Visualize Live Gmail Data in Tableau

Tableau is a visual analytics platform transforming the way businesses use data to solve problems. When paired with the CData Tableau Connector for Gmail, you can easily get access to live Gmail data within Tableau. This article shows how to connect to Gmail in Tableau and build a simple chart.

The CData Tableau Connectors enable high-speed access to live Gmail data in Tableau. Once you install the connector, you simply authenticate with Gmail and you can immediately start building responsive, dynamic visualizations and dashboards. By surfacing Gmail data using native Tableau data types and handling complex filters, aggregations, & other operations automatically, CData Tableau Connectors grant seamless access to Gmail data.

NOTE: The CData Tableau Connectors require Tableau 2020.3 or higher. If you are using an older version of Tableau, you will need to use the CData Tableau Connector for Gmail. If you wish to connect to Gmail data in Tableau Cloud, you will need to use CData Connect Cloud.

Connect to Gmail in Tableau

Open Tableau and click More under Connect -> To a Server. Select "Gmail by CData," then configure the connection and click "Sign In."

There are two ways to authenticate to Gmail. Before selecting one, first ensure that you have enabled IMAP access in your Gmail account settings. See the "Connecting to Gmail" section under "Getting Started" in the installed documentation for a guide.

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, can be set to valid Gmail user credentials.

Alternatively, instead of providing the Password, you can use the OAuth authentication standard. To access Google APIs on behalf on individual users, you can use the embedded credentials or you can register your own OAuth app.

OAuth also enables you to use a service account to connect on behalf of users in a Google Apps domain. To authenticate with a service account, you will need to register an application to obtain the OAuth JWT values.

In addition to the OAuth values, you will need to provide the User. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

Discover Schemas and Query Data

1. Select CData from the Database pull-down menu.
2. Select Gmail from the Schema pull-down menu.
3. Drag the tables and views you wish to visualize onto the join area. You can include multiple tables.
4. Select Update Now or Automatically Update. Update Now lets you preview the first 10,000 rows of the data source (or enter the number of rows you want to see in the Rows text box). Automatically Update automatically reflects the changes in the preview area.
5. Click the tab for your worksheet. Columns are listed as Dimensions and Measures, depending on the data type. The CData Tableau Connector discovers data types automatically, allowing you to leverage the powerful data processing and visualization features of Tableau.
6. Drag a field from the Dimensions or Measures area to Rows or Columns. Tableau creates column or row headers.
7. Select one of the chart types from the Show Me tab. Tableau displays the chart type that you selected.

Using the CData Tableau Connector for Gmail with Tableau, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on Gmail data. Download a free, 30-day trial and get started today.