VizAlerts v2.2.1

All Updates:

-Fixed issue where mixed action flag values used with consolidate lines can cause no emails to send (Issue #198)
-Fixed unsafe yaml.load call (Issue #195)
-Updated config workbook to use new projects_contents mapping table (Issue #203)
-Fixed MyPDF2 library issue (Issue #205)

Note 1 - The version of the VizAlertsConfig.twb is only compatible with Tableau Server 2023.1 and higher. You will need this version of the workbook if you're on an earlier Server release.

Note 2 - If running as a Python script, you will need to update the MyPDF2 module to 3.0.0 or higher

VizAlerts v2.2.0

Two important updates in this release:

• Switched to Python 3: If you are running VizAlerts as a Python script, you will need to upgrade from Python 2 to Python 3. See upgrade instructions here.

• A fix for Tableau 2020.4: This version of Tableau introduced a bug that affects the test_alert functionality. You can fix this yourself without upgrading VizAlerts using the workaround here.

All updates:
-Refactor for Python 3 (Issue #111)
-Fix SMS error handling (Issue #158)
-Fix for test alerts breaking in 2020.4 (Issue #175)

VizAlerts v2.1.1

Minor updates to v2.1.0. There are two main changes:

• 2019.1 compatibility: A change was made to the Custom SQL in the VizAlertsConfig workbook which is required for 2019.1 compatibility,and incorporates another fix. If you plan to upgrade to 2019.1, and don't wish to upgrade fully upgrade to 2.1.1, you can simply replace your existing Custom SQL with the attached file. If you do not do this, VizAlerts will break if you upgrade to 2019.1.

• Performance Improvements: A bug was fixed where duplicate content references were being processed unnecessarily. For duplicate reports being bursted to many recipients, performance should improve.

All updates:
-Fixed problem where content references were unnecessarily processed (Issue #126)
-Updated for 2019.1 compatibility (Issue #142)
-Fixed issue where ad-hoc extract refreshes do not trigger alert execution (Issue #138)
-Remove advertisement from install_guide (Issue #124)
-Clarify Sort Order field behavior (Issue #141)
-Update install_guide for TSM commands (Issue #139)

VizAlerts v2.1.0

Don't let the fact that it's not labeled "v3.0" fool you. The features in this release are big, and with them, we believe VizAlerts has become a truly "zen" way to build alerts and custom reports with Tableau. We hope you enjoy them! To upgrade from a previous version, see the install guide.

Alert Criteria is a Calc
No need to hide all your data anymore. Encapsulate your alert criteria into the Email Action or SMS Action calculation instead!

Smart Notification Defaults
"Required" fields to send email are a thing of the past. All fields are now optional. Sending an alert to an email distribution list is as simple as dragging Email Action and a customized Email To field out onto the Detail shelf. Customize the subject by adding the Email Subject field. It's a liberating experience!

Schedule alerts to run "when the extract refreshes"
If you've wanted to run your VizAlerts when the extracts in the workbook they're a part of refresh, you've got your wish. The administrator may now set up two schedules; one for Refresh Success and one for Refresh Failure. Subscribe to either or both of those, and your VizAlert will run when the extract(s) in the workbook refresh.

Multithreaded Notifications
Previous versions of VizAlerts could take a while to process alerts that generated hundreds of emails or SMS messages. No longer. The administrator can now crank up alert throughput on an alert-by-alert basis simply by specifying the number of threads to use in the VizAlertsConfig workbook.

Python no longer required
Tired of installing a bunch of other software on your machine? Don't know and don't want to know what "pip" is? We've got your back. Thanks to help from one of our Tableau developers, John Buscher, VizAlerts can now be run as a single binary executable.

Use the VizAlertsDemo workbook to build your alerts
We took a lot of tips and tricks we've learned over the years building VizAlerts and integrated them into the VizAlertsDemo workbook, which replaces the "helper" published data source used previously. The workbook now contains a Start sheet, with links to documentation, videos, and a sheet to help you get started building your own alerts.

Plus, plenty of bug fixes and smaller features!:

• Updated to support the latest Twilio library (Issue #107)
• Fixed the ability to point to a custom yaml configuration file (Issue #120)
• Fixed issue with VizAlertsDemo SMS tests (Issue #105)
• Fixed problem where links in VizAlerts did not use https when server was using SSL (Issue #100)
• Moved Install Guide from .docx format to Markdown (Issue #79)
• Documentation updates (Issues #112, #109, #106, #104, #102)
• Updated vizalerts.yaml file for Tableau Server running on non-standard ports (Issue #101)

VizAlerts v2.0.1

Version 2.0.1 contains bug fixes and documentation updates. Here's what was fixed:

-Fixed issue where unlicensed users subscribed to Simple Alerts generate failure emails (Issue #88)
-Fixed issue where VIZ_LINK content reference doesn't work if placed after other content references (Issue #83)
-Improved error handling when subscriber to an Advanced Alert is not the owner (Issue #82)
-Fixed issue where trailing commas in recipients lists cause a "missing field" error (Issue #61)
-Fixed issue where locales defaulting to semicolon delimiters cannot use Advanced Alerts (Issue #17)
-Added a few small notes to the VizAlertsConfig workbook (Issues #87, #94)
-Install guide clarifications and corrections (Issues #86, #85, #84)
-User Guide clarifications and corrections (Issue #77)
-Allow use of additional characters to break up list of recipient email addresses (Issue #92)
-Added error handling for invalid regex expressions in configuration viz (Issue #90)
-Fixed issue where Case should be ignored in email address regex pattern comparisons (Issue #93)

VizAlerts v2.0.0

Whew! Well, we're proud to say that VizAlerts 2.0 is out (just in time for TC16 in Austin!), and has the following new and changed features:

Improved Administration

• Most of the administrator configuration in VizAlerts is now handled by editing a view on Tableau Server, rather than in the yaml file. This change means that you’ll now have nearly unlimited flexibility in defining alert restrictions.
• Added config options around SSL certificate validation

Easier Advanced Alert Configuration

• The fields used in Advanced Alerts no longer need to be exact! “Email To *, “Email To”, or “Email To Two 2” will all be recognized as containing the To email addresses.
• This also means you can set up alerts with different content using a single datasource, simply by copying the fields and changing the names for use in a different sheet.

Faster

• VizAlerts is now multi-threaded, which allows it to gracefully scale to process large numbers of alerts in a timely fashion. Scale it up to however much your Tableau Server can handle.

SMS support

• VizAlerts is no longer restrained to just sending email! It can now use the Twilio service to send SMS messages.
  These are configured in an Advanced Alert with the new “SMS Action” fields. These can be used separately from the Email fields, or together if you wish to send both an email and an SMS.

VizAlerts v1.1.1

Minor updates from v1.1.0, primarily to make the initial configuration installing on Tableau Server version 10.0 less confusing (previous versions were still compatible with Tableau Server v10, it just wouldn't have been as obvious).

VizAlerts v1.1.0

New in this release: Content References

This is an amazing feature added by @jdrummey that will now allow you to embed data from any arbitrary viz into your alert emails. They can be embedded as an inline image, attached as a CSV, or even a PDF. What's more, you can now dynamically filter the viz you're referencing by passing in a URL parameter! Finally, you can stitch multiple viz references into a single PDF report, in whatever order you prefer.

Many thanks to Jonathan for his hard work and ingenuity in implementing these features!

Oh yeah, there are some other minor config features and bug fixes in this release as well, but they're a bit less exciting. Check out the version_history.txt file for all the details.

Enjoy!

Matt

VizAlerts v1.0.8

Initial release to GitHub (previous releases were to a smaller audience)