Tableau tip- what’s smaller than a Tableau Data Extract?

While working with a client, they asked if I would show them how to analyze payment history and futures with a Gantt chart. I asked them to make a Tableau Data Extract (TDE). They created a TDE and then e-mailed it to me, all 25 Megabytes (MB)! Fairly big for an e-mail attachment (at many companies there is a 10 MB limit, so it wouldn’t have made it through).

After working with them on their project, I told them I would send it back later. When I saved the Gantt chart project as a packaged workbook, I was surprised to see that it was just 4.5 MB! Even though the TDE was much smaller than the original data source, the Packaged workbook which includes the TDE was even smaller, just 20% of the TDE size.

So, the next time you want to share a large TDE, I suggest that you first save it in an empty packaged workbook before sending it along.

Want to learn more about Tableau file types and why they exist@f14 Read this article.