Control Access to Explain Data
Your access to Explain Data will vary depending on your site role and content permissions. Explain Data is always available to authors in Tableau Desktop. Authors with appropriate permissions can run Explain Data in editing mode in Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server.
Authors can also control whether Explain Data is available in viewing mode in published workbooks and which explanation types are displayed.
Be aware that Explain Data can surface values from dimensions and measures in the data source that aren't represented in the view. As an author, you should run Explain Data and test the resulting explanations to make sure that sensitive data isn't being exposed in your published workbooks.
Who can access Explain Data
Explain Data is enabled by default at the site level. Server administrators (Tableau Server) and site administrators (Tableau Cloud) can control whether Explain Data is available for a site. For more information, Disable or Enable Explain Data for a Site.
| Mode | Who Can Access |
|---|---|
Viewing mode | Tableau Viewers, Explorers and Creators who have the Run Explain Data permission capability can run and explore Explain Data explanations in viewing mode. |
Editing mode
| Tableau Creators can run Explain Data when editing a view in Tableau Desktop, Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server. Explorers who have the Run Explain Data permission capability and editing permissions can run Explain Data when editing a workbook in Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server. Creators and Explorers who have editing permissions can open new worksheets for further analysis. They can also use Explain Data Settings to control who can use Explain Data and what they can see. |
Control who can use Explain Data and what they can see
A combination of settings must be enabled to make Explain Data available in editing mode and viewing mode in Tableau Cloud and Tableau Server.
Editing mode
Requirements for authors to run Explain Data or edit Explain Data settings in editing mode:
- Site setting: Availability of Explain Data set to Enable. Enabled by default.
- Site role: Creator, Explorer (can publish)
- Permissions: Run Explain Data capability set to Allowed. Unspecified by default. If you open a workbook (Tableau version 2022.1 or earlier) that used this permission in Tableau version 2022.2 or later, you will need to reset the Run Explain Data capability to Allowed.
Note: The Download Full Data capability for a Creator or Explorer (can publish) controls whether they see the View Full Data option in Extreme Values explanations. Viewers are always denied the Download Full Data capability. However, all users can see record-level details when the Extreme Values explanation type is enabled in Explain Data settings.
Creators and Explorers with editing permissions and the Run Explain Data permission capability can access Explain Data Settings, which provide options for controlling:
- The explanation types that are displayed in the Data Guide pane.
- The fields that are included in, or excluded from statistical analysis.
These options are set for the entire workbook and can only be set in the Explain Data Settings dialog box.
Viewing mode
Requirements for all users to run Explain Data in viewing mode:
- Site setting: Availability of Explain Data set to Enable. Enabled by default.
- Site role: Creator, Explorer or Viewer
- Permissions: Run Explain Data capability set to Allowed. Unspecified by default. If you open a workbook (Tableau version 2022.1 or earlier) that used this permission in Tableau version 2022.2 or later, you will need to reset the Run Explain Data capability to Allowed.
Note: To see explanations of Detected Outliers in the Data Guide, users of a viz must have the Explain Data permission allowed for the workbook or view. The owner of the workbook will need to open the permissions settings for this workbook in Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud and allow the Explain Data permission to that user.
Open the Explain Data Settings dialog box
- From the Analysis menu, choose Explain Data Settings. Or, in the Data Guide pane, click the settings icon (bottom right).
Include or exclude explanation types displayed by Explain Data
Creators and Explorers who have editing permissions can choose to exclude (or include) explanation types displayed for all workbook users.
- In the Explain Data Settings dialog box, click on the Explanation Types tab.
- In the list of explanation types, select or clear an explanation type.
- Click OK.
Test the setting by saving and closing the published workbook and then opening a view from the workbook in viewing mode. Select a mark that typically has Extreme Value explanations, and then run Explain Data to check the explanation results.
Include or exclude fields used for statistical analysis
Creators or Explorers who have editing permissions can choose to exclude (or include) fields that are eligible for analysis.
- In the Data Guide pane (bottom right), choose the settings icon. Or, choose the Edit button in the Analysed Fields view.
- In the Explain Data Settings dialog box, click on the Fields tab.
- In the list of fields under Include, click on the drop-down arrow and select Automatic to include an eligible field every time Explain Data runs for that workbook.
Note that fields must have less than 500 unique values to be included in the analysis.
Select Never Include to explicitly exclude the field.
Select Include None to run a statistical analysis on the data without considering fields.
Select Reset to return to the default settings. - Click OK.
Test the setting by saving the published workbook. Select a mark, and then run Explain Data to check the explanation results.
Configure Tableau to allow users to share explanations via email and Slack
Tableau administrators can control whether explanations can be shared in viewing mode via email or Slack to other Tableau users.
Follow these steps to allow notifications and sharing via email and Slack in Tableau Cloud or Tableau Server:
- Click Settings.
- On the General tab, scroll down to Manage Notifications.
- For Collaboration, select Share for On Tableau, Email and Slack.
To share explanations via Slack, the Tableau app must be set up for your Slack workspace. Sharing explanations with Slack is enabled by default in Tableau Cloud.
In Tableau Server, an administrator will need to set up the Tableau app for Slack. For more information, see Integrate Tableau with a Slack Workspace(Link opens in a new window).