12 March 2020
- Author : Romain Dunand - Categories : Blog, FileMaker, Technique - Tag : connector, open source, tableau
filemaker2tableau, a new way to connect your FileMaker data to Tableau
Sometimes, a leader has to go beyond what’s just available.
As 1-more-thing, a world leader in the FileMaker/Tableau integration, we’ve decided to share our home made FileMaker/Tableau connector, an alternative to the one distributed by Claris with FileMaker Server.
This new connector is based on the latest version of Tableau’s Web Data Connector (WDC) and includes a simple an intuitive interface to help you connect your FileMaker data with your Tableau Software dashboards.
Comparison with the native Claris Tableau connector
- autocompletion of the list of databases (FileMaker files)
- autocompletion of the list of available layouts
- “multi-table” connection: connect several layouts in one go and import all data at once!
Easy install
- Download the lastest version on GitHub (yes, it’s free and Open Source) https://github.com/1-more-thing/fm2tableau/releases/latest
- Unarchive into a subdirectory of the web directory of your FileMaker Server:
- Windows :
C:/Program Files/FileMaker/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/conf - macOS:
/Library/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/htdocs/httpsRoot
- Windows :
- From Tableau, connect to your server by using your server location and the subdirectory name (eg: https://my.filemaker.server/fm2tableau)
Important remarks :
- The connector must be installed on the FileMaker Server machine (CORS restrictions)
- oAuth authentication is not (yet) supported. It will be shorly.
- Requirements are the same than with the native connector bundled with FileMaker Server (Data API enabled and fmrest extended privilege assigned to the account)
Connect FileMaker to Tableau in 30 seconds
Thanks for the connector!
I’m trying this to run on our dev & live server. For some weird reason, it works on the Live server (FMS 18, Windows Server), but not at all on the Dev server (FS18, Mac)
On Mac: I can use the login page in Tableau, I enter username & password, I see the available database in the dropdown, I choose it, and THEN the connector page says “Invalid user account or password”.
Suggestions?
Hi Wim,
Can you please open an issue on the project page here : https://github.com/1-more-thing/fm2tableau/issues
Please provide also detailed infos:
* FMS version
* Do you use a certificate on your dev server
Regards
Thanks for sharing this connector, but I seem to have a problem.
I can see the login screen but after I enter my credentials, the CONNECT button stays greyed out. Am I doing something wrong?
Filemaker Server 18 running on windows and Latest version of Tableau desktop.
Any help or hints would be much appreciated.
Hi, thanks for supplying this WDC, much appreciated. I’m having a problem where some of the fields on my layout are not appearing in the Tableau data source once I’ve connected. Are there some sort of rules or restrictions on what fields can be passed to Tableau using your connector? I hope you can help.
Thanks, Marika
Hi Marika,
Except containers, all other fields should works.
Are these fields from an external data source ? If so, you should check the account you use to connect allows fmrest privilege in both files.
Which version of filemaker server do you uses ?
Try to connect to your data API using postman to check if fields are present on native request, if not, then you probably have an issue with your privileges
Does this work on Linux?
Yes it does