twbparser

Parse Tableau TWB/TWBX files in R: extract datasources, joins, relationships, fields, calculated fields, worksheet configuration, and dashboard structure, plus inspect and unpack TWBX assets. Built for large workbooks and Shiny integration.

Features

• TWB/TWBX: open packaged workbooks and auto‑extract the largest .twb
• Relationships & joins: parse legacy joins and modern (2020.2+) relationships
• Calculated fields / parameters: list formulas, datatypes, roles, and parameter metadata
• Datasources: connection classes/targets, inferred locations, field counts
• Worksheet intelligence: shelves (rows/cols/encodings), filters, axes, and sorts per worksheet
• Dashboard intelligence: sheet positions, full zone layout tree, and filter/URL actions
• Dependency graph: build/plot field dependency DAGs
• TWBX assets: list/extract images, extracts, text files, etc.
• Ergonomics: parser$summary (no parens), parser$overview, parser$pages, parser$pages_summary

Installation

# Install from GitHub (using pak)
install.packages("pak")
pak::pak("PrigasG/twbparser")

# Or using devtools
install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("PrigasG/twbparser")

Quick Start

Summary for twb workbook

library(twbparser)
library(fs)

# Parse workbook
path <- fs::path_abs("path/to/workbook.twbx")
stopifnot(file.exists(path))

parser <- TwbParser$new(path)

# summary (prints)
parser$summary

# summary (one row tibble)
parser$overview

With a “.twbx” file

parser <- TWBParser$new("path/to/workbook.twbx")

# Inspect manifest
parser$twbx_manifest

Peek inside

# Datasources / parameters / all sources
parser$get_datasources()
parser$get_parameters()
parser$get_datasources_all()

# Fields and calculated fields (parameters excluded by default)
parser$get_fields()
parser$get_calculated_fields(pretty = TRUE, wrap = 120)

Page insights (dashboards, worksheets, stories)

# What pages exist?
parser$pages
# Or functional: twb_pages(parser)

# One-line summaries per page
parser$pages_summary

# What is on a page and where? (filters include x/y/w/h on dashboards)
parser$get_page_composition("Executive Dashboard")

# Filters across dashboards (with positions)
twb_dashboard_filters(parser)

# Chart/mark types per worksheet
twb_charts(parser)

# Colors and palettes referenced
twb_colors(parser)

Worksheet-level detail (new in 0.4.0)

# Fields on rows, cols, color, size, label … per worksheet
parser$get_sheet_shelves()
# or: twb_sheet_shelves(parser, sheet = "Sales")

# Worksheet filters — categorical members, range min/max
parser$get_sheet_filters()

# Axis configuration — reversed, include-zero, scale type
parser$get_sheet_axes()

# Sort directives — direction and method
parser$get_sheet_sorts()

Dashboard structure (new in 0.4.0)

# Which sheets are on a dashboard and where?
parser$get_dashboard_sheets()
# or: twb_dashboard_sheets(parser, dashboard = "Overview")

# Full zone tree — parent zones, component types, tiled vs floating
parser$get_dashboard_layout()

# Filter and URL actions — source/target sheets, trigger, URL
parser$get_dashboard_actions()

Relationships/Joins

library(dplyr)
library(tidyr)

rel_df <- parser$get_relationships() |>
  mutate(
    op   = replace_na(operator, "="),
    left = paste0(left_table,  ".", left_field),
    right= paste0(right_table, ".", right_field),
    Join = paste(left, op, right)
  ) |>
  select(Join, datasource_left = left_table, datasource_right = right_table,
         operator, everything(), -left, -right, -left_is_calc, -right_is_calc)

rel_df

Nice tabular view for calculated fields

library(dplyr)

calcs <- parser$get_calculated_fields(pretty = TRUE, wrap = 120) |>
  select(Name = name, Formula = formula_pretty, Datasource = datasource)

# DT example optional:
# DT::datatable(calcs, escape = FALSE, rownames = FALSE,
#   options = list(scrollX = TRUE, pageLength = 50)) |>
#   DT::formatStyle("Formula", `white-space` = "pre", `font-family` = "monospace")

And graph objects (via igraph or ggraph) for visualization:

Rscript -e "twbparser::parse_twb('my_dashboard.twb', output_dir = 'results/')"

Integration Examples

• R Shiny: Build an interactive dashboard showing calculations, filters, and DAG visualizations.
• Power BI: Export calculated field logic to replicate measures in DAX.
• Data lineage: Combine with DiagrammeR or visNetwork for workflow diagrams.

What’s new (0.4.0)

• Worksheet intelligence: twb_sheet_shelves(), twb_sheet_filters(), twb_sheet_axes(), twb_sheet_sorts() — extract the full shelf configuration, filter predicates, axis settings, and sort rules for every worksheet
• Dashboard intelligence: twb_dashboard_sheets(), twb_dashboard_layout(), twb_dashboard_actions() — inspect which sheets appear where, the full zone hierarchy, and all filter/URL actions
• Bug fixes: corrected edge direction in plot_relationship_graph(), fixed column references in plot_source_join_graph(), eliminated Cartesian-product explosion in infer_implicit_relationships()

Contributing

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/new-feature)
3. Commit changes (git commit -m ‘Add new feature’)
4. Push branch (git push origin feature/new-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This package is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.