Let's now look at the various data sources available in Tableau. Take a look at the following Tableau data file:
- File format type: XML.
- What it contains: Metadata.
- Why it's useful: The .tds file is important because it allows the Tableau author to define default formatting and aggregation, calculated fields, data types, field types, and more. Furthermore, the .tds file can be published to Tableau Server and thus accessed by other authors in the environment. This effectively makes a .tds file a playbook, which ensures consistency across the organization. This important feature will be explored more fully in the Tableau Server architecture section.
- How it's generated: A .tds file can be generated by right-clicking on a data source in the Data pane and selecting Add to Saved Data Sources..., followed by selecting Tableau Data Source in the resulting...
