14:20:17+01:00

Yes, we offer WriteBackExtreme as a SaaS Solution, please contact sales for more information. 

How do I upgrade or install WriteBackExtreme?2023-09-21T12:36:57+01:00

The advanced installation, testing, and setup procedure for WriteBackExtreme on Windows is incredibly user-friendly. No technical expertise is required and there is no need for additional products like IIS. View the installation manual for Windows here. For Linux we have a different installation procedure which you can find here.

Can I purchase Extensions/modules seperately?2023-08-30T14:01:21+01:00

Yes, we also offer combined licenses, feel free to contact sales about this. 

Does Apps for Tableau look at any of my data?2023-08-30T14:02:14+01:00

No, WriteBackExtreme is a on-premises solution without the need of any internet connection. Our SaaS solutions are hosted in an isolated Azure environment only accessible for a by you approved group of engineers.

Can I cancel my subscription at any time?2023-08-30T13:59:40+01:00

You can contact sales at any time to request a cancellation.

 

Are all WriteBackExtreme modules included when I buy?2023-08-30T15:04:06+01:00

Yes! 

What is the renewal period?2023-08-30T15:04:36+01:00

We offer an annual renewal.

Can I change my licenses at a later moment?2023-08-30T13:58:03+01:00

Yes, you can contact sales at any time to upgrade or extent your license.

Is blending essential for the writeback functionality?2022-09-06T10:06:52+01:00

You can use a blend, Join or Relationship to connect primary data with writeback data. With Data Correction you can write back in the primary data source (if on a live connection) and you only need a Blend/Join or Relationship if you want to combine your primary data with the writeback data in the same visualization. You can also use an ETL process to combine primary data with WriteBack data.

Is WriteBackExtreme supported when Tableau dashboard is set to Extract mode2022-09-06T09:50:56+01:00

Yes. The write back connection where the data from the writeback forms is stored needs to be on a live connection. The rest of your data sources can be on an extract.

What databases are supported with WriteBackExtreme?2022-04-04T11:39:57+01:00

Currently we support branches of SQL, we support MySQL, MicrosoftSQL and PostgreSQL. We also support a few cloud data warehouses like Snowflake and Amazon Redshift and Synapse and we also support the Oracle database for the WriteBackExtreme extension.

Snowflake – Schema creation throws error undefined2021-11-03T11:08:15+01:00

When creating a new schema for Snowflake an error message was thrown that it could not create the schema.

Reason
This is happening because the PDO/ODBC implementation of Snowflake has some quirks with preparing a SQL query. Our intended workflow of all of our database implementations should be: Prepare data (escape/sanitises data) -> execute query. Only the default Snowflake ODBC implementation fires the query directly instead of preparing the query.

Solution
Within the ODBC driver configuration file we need to set the configuration `NoExecuteInSQLPrepare=true` re-enable the original intended functionality of the prepare statement of the PDO/ODBC. Checkout this documentation for help.

References:
– https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2020-08.html#odbc-driver-2-21-6-changes-to-the-handling-of-ddl-statements-in-sqlprepare-and-sqlexecute
– https://appsfortableau.infotopics.com/support/documentation/write-back-extreme-installation-manual-linux/

The extension doesn’t work on Tableau Online/Server2021-09-27T15:57:59+01:00
  • Make sure the extension domain is whitelisted on Tableau Online/Server.
  • Webserver services content with proper X-Frame-Options and Content-Security-Policy headers.
  • Extensions feature is turned on, on Tableau Online/Server.
  • The Extension server/domain has a valid SSL Certificate.
  • Tableau Online/Server has access to the Extension Server to load the extension.

You can find any issues by doing the following: While running on Tableau Online/Server in the browser open the “console” tab in Chrome Developer’s tools. To open the developers tools can be done via: Hamburger menu top right > More Tools > Developer tools. Refresh the page while the developers tools is open. Now you can see if there any issue while embedding.

Note: Tableau will show warnings with something like: ‘cannot load source map’ by default, these are not caused by our extensions. They can be identified based on the domain of the url that it warns with.

Make sure to follow our installation guide to setup the right configuration!

Common issues

CSP Header error or X-Frame-Options error.

Make sure the following headers are properly set:

X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors 'self' *.online.tableau.com;

For Tableau Server *.online.tableau.com should be your domain.

Check all security headers with the following website: https://securityheaders.com/

Does the no auth method work with MS SQL Server Auth or is it between the backend and frontend?2021-08-16T15:01:09+01:00
The connection with the database is managed by the backend. The no auth is only for access to the frontend of the extension.
A printable extension part is something Tableau needs to incorporate as other dashboard items can’t be printed. To connect to the backend data would still be possible to join or relate it to the other data and do something printable, right?2021-05-19T10:22:47+01:00
That is correct. Tableau is working really hard to make that possible. Luckely you can query, join or relate the Write Back data right into your dashboard and visualize it and then print it of course :).
How can we manage the jurisdiction to correct or add data ?2021-05-19T10:15:55+01:00

Within the management console administrators will be able to create groups and assign permissions to the groups. 

Can we use 2 instances or 2 different schemas of the WriteBackExtreme extension in the same dashboard?2021-08-17T08:19:45+01:00

Yes you can! And they can all integrate in one container on your dashboard.

When we have extra wishes or general improvements regarding the WriteBackExtreme extension, how do we let you know?2021-08-17T08:19:54+01:00

We understand you might have some extra ideas and use cases that might be solved with this extension with a slight addition of functionality. You can email [email protected] or use our information form.

We would like to purchase a subscription to the WriteBackExtreme extension. Is it possible to start with 1 module?2021-08-17T08:20:05+01:00

Yes that is possible. You can start with 1 module and if needed you can upgrade to 2 modules or 3. We also offer a discount for the second and third module.

Which users in my Tableau environment need to be licensed to use the WriteBackExtreme extension?2021-08-17T08:20:18+01:00

Only users that are actually going to interact with Write Back Extreme need to be licensed license, this includes all Tableau  Creators, Explorers and Viewers that are going to use the extension.

Currently we work with the Annotations extensions. Can we migrate to WriteBackExtreme Add Data module?2021-08-17T08:20:32+01:00

Yes of course. You can migrate and use all the value of Write Back Extreme. We can migrate your Annotations subscription to the Write Back Extreme | Add Data module at no extra costs.

We like to do a proof of concept with the WriteBackExtreme extension. How can we start?2021-08-17T08:20:41+01:00

If you want to start with Write Back Extreme, you can contact us to plan a meeting to talk about your use cases and have a live demo that meets your requirements.

We can grant you access to our online demo server and after a functional PoC we can also agree on an installation on your server if you like to use your own data, infrastructure and dashboards.

Do we need licenses to deploy the extension in development and test environments?2020-10-29T09:21:56+01:00

No, you only need licenses for your production environment and you can use the extension on your development and test environment without extra need for licenses.

How can we set permissions and authorizations for the write back users?2020-10-29T09:17:37+01:00

We have developed a permissions system which is very similar to Tableau Server. You can set permissions on your schema’s for every group. These permissions will be pushed to the extension automatically.

We love to make solutions and help Tableau users to do things more efficiently. If you have feedback, ideas, questions or need support, please share them with us! Also, don’t forget to follow us on social media for our latest news and updates.