User Filters and Row Level SecurityWhen you share workbooks with others using Tableau Server, by default they can access all the data shown in the

views. Alternatively, you can create filters to limit the data that any given person can see. For example, in a sales

report that gets shared with regional managers, you may want to allow only the western regional manager to see the

western sales, the eastern regional manager to see the eastern sales, and so on. Rather than create a separate view

for each manager, you can define a user filter or row-level security that allows each manager to see only the data for

a particular region.

There are two approaches to row level security with Tableau. You can manually create user filters that define the

specific data each user can access. This method is convenient, but not automated. Alternatively, you can create a

calculated field that automatically defines whether a user can access the data. This second method requires that you

already have row-level security information in your underlying data source.

Creating User Filters Manually

Follow the steps below to create user filters manually in Tableau Desktop. This example uses the Sample Superstore

Sales (Excel) data source that ships with the product.

Note: The steps below describe an installation of Tableau Server that uses the built-in local authentication instead of

Active Directory. Refer to the Administrator Guide to learn how to add and manage users using Active Directory

authentication.

Step 1

Log on to the server as an Administrator and create three new user accounts on Tableau Server. In this example, the following new users are added.

UsernamePasswordFull Name License Level

Pat Pat Pat Smith Interactor

Erin Erin Erin Lockhardt Interactor

William William William Lane Interactor

Step 2

In Tableau Desktop, connect to your data. For this example, connect to the included Sample Superstore Sales

(Excel) connection.

Step 3

Build one or more views for which you want to use row-level security. For this example, make the following

selections:

1. From the Measures pane, drag Longitude (generated) onto the Columns shelf, and Latitude (generated) onto the Rows shelf.

2. From the Dimensions pane, drag Zip Code onto the Level of Detail shelf on the Marks card.

Step 4

Select Server > Create User Filter > Region.

Step 5

In the Tableau Server Login dialog box, log in to Tableau Server.

Step 6

In the User Filter dialog box, make the following selections:

1. In the Name text box, type Regional Managers.

2. In the User/Group list, click Erin Lockhardt, and then in the Members list, select the South check box.

3. Repeat Step b for Pat Smith and the East, and for William Lane and the West.

Step 7

When finished, click OK.

Step 8

User filters appear at the bottom of the Data window in the Sets pane. Drag the new Regional Managersset to

the Filters shelf.

Step 9

When you add the user filter to the Filters shelf, the view becomes blank. To display the view for one of the regional

managers, click the list arrow in the lower right area of the workbook window.

Step 10

You can display the name of the current user and region in the title to help the viewer understand that the view has

been filtered. Select View > Title.

Step 11

To set up the title, select Edit > Title.

Step 12

In the Edit Title dialog box, make the following selections (for example):

1. Select and delete the default tag for Sheet Name.

2. Click Insert and select Full Name.

3. Type 's Sales:.4. Click Insert and select Region.

Step 13

When finished, click OK.

When you publish the view to Tableau Server, each user sees only their own data. Learn more about user filtering in

the Online Help.

Setting Up Automatic User Filters

Instead of manually matching each user to data values, you can use a calculated field to automatically define the

filter. To create this calculated field, your underlying data source must contain the security information you want to

use for filtering. For example, if you want to filter the map view above so that only managers can see it, your data

source must specify each user's role.

Step 1

Log on to Tableau Server as an administrator.

Step 2

In Tableau Desktop, connect to data and build a view as described in Steps 2 and 3 in the manual procedure.

Step 3

In this example, the security information is another table, called Users, in the Superstore Excel workbook. The table

has two columns: Region and Manager. All users who are managers are listed along with their respective regions. To

join the Users table to the Orders table, select Data > Data Connection > Edit.

Step 4

In the Excel Workbook Connection dialog box, the Superstore workbook is selected by default.

Step 5

In the dialog box under Step 2, select Multiple Tables.

Step 6

Click Add New Table.

Step 7

In the Add Table dialog box, under Select the table to add, select Users.

Step 8

Click the Join tab.

The default join clause is correct as stated.

Step 9

On the Join tab, in the Join Type list, select Left, and then click OK.

Step 10

In the Excel Workbook Connection dialog box, click OK.

Step 11

Select Analysis > Create Calculated Field.

Step 12

In the Calculated Field dialog box, make the following selections:

1. In the Name text box, type User Is a Manager.2. Press the Tab key to move the cursor to the Formula text box.

3. In the Functions list, double-click USERNAME.

4. In the Fields list, double-click Manager.

Step 13

When finished, click OK.

This new true/false field appears in the Dimensions pane. This formula returns TRUE if the username of the person

currently logged in exists in the manager table.

Step 14

If you are not currently logged in to Tableau Server, log in now.

Step 15

At the bottom left of the Tableau view, click the list arrow next to your username, and in the Filter As User list, select

one of the regional managers.

Step 16

Drag the =T/F User Is a Manager field to the Filters shelf.

Step 17

In the Filter dialog box, select True, which sets the filter so that only people who are managers can see the data in

the view, and then click OK.

The benefits of this method are:

1. You do not need to manually manage user access to the row level data. As new users are added, the filter

will automatically update.

2. Using a calculated field for row level security can increase performance as the number of users grows on

Tableau Server

Need more help? Contact Sup