Tableau Prep Builder allows you to design and run flows using the application. Sometimes, data cleansing and prepping will be a one-time operation to support an ad hoc analysis. However, you will often want to run a flow subsequently to capture new or changed data and to cleanse and shape it according to the same pattern. In these cases, you'll want to consider some options for automating the flow:
- Tableau Prep Builder may be run via a command line. You may supply JSON files to define credentials for input or output data connections. This enables you to use scripting and scheduling utilities to run the flow without manually opening and running the Tableau Prep interface. Details on this option are available from Tableau Help: https://onlinehelp.tableau.com/current/prep/en-us/prep_save_share.htm#refresh-output-files-from-the-command-line.
- Tableau Prep Conductor, an add-on to Tableau Server, gives you the ability to publish entire flows from Tableau Prep Builder to Tableau Server and then either run them on demand or on a custom schedule. It also provides monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities.