Live vs extract connections in Tableau - Dashboard Approaches Compared

Dashboard Mode - Live vs extract connections

Business Question

Should we use a live connection or an extract connection to analyze sales data for faster and reliable reporting?

Sample Data: Sales Records

Order ID	Region	Sales	Order Date
1001	East	250	2024-01-15
1002	West	400	2024-01-20
1003	East	150	2024-02-05
1004	South	300	2024-02-10
1005	West	500	2024-03-01
1006	East	350	2024-03-15
1007	South	200	2024-03-20

Dashboard Components

• KPI Card: Total Sales (Live Connection)
  Formula: SUM([Sales]) from live data
  Result: 2150
• KPI Card: Total Sales (Extract Connection)
  Formula: SUM([Sales]) from extract data
  Result: 2150
• Bar Chart: Sales by Region (Live Connection)
  Shows total sales per region using live data connection.
• Bar Chart: Sales by Region (Extract Connection)
  Shows total sales per region using extract data connection.
• Table: Detailed Sales Records
  Lists all orders with sales and dates, connected live or via extract.

Dashboard Layout

+---------------------------+---------------------------+
| Total Sales (Live)        | Total Sales (Extract)     |
|       [ 2150 ]            |       [ 2150 ]            |
+---------------------------+---------------------------+
| Sales by Region (Live)    | Sales by Region (Extract) |
|  [Bar Chart]              |  [Bar Chart]              |
+---------------------------+---------------------------+
|           Detailed Sales Records (Table)           |
|                      [All orders]                   |
+----------------------------------------------------+
  

Interactivity

Filters for Region and Order Date apply to both live and extract components. Selecting a region updates both bar charts and KPI cards to show filtered sales totals. The detailed sales table updates to show only matching orders.

Users can switch between live and extract views to compare performance and data freshness.

Self Check

If you add a filter for Region = East, which components update and what is the new total sales?

• Both KPI cards update to show total sales for East region: 250 + 150 + 350 = 750
• Both bar charts update to show sales only for East region.
• The detailed sales table shows only orders from East region.

Key Result

Dashboard compares live vs extract connections showing total sales, sales by region, and detailed orders with synchronized filters.