Use Run Cmd to open Tableau Desktop and save hyper file as TDS

[stapuff]

On the output of Publish to Tableau Server I get 4 lines returned in the Results pane. Step 0 - Step 3

In the column "filename" under Step 2 & Step 3 a file path is returned. Example - C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Temp\Engine_6444_c40df7a65a2a45febd6acb96bf1ca00d_\TDS_Test.hyper

I have a Run Cmd tool set up like the following:

Output - C:\Users\[username\OneDrive - [company name]\Desktop\TDS_Test.tds 

Program Command - C:\Program Files\Tableau\Tableau 2021.3\bin\tableau.exe

Command Arguement - C:/Users/[username]/AppData/Local/Temp/Engine_6444_c40df7a65a2a45febd6acb96bf1ca00d_/TDS_Test.hyper

Input - C:\Users\[username]\OneDrive - [company name]\Desktop\

This errors out, but still opens up Tableau Desktop and uses the path as the data source. Alteryx shows the workflow continues to run while I manually go in and create the TDS in Tableau Desktop. Upon creating the TDS as a new data source and closing Tableau Desktop the Alteryx workflow then stops.

I am not opposed to this because the net/net is a tds is created, but looking for an option to automatically save the hyper file as a tds (unmodified.... a simple save as tds) using the hyper path provided so I could modify the tds further down in the workflow.

The original concept of opening Tableau came from How To Execute Tableau From Alteryx with a follow up blog post on using events by @BenMoss Using Events in Alteryx to open a Tableau Workbook On Workflow Completion 

So my ask is

Is there a method using Run Cmd, Events, or any other option to save a hyper file as a tds?

If the popup of Tableau and manual creation is still required how can I set up the current Run Cmd to not error out causing the workflow to stop? I am looking for the workflow to continue onto the next process within the workflow after the tds is created.

Your thoughts.

Puff

[stapuff]

@cmcclellan Before we get further down the rabbit hole and farther from the entrance...

I may have come up with my own solution. Will post back and let you know.

Puff

[stapuff · Accepted solution]

@cmcclellan I have successfully tested 2 different solutions and neither require a call to Tableau to create the .tds file.

The tds is nothing more that a structured xml file. I can either create (once) a basic tds template and modify it with folder, fields, calculation, comments, etc or create a tds on the fly. Both can be done before the initial Publish to Tableau happens, which also eliminates the need to capture the temp file.

Both options require the knowledge of the xml structure, field types, etc, which is manageable since there are not a ton of them to be concerned with.

I am going to mark this as the accepted solution and I appreciated all of your feedback.

Puff

[cmcclellan]

I know it's an XML file, that's what I was trying to explain to you at the start.

It would be great if you could share your workflow to benefit others in the future though 🙂