The .twbx file.
Also .twb, .hyper, which are read the same way.
- Really a
- ZIP containing a .twb and usually a .hyper extract
- .twb alone
- Logic and layout, no rows
- .hyper
- Tableau's columnar extract format, readable on its own
- Carries
- Calculated fields, parameters and level of detail expressions
- Read here as
- Extracted. The .hyper extract only; the .twb packaged with it is skipped.
- Status
- Ready
- Fidelity
- Data extracted
- Largest file
- 25 MB free, 250 MB once a project is bought
What it actually is
The packaged extract is read as data, and the workbook beside it supplies the calculated fields.
A .twbx bundles a .twb workbook file, which is XML describing sheets, calculated fields and parameters, together with a .hyper extract holding the actual rows. That pairing is why a packaged workbook can be opened by someone with no access to the original database.
A bare .twb is the workbook without the extract. It points at a data source rather than containing one, so what can be read out is the logic: the calculated fields, the parameters, the level of detail expressions, and the shape of each sheet.
The calculated fields are the valuable part in both cases. They are the business definitions someone has already argued about and settled, and reading them is better than re-deriving them.
Upload one
The analysis runs before there is anything to pay for.
You see what it found, and the evidence behind it, first.
No account needed to start. You only pay when you like what you see.
What goes wrong, and what is done about it
2 named failures, each with the repair.
A live-connection workbook with nothing inside
A workbook connected live to a database packages no extract. It opens fine on a machine with database access and contains no data anywhere else.
What is done: Nothing checks for the extract first. A package without one yields no tables at all, which arrives as an empty result rather than as an explanation of why it is empty.
Calculated fields that reference the workbook, not the data
A field defined in terms of a parameter or a table calculation only has a value in the context of a specific sheet. Lifted out on its own it is not a column and cannot be recomputed.
What is done: No calculated fields come out of a .twbx at all: only the extract inside it is read. Upload the .twb on its own beside the package, which is read for its definitions rather than for rows.
Questions people ask
About this format, not about the product.
Do I need Tableau to use this?
No, and no licence is needed at any point. The .twbx is unpacked, but only the .hyper extract inside it is read: the .twb packaged beside it is skipped, so the calculated fields do not arrive. Send the .twb as a second file if you want those too.
Can I upload just the .hyper file?
Yes, and it reads straight through table by table. What you lose is the calculated fields, which live in the workbook rather than the extract.
Will it rebuild my dashboard?
It builds its own from what the data supports, which is usually the point of bringing it here. The original definitions are used where they exist rather than invented.
Keep reading
The jobs people do with this file, and the formats beside it.