To manually save your flow, from the top menu, select File > Save. When you save a packaged flow, the flow is saved as a Packaged Tableau Flow File (.tflx). Direct file connections aren't yet supported. In web authoring, local files are automatically packaged with our flow. Data from database connections, for example, aren't included. Only local files can be packaged with a flow. You can also package your local files (Excel, Text Files, and Tableau extracts) with your flow to share with others, just like packaging a workbook for sharing in Tableau Desktop. Your flow is saved in the Tableau Prep flow (.tfl) file format.

In Tableau Prep Builder, you can manually save your flow to back up your work before performing any additional operations. For more information about running flows, see Publish a Flow to Tableau Server or Tableau Online. You can also run flows published on Tableau Server or Tableau Online manually or on a schedule. To keep data fresh you can manually run your flows from Tableau Prep Builder or from the command line. Output your flow to a published data source or to a database.Upload files for your flow inputs and connect to a variety of data sources.Output your flow to a file, published data source, or to a database (version 2020.3.1 and later).Include direct file connections in your flow input or package your files and publish the packaged flow to your server.View a preview of the data in your flow in Tableau Desktop.When working with flows on the web, there are a few differences.įor more information about authoring flows on the web, see Tableau Prep on the Web in the Tableau Server (Link opens in a new window) and Tableau Online (Link opens in a new window) help. The content in this topic applies to all platforms, unless specifically noted.Īt any point in your flow you can manually save your work, or let Tableau automatically do it for you when creating or editing flows on the web. Note: Starting in version 2020.4, you can also create and edit flows in Tableau Server and Tableau Online.

Tableau prep workflow