TabShapeR

A tool to import ESRI Shapefiles into Tableau using R

##Installing Programs and Packages

1. Download and install R (http://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/)
2. Open RStudio
3. Click the packages button
4. Click on Install Packages
5. Type “rgdal, maptools, sp, rgeos” into the Packages line
6. Click Install

##Running Code

1. In RStudio, select File > New File > R Script

2. Copy/Paste contents of ImportFunctions.R into new file

3. Highlight all code in TabShapeR and click Run

4. Select File > New File > R Script

5. Copy contents of TabShapeRTemplate.R into new file

6. Add the full path of the directory where Shapefile is stored after directory =

7. If using Windows, ensure that all “\” characters are replaced with “/” characters or you will receive a “ ‘\U’ used without hex digits” error message

8. Add name of ESRI shapefile after name = a. Do not include any extensions in the name.

9. Add name of the file where the data should write to after endName =

10. Delete the # in front of the appropriate TabShapeR command based on the type of data being imported (lines, points, or polygons)

11. Highlight all code and select Run (this may run for a while)

Connecting to data in Tableau Desktop

###Lines

1. Connect to .csv file using Connect to Data > Text File
2. Import All.
3. Select Line in the plot type drop down on the Marks card.
4. Deselect Analysis > Aggregate Measures.
5. Drag LineID to the Details shelf and PlotOrder to the Path shelf of the Marks card.
6. Double click on Latitude, and then double click on longitude.

###Polygons

1. Connect to .csv file using Connect to Data > Text File
2. Import All.
3. Select Polygon in the plot type drop down on the Marks card.
4. Deselect Analysis > Aggregate Measures.
5. Drag PolygonID to the Details shelf and PlotOrder to the Path shelf of the Marks card.
6. Double click on Latitude, and then double click on longitude.

###Points

1. Connect to .csv file using Connect to Data > Text File
2. Import All.
3. Drag PointID to the Details shelf of the Marks card.
4. Double click on Latitude, and then double click on longitude.

Add Polygons to Point Data

Given a bunch of Latitude/Longitude data and a polygon ShapeFile, add what Polygon each point belongs to the underlying data. This will perform better than using R-Integration, but will also be less cool.

##Steps

