#DDQ2025-01 Generate PDF using REST API by changing Parameter (Intermediate)

Welcome to the DataDev Quest Challenge for January 2025! This challenge is designed to learn how to use Tableau REST API, Tableau Server Client, and Tableau Developer Sandbox to generate a PDF from a Workbook published in Tableau Cloud.

Challenge Overview

Objective:

Write a Python Script that uses Download Workbook PDF (REST API) to generate a PDF from Tableau Cloud. Check the challenge at the end of the guide.

Why this challenge?

Many organizations rely on Tableau to generate PDF reports to share critical insights. However, when dealing with a large number of workbooks, manually generating these reports becomes time-consuming and error-prone. Automating this process using Tableau Server Client and REST API not only saves time but also ensures consistency and scalability.

Many of these Reports also require that you dynamically change the selection and pre-select the data to print it.

Learning Goals

Get your Tableau Developer Sandbox
Configure Personal Access Token (PAT)
Install Tableau Server Client
Connect to your Developer Site using PAT
Search a Workbook by Name and Content URL
Generate PDF from Workbook
Learn how to pass parameters and filters to create statics PDFs.

Submission Guidelines

Source Code: Publish your project publically in the GitHub profile
Add README: Include setup instructions and describe how to run the program.
Video of Solution: Include a video of your solution in the README file, which you can publish on YouTube and embed the iframe. Or save the video file in the directory root inside the repository.
Comments: Ensure your code is well-commented.
Submission: Submit your challenge in the following **forms**

Additional Resources

Getting Started

The first step is to get and set up your Tableau Developer Sandbox. By following my Medium Post, you will get a step-by-step guide to configuring it.

1. In your Tableau Cloud Site, create a Folder with the name DataDevQuest and a subfolder 202501 as follows:

2. Download Let’s Play A Game by Kyle Massey to your machine.

3. Open with Tableau Desktop and Sign In to your site using your full URL, copying and pasting from your browser. The URL will look similar to https://10ax.online.tableau.com/#/site/cristiansaavedradx

If It asks you to enter the URI, copy the text after site/ in the URL, in my example, it is cristiansaavedradx

4. Publish the workbook selecting the location DataDevQuest / 202501 and All Sheets and not show sheets as tabs:

5. Be sure that you have Enabled the Personal Access Token (PAT) and configure your Personal Access Token (PAT). If you need help, follow my Medium Post, where I explain how to get it.

6. Install Tableau Server Client (TSC) in your Python environment

7. Modify the following example code with your URL, PAT Token, PAT Secret, and Site ID.

import tableauserverclient as TSC

my_server_url = 'https://10ax.online.tableau.com/'
my_token_name = 'test'
my_token_secret = '+z+Gy5CSSi+VVotuzo44A==:ai5xKL1A6Dfmf6OIstMuiOGhGbvN0MxpS'
my_site_id = 'cristiansaavedradx'

tableau_auth = TSC.PersonalAccessTokenAuth( token_name=my_token_name
                                           ,personal_access_token=my_token_secret
                                           ,site_id=my_site_id)
server = TSC.Server(my_server_url, use_server_version=True)

with server.auth.sign_in_with_personal_access_token(tableau_auth):
    print('[Logged in successfully to {}]'.format(my_server_url))

Python

8. Execute the code, and you will get a Logged in successfully message to your Tableau Cloud Site.

9. Modify the following example code that searches the Kyle Massey Dashboard in your Tableau Cloud Developer Site using the Name and passing RequestOptions. For more information, check Filter and Sort

import tableauserverclient as TSC

my_server_url = 'https://10ax.online.tableau.com/'
my_token_name = 'test'
my_token_secret = '+z+Gy5CSSi+VVotuzo44A==:ai5xKL1A6Dfmf6OIstMuiOGhGbvN0MxpS'
my_site_id = 'cristiansaavedradx'
my_workbook = "Let's Play A Game"

tableau_auth = TSC.PersonalAccessTokenAuth( token_name=my_token_name
                                           ,personal_access_token=my_token_secret
                                           ,site_id=my_site_id)
server = TSC.Server(my_server_url, use_server_version=True)

with server.auth.sign_in_with_personal_access_token(tableau_auth):
    print('[Logged in successfully to {}]'.format(my_server_url))
    
    req_option = TSC.RequestOptions()
    req_option.filter.add(TSC.Filter(TSC.RequestOptions.Field.Name
                                    ,TSC.RequestOptions.Operator.Equals
                                    ,my_workbook))
 
    workbooks, pagination_item = server.workbooks.get(req_options=req_option)
    if workbooks:
        print(f"=== Workbook ===")
        print(f"Name:{workbooks[0].name}")
        print(f"luid:{workbooks[0].id}")
        print(f"URL:{workbooks[0].webpage_url}")
        print(f"Content URL:{workbooks[0].content_url}")

