Tableau Legacy + Jet Drive = Data Processing at Lightning Speed
The legacy Jet Drive is a feature in Tableau that allows you to use a local data source to create a data extract, that can be used for improving the performance of your dashboards and reports. The legacy Jet Drive uses the Microsoft Jet Database Engine to create the data extract, which can be faster and more efficient than using a live connection to the data source.
The legacy Jet driver is a database driver that was used in earlier versions of Tableau to connect to Microsoft Access databases. It is no longer recommended for use with Tableau, as Microsoft has ended support for the Jet driver and it may have compatibility issues with newer versions of Tableau and Windows.
Instead of using the legacy Jet driver, Tableau recommends using the Microsoft Access Database Engine (ACE) driver to connect to Microsoft Access databases. The ACE driver is a more modern and robust driver that is fully supported by Microsoft and compatible with the latest versions of Tableau and Windows.
It is recommended to convert the Microsoft Access Database to a newer format like MS SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc and connect to that.
To use the legacy Jet Drive in Tableau, follow these steps:
- Connect to a local data source in Tableau.
- Click on the “Data” menu and select “Extract Data.”
- In the “Extract Data” dialog, select the “Use legacy Jet drive” option.
- Click “OK” to create the data extract.
The legacy Jet Drive is available in older versions of Tableau, but it has been deprecated in more recent versions. In newer versions of Tableau, you can use data extracts to improve the performance of your dashboards and reports, but you cannot use the legacy Jet Drive to create the data extracts. Instead, you can use the native Tableau data engine to create the data extracts.
It is important to note that, the legacy Jet driver is no longer supported by Microsoft, so if you are still using it, you should consider upgrading to the ACE driver to ensure that your Tableau workbooks will continue to work correctly and securely.