Microsoft Analysis Services

Applies to: Tableau Desktop

This topic describes how to connect Tableau to a Microsoft Analysis Services database and set up a data source.

Before you begin

Before you begin, gather this connection information:

For a remote cube file: Server name, or URL if connecting to the server using HTTP
For a local cube file: File name
Authentication method: Windows Authentication or user name and password

Use this connector with Tableau Desktop on a Windows computer.

Driver required

This connector requires a driver to talk to the database. If the driver is not installed on your computer, Tableau displays a message in the connection dialog box with a link to the Driver Download(Link opens in a new window) page where you can find driver links and installation instructions.

Make the connection and set up the data source

Start Tableau and under Connect, select Microsoft Analysis Services. For a complete list of data connections, select More under To a Server. Then do the following:
1. Select whether to connect to a remote cube file on a server or to a local cube file.
  
  To connect to a remote cube file, select Server and enter the name of the server in the text box. If you are connecting to the server using HTTP, you can enter the URL as the server name.
  
  To connect to a local cube file, select Local cube file and select Browse to navigate to the cube file on your computer.
2. Select how you want to sign in to the server. Specify whether to use Windows Authentication or a specific user name and password. If the cube is password protected, and you are not in a Kerberos environment, you must enter your user name and password.
  
  Specify whether to use Windows Authentication or a specific user name and password.
3. Select Sign In.
  
  If Tableau can't make the connection, verify that your credentials are correct. If you still can't connect, your computer is having trouble locating the server. Contact your network administrator or database administrator for more assistance.
On the data source page, do the following:
1. (Optional) Select the default data source name at the top of the page, and then enter a unique data source name for use in Tableau. For example, use a data source naming convention that helps other users of the data source figure out which data source to connect to.
2. Select a database.
3. Select a cube from the database.
4. Select the sheet tab to start your analysis.

Incompatible Measures and Dimensions

When you build views in Tableau using a Microsoft Analysis Services Cube you might see some fields highlighted in gray, or you might see a caution symbol on a field in the view with the message, "This measure is incompatible with one or more dimensions in this view." This occurs because it is possible to have measures and dimensions that don’t make a lot of sense when placed in the view together. For example, you may have a measure for Sales Quota. It won’t make sense to place that measure against a dimension containing products if products don’t have sales quotas.

Tableau helps you figure out the dimensions and measure that can be used together in meaningful ways by highlighting unrelated dimensions and measures in gray. So in the last example, when we place Sales Quota onto a shelf, the products dimensions are highlighted in gray. Highlighted dimensions are not disabled and can still be added to the view. When you add an incompatible measure to the view, the measure is marked with a caution symbol. For more information on working with cubes, see Cube Data Sources.

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