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# Configuring a Data Source in Xpress Insight to Expose Data to Tableau

Xpress Insight provides two mechanisms by which a Tableau view developer can obtain data.

One is directly from the Xpress Insight mirror tables, by configuring a database connection within the Tableau workbook and choosing the tables and their joins using the Tableau UI.

An alternative approach is to define a data source within Xpress Insight and to then pull that into the Tableau workbook. Each companion file data source definition contains one or more mirror table references, each of which refers to one of the configured mirror tables in the companion file. The following companion file fragment shows an extension of the previous mirror table example with three data sources defined:

    <database-mirror table-prefix="facility_">
      <mirror-tables>
        <mirror-table name="clients">
          <entity name="CLIENT_LATITUDE"/>
          <entity name="CLIENT_LONGITUDE"/>
          <entity name="DEM"/>
        </mirror-table>
        <mirror-table name="depots">
          <entity name="DEPOT_LONGITUDE"/>
          <entity name="DEPOT_LONGITUDE"/>
          <entity name="CAP"/>
        </mirror-table>
        <mirror-table name="driving">
          <entity name="DRIVING_DISTANCE">
          <entity name="DRIVING_TIME">
        </mirror-table>
      </mirror-tables>
      <data-sources>
        <data-source name="clients_datasource">
          <mirror-table-ref name="clients"/>
        </data-source>
        <data-source name="depots_datasource">
          <mirror-table-ref name="depots"/>
        </data-source>
        <data-source name="driving_datasource">
          <mirror-table-ref name="clients "/>
          <mirror-table-ref name="depots"/>
          <mirror-table-ref name="driving "/>
        </data-source>
      </data-sources>
    </database-mirror>

Xpress Insight uses the datasource definition to generate and publish a Tableau data source. Joins are generated between the specified tables and with the `insight_selection` table. The generated data source also includes a filter to ensure users only have access to data in scenarios for which they are authorized.

When creating a workbook in Tableau Desktop or Server, you can choose to use the published data source instead of defining a new one. The data source will appear in the list of available data sources with the name assigned in the companion file definition.
Note: If a workbook contains its own embedded data source then it will be used in preference to any data source defined in the companion file.
When creating a Tableau datasource using a companion file data source definition, Xpress Insight joins the mirror tables using the following rules:

1. A mirror table containing one or more scalars is joined to other mirror tables using the `scenario_id` column.
2. A mirror table containing a set can only be joined to a mirror table containing one or more scalars by the `scenario_id` column. A mirror table containing a set cannot be joined to other mirror tables which contain a set or arrays.
3. A mirror table containing one or more arrays can be joined to a mirror table containing one or more scalars by scenario id. It can also be joined to mirror tables containing arrays if they have one or more index sets in common. In this case the tables will be joined by the largest common subset of their index sets.
4. In all cases the mirror tables will be joined to `insight_selection`, via the `scenario_id` column.
   Note: Data source definitions are processed when an app is imported or updated in Xpress Insight. If any of the data source definitions are invalid then an error will be displayed and the operation will be aborted.

Parent Topic Authoring Tableau Workbooks

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