Python

10. Execute the code, and you will get information like the name, luid, URL, and Content URL. The Content URL is a unique resource that you will see also in the URL when you use the Tableau Web Interface, for example:

https://10ax.online.tableau.com/#/site/cristiansaavedradx/views/LetsPlayAGame/LetsPlayAGame?:iid=1

11. Modify the following code example to use your PAT and replace the variable pdf_file_name with the path where you want to download the pdf on your machine.

import tableauserverclient as TSC
import os

my_server_url = 'https://10ax.online.tableau.com/'
my_token_name = 'test'
my_token_secret = '+z+Gy5CSSi+VVotuzo44A==:ai5xKL1A6Dfmf6OIstMuiOGhGbvN0MxpS'
my_site_id = 'cristiansaavedradx'
my_content_url = 'LetsPlayAGame'
pdf_file_name = f'./02_intermediate/{my_content_url}.pdf'

tableau_auth = TSC.PersonalAccessTokenAuth( token_name=my_token_name
                                           ,personal_access_token=my_token_secret
                                           ,site_id=my_site_id)
server = TSC.Server(my_server_url, use_server_version=True)

with server.auth.sign_in_with_personal_access_token(tableau_auth):
    print('[Logged in successfully to {}]'.format(my_server_url))

    req_option = TSC.RequestOptions()
    req_option.filter.add(TSC.Filter(TSC.RequestOptions.Field.ContentUrl
                                    ,TSC.RequestOptions.Operator.Equals
                                    ,my_content_url))

    workbooks, pagination_item = server.workbooks.get(req_options=req_option)
    if workbooks:

        wb = workbooks[0]
        print(f"=== Workbook ===")
        print(f"Name:{wb.name}")
        print(f"luid:{wb.id}")
        print(f"URL:{wb.webpage_url}")
        print(f"View:{wb.content_url}")

        pdf_options = TSC.PDFRequestOptions(page_type='unspecified', orientation='landscape')

        server.workbooks.populate_pdf(wb, pdf_options)

        print(f'Path:{os.getcwd()}')
        with open(pdf_file_name, 'wb') as f:
            f.write(wb.pdf)
            print('[PDF Generated]')

Python

12. Execute the code, and you will learn how to generate a PDF from an existing Tableau Workbook published in Tableau Cloud.

Challenge

Your challenge is to use the following input file and generate a PDF, including one page for each publisher.

The input.csv file:

Activision
Electronic%20Arts
Konami%20Digital%20Entertainment
Namco%20Bandai%20Games
Nintendo
Sega
Sony%20Computer%20Entertainment
Take-Two%20Interactive
THQ
Ubisoft

I will publish the solution in the next session!

Happy Code!

Hints

1. The parameters in Tableau work as filters, and you can pass the values by Query String as follows. You can use the same technique but using REST API

https://10ax.online.tableau.com/#/site/cristiansaavedradx/views/LetsPlayAGame/LetsPlayAGame?:iid=6&SelectedPublisher=Nintendo

2. Unfortunately, the REST API Download Workbook PDF doesn’t work like the Tableau Cloud interface, where you can pass parameters to Workbook. But there is a hack using the REST API Query Views instead.

3. I recommend you explore the PyPdf Library to allow you to manipulate the PDF and add the missing pages.

Have you already solved it?

There are more things you can learn from this exercise, like seeing the different PDFRequestOptions like the Page Orientation.

If you want to know more about the DataDev Community, you can see the recorded session at SalesForce Plus

Who I am?

Hey, I forgot to introduce myself; I am Cristian Saavedra Desmoineaux a Tableau Data Dev Ambassador and one of the co-founders of DataDevQuest. Passionate about solving data problems with over 20 years of experience in complex scenarios. You can contact me by LinkedIn.

DataDev Rules!

Special Thanks to Kyle Massey for allowing me to use her Tableau Public Post for this exercise and
Jordan Woods, who helped me many times with questions related to REST API

Tagged Intermediate

#DDQ2025-01 Generate PDF using REST API by changing Parameter (Intermediate)

Challenge Overview

Objective:

Why this challenge?

Learning Goals

Submission Guidelines

Additional Resources

Getting Started

Challenge

Hints

Have you already solved it?

Who I am?

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