In this section multiple annotation rules are set up. The following solutions are described:

• How to change the name of a data point
• How to comment on data points
• How to change the value of a data point
• How to enable tagging
• How to change the color of a data point
• How to set up rule & field level access control
• How to set up annotation approvals
• How to utilize notification channels

Name Change & Comments

This section guides you through the steps of creating an annotation rule for changing a data point's name and adding comments to it. Furthermore, the guide describes how bulk editing mode and annotation approvals can be enabled.

1. Click on Annotation Rules

2. Click on "Add new rule" in the top right corner

3. Give a custom name to the new rule (Tip: Try and come up with a name that reflects the modification you are about to make on the Tableau Dashboard) 

4. (Optional) Describe what the annotation rule is for 

5. Select a Tableau Server (servers created and will be shown to you in the dropdown list) 

6. Select a Data Source in which the annotations of the Tableau Dashboard will be written back to (Data Sources created will be shown to you in the dropdown list)

7. Give an arbitrary table name. This table can be later automatically or manually created in the specified data source and will store the annotations 

8. Tick the "Store annotation history checkbox" so that a history table can be created. This history table will store every annotation that has ever been created 

Note: Without ticking this checkbox, the annotation approval feature cannot be used

9. Select a whole group for rule access control by starting to type the name of the group. This way everyone in the group can have access to the Extension on the Tableau Dashboard and can make annotations

10. Tick the checkbox "Enable approval process" to enable the annotation approval feature

11. Select the users who will need to approve the annotations made on the Tableau Dashboard

12. Set the number of approvals needed 

13. For now, do not change the default settings, keep the checkboxes ticked

Note: This use-case works with the "One request per user per data row/sheet" annotation request mode. This mode allows for creating multiple annotation requests per data points without users being enabled to see each other's annotation requests. For further information on annotation approvals, click here. 

If the "Approvers can approve their own annotations" was not ticked, annotations made by User 1 could only be approved by User 2 and vice versa.

14. Click on "Create" at the Annotation form section

The annotation form is where the fields that later appear in the extension are being created. Therefore, in this section two fields will be created: a name change field and a comment field

16. Give a custom column name for the form field. This column will be created in the previously established table (See Step 7) which will be situated in the chosen Data Source (See Step 6)

17. Give a placeholder e.g. abc as the form expects Text to be written in the name change field. (The placeholder indicates the type of data the field requires)

18. Give a description about what kind of data points users can edit with the form field

19. (Optional) Change the field's display width in case you want to reduce its size

20. Tick the checkbox "Allow locking this field for bulk editing"

Allowing bulk editing enables you to edit multiple data points simultaneously by locking fields. For further information on Bulk Editing click here.

21. Select Single Line Text Field as Display Type

22. Click on "Save field" to save the form field

Now that the name change field is completed, the field for comment should be created

23. Click on "Create" at the Annotation form section

24. Select Type Text for the form field as the name of the data point shall be edited on the Tableau Dashboard which is a String value

25. Give a custom column name for the form field. This column will be created in the previously established table (See Step 7) which will be situated in the chosen Data Source (See Step 6)

26. Give a placeholder e.g. abc as the form expects Text to be written in the name change field. (The placeholder indicates the type of data the field requires)

27. Give a description about what kind of data points users can edit with the form field

28. (Optional) Change the field's display width in case you want to reduce its size

29. Select Editor as Display Type

30. Click on "Save field" to save form field

31. To save the whole Annotation rule, click on "Create annotation rule"

32. Click on "Create tables automatically" to create the tables automatically where annotations will be stored

Value Change & Tagging

This section guides you through the steps of creating an annotation rule for changing a data point's value and how to tag users on dashboards. Furthermore, the guide describes how to utilize Notification Channels.

1. Click on Annotation Rules

2. Click on "Add new rule" in the top right corner

3. Give a custom name to the new rule (Tip: Try and come up with a name that reflects the modification you are about to make on the Tableau Dashboard) 

4. (Optional) Describe what the annotation rule is for 

5. Select a Tableau Server (servers created and will be shown to you in the dropdown list) 

6. Select a Data Source in which the annotations of the Tableau Dashboard will be written back to (Data Sources created will be shown to you in the dropdown list)

7. Give an arbitrary table name. This table can be later automatically or manually created in the specified data source and will store the annotations 

8. Tick the "Store annotation history checkbox" so that a history table can be created. This history table will store every annotation that has ever been created 

Note: Without ticking this checkbox, the annotation approval feature cannot be used

9. Select the users who should have access to the rule. This way, only those with access can see the Extension on the Tableau Dashboard and perform annotations

10. Tick the checkbox "Enable approval process" to enable the annotation approval feature

11. Select the users who will need to approve the annotations made on the Tableau Dashboard

12. Set the number of approvals needed 

13. For now, do not change the default settings, keep the checkboxes ticked

Note: This use-case works with the "One request per user per data row/sheet" annotation request mode. This mode allows for creating multiple annotation requests per data points without users being enabled to see each other’s annotation requests. For further information on annotation approvals, click here. 

If the "Approvers can approve their own annotations" was not ticked, annotations made by User 1 could only be approved by User 2 and vice versa.

The annotation form is where the fields that later appear in the extension are being created. Therefore, in this section two fields will be created: a name change field and a comment field

16. Give a custom column name for the form field. This column will be created in the previously established table (See Step 7) which will be situated in the chosen Data Source (See Step 6)

17. Give a placeholder e.g. 123 as the form expects a number to be written in the value change field. (The placeholder indicates the type of data the field requires)

18. Give a description about what kind of data points users can edit with the form field

19. (Optional) Change the field's display width in case you want to reduce its size

20. Tick the checkbox "Allow locking this field for bulk editing"

Allowing bulk editing enables you to edit multiple data points simultaneously by locking fields. For further information on Bulk Editing click here.

21. Select Int64 as Db Type

Note: The reason Int64 is selected is because that data type, as its name suggests, can store more characters thus allowing for putting down bigger numbers.

22. Select Text Field as Display Type

23. Click on "Save field" to save the form field

Now that the value change field is completed, the field for tagging should be created

26. Give a custom column name for the form field. This column will be created in the previously established table (See Step 7) which will be situated in the chosen Data Source (See Step 6)

27. Give a placeholder e.g. @ as the form expects usernames to be written in the tag field. (The placeholder indicates the type of data the field requires)

28. Give a description of what kind of actions can be executed by the form field

29. (Optional) Change the field's display width in case you want to reduce its size

30. Select Users only for Selection Type. This way, only individual users can be selected for tagging

31. Choose the taggable users, by starting to type their name into the Selectable users field

32. Select Display Name as the identifier of the users. This way, the users' Display Name will be saved in the annotation database when tagged

33. Click on "Save field" to save form field

34. Click on "Create" to create a Notification Binding

Notification Bindings need to be set up in order that notifications are automatically sent out to the tagged user. The Notification Channel via which the notification should be sent, and the custom message will be determined in the following steps.

Note: Notifications in connection with tagging will not be sent out when an Annotation Approval process has not been set up for the Annotation Rule. (This was completed at Steps 10-13)

35. Click on "Select notification channel"

36. Select the Notification Channel via which the notification should be sent 

37. Leave the ticked checkboxes ticked in order that notifications can be sent out in all of those scenarios

38. Click on "Create template" to customize the message that users receive when tagged

Note: In this use-case the messages are not customised. However, the picture below shows how a message could be customised. Just simply type the message that should be sent and play around and insert the given variables into the Message box

39. To save the changes made to the Notification Template, click on "Create template"

40. Click on "Update notification binding" to save the settings you made

41. To save the whole Annotation rule, click on "Create annotation rule"

42. Click on "Create tables automatically" to create the tables automatically where annotations will be stored

 

Color Change & Custom Access

This section guides you through the steps of creating an annotation rule for changing a data point's color and how to set up custom access for rules. 

1. Click on Annotation Rules

2. Click on "Add new rule" in the top right corner

3. Give a custom name to the new rule (Tip: Try and come up with a name that reflects the modification you are about to make on the Tableau Dashboard) 

4. (Optional) Describe what the annotation rule is for 

5. Select a Tableau Server (servers created and will be shown to you in the dropdown list) 

6. Select a Data Source in which the annotations of the Tableau Dashboard will be written back to (Data Sources created will be shown to you in the dropdown list)

7. Give an arbitrary table name. This table can be later automatically or manually created in the specified data source and will store the annotations 

8. Tick the "Store annotation history checkbox" so that a history table can be created. This history table will store every annotation that has ever been created 

Note: Without ticking this checkbox, the annotation approval feature cannot be used

9. Select the users who should have access to the rule. This way, only those with access can see the Extension on the Tableau Dashboard and perform annotations

10. Tick the checkbox "Enable approval process" to enable the annotation approval feature

11. Select the users who will need to approve the annotations made on the Tableau Dashboard

12. Set the number of approvals needed 

13. For now, do not change the default settings, keep the checkboxes ticked

Note: This use-case works with the "One request per user per data row/sheet" annotation request mode. This mode allows for creating multiple annotation requests per data points without users being enabled to see each other’s annotation requests. For further information on annotation approvals, click here. 

If the "Approvers can approve their own annotations" was not ticked, annotations made by User 1 could only be approved by User 2 and vice versa.

The annotation form is where the fields that later appear in the extension are being created. Therefore, in this section two fields will be created: a name change field and a comment field

16. Give a custom column name for the form field. This column will be created in the previously established table (See Step 7) which will be situated in the chosen Data Source (See Step 6)

17. Give a placeholder e.g. colour (The placeholder indicates the type of data the field requires)

18. Give a description about what kind of actions can be executed by the form field

19. (Optional) Change the field's display width in case you wanted to reduce its size

20. Tick the checkbox "Allow locking this field for bulk editing"

Allowing bulk editing enables you to edit multiple data points simultaneously by locking fields. For further information on Bulk Editing click here.

21. Select Dropdown as Display Type

22. Click on Predefined values and type the name of a selectable color

23. Save the color by clicking on "Add"

24. Add more colors to the predefined values section

25. Click on "Save field" to save the form field

Now that the color change field is completed, the field level access control should be set up

 27. Give the name of the only user who can access the color change field within the annotation form

28. Save the field level access control by clicking on "Save"

Note: After setting up field access control, only User 2 will be able to perform the color change annotation. User 1 and User 3 who have access to the rule will see the field, however, they will not be able to perform any actions

29. To save the whole Annotation rule, click on "Create annotation rule"