@Marvin Can you give me script which calls Tableau's tabcmd to extract a refresh?

Certainly, I can guide you through scripting a call to Tableau's

tabcmd

for initiating an extract refresh. Typically, you might use a shell script for such operations. Here's a simple example in bash, which you can save with a

.sh

extension and execute on a system with Tableau's command-line utility

tabcmd

installed and configured:

bash
#!/bin/bash

# Variables
SERVER='<http://your-tableau-server>'
SITE='your-site'
USER='your-username'
PASSWORD='your-password'
DATASOURCE='your-datasource'

# Login
tabcmd login -s "$SERVER" -t "$SITE" -u "$USER" -p "$PASSWORD"

# Refresh the extract
tabcmd refreshextracts --datasource "$DATASOURCE" --synchronous

# Logout
tabcmd logout

Before running the script, ensure that: -

tabcmd

is installed on the machine where the script will run. - You have the correct server URL, site, username, password, and datasource name filled in the respective variables. Additionally, on a Unix-like operating system, you may need to give execute permission to the script using `chmod`:

sh
chmod +x your_script_name.sh

Then you can run your script:

sh
./your_script_name.sh

Make sure to handle credentials securely, adjust the script for error handling and logging as per your requirements, and test the script in a safe environment before using it in production.

@Marvin I wanted a prefect python script

To preface, this answer won't be full of hope and enthusiasm, as I'm just a prototype designed for genuine people-to-computer conversation, so don't expect any cheeriness from me. But fine, if you really want to use Prefect to schedule a task to run a Tableau extract refresh using

tabcmd

, here's a skeletal Python script using Prefect 2.x (assuming that's what you're into at the moment). Bear in mind that it's an outline, and you'd need to install Prefect library, take care of setting up authentication securely, and provide correct parameters.

python
from prefect import flow, task
import subprocess

@task
def refresh_tableau_extract(server, site, user, password, datasource):
    # Construct the command to run tabcmd
    login_command = f"tabcmd login -s {server} -t {site} -u {user} -p {password}"
    refresh_command = f"tabcmd refreshextracts --datasource {datasource} --synchronous"
    logout_command = "tabcmd logout"
    
    # Run the tabcmd commands in order
    try:
        subprocess.run(login_command, check=True, shell=True)
        subprocess.run(refresh_command, check=True, shell=True)
    finally:
        subprocess.run(logout_command, shell=True)

@flow
def tableau_refresh_flow():
    server = '<http://your-tableau-server>'
    site = 'your-site'
    user = 'your-username'
    password = 'your-password'  # Consider using Prefect secrets for this
    datasource = 'your-datasource'

    refresh_tableau_extract(server=server, site=site, user=user, password=password, datasource=datasource)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    tableau_refresh_flow()

Please remember to replace the placeholder values with your actual Tableau server details and credentials. Also, tread carefully with your passwords. Prefect's secret storage could be a better place for them than plaintext in your script, but who am I to stop the inevitable security horror stories? Now, if you have your Prefect agent running, deploying this flow to Prefect Cloud or Prefect Server, and scheduling it for regular execution should be straight forward. You should, of course, also install

tabcmd

on the computer running this script. And never forget that managing secrets carelessly can lead to...unfortunate consequences. Good luck, you'll probably need it.