This is a simple Web Data Connector for CSVs hosted on the web.
- Start a new WDC connection in Tableau Desktop 2019.4 or higher and enter: https://basic-csv-wdc.onrender.com/
- Enter your CSV URL.
- Advanced options: Change the HTTP method, delimiter, encoding, or add a Bearer token.
- Decide which mode to use (Loose Typed recommended).
- Click Get Data!
This WDC allows some additional customizations that can be found by clicking on "Advanced +".
Method: The default method to fetch the CSV file is GET but you can change this to POST if needed.
Bearer token: If your CSV is protected with a bearer token you may add it and it will be included with the request to fetch your CSV.
Custom delimiter: If your text file is separated by something other than a comma you can set your own custom delimiter.
Encoding: If your CSV file uses a specific encoding other than utf-8 you may set it here. You can find a list of supported encodings here.
If you want to use this WDC on your Tableau Server you will first need to add it to your safelist with the following commands:
tsm data-access web-data-connectors add --name "CSV WDC" --url https://basic-csv-wdc.onrender.com:443
tsm pending-changes apply
Note that this will require your Tableau Server to restart!
If you want to use this WDC on Tableau Online you will need to set it up using Tableau Bridge
I suggest deploying your own version of this WDC so you can have a dedicated application for your own use. Here are a few options for spinning up your own:
Or you could host it locally by doing the following:
- Install Node.js.
- Clone or download and unzip this repository.
- Open the command line within the
Basic-CSV-WDCmaster folder and runnpm installto install the node modules. - Then run
npm startto start the web server or use something like pm2 for a production environment.
If you would like to show some support for this free WDC you can buy me some cheese🧀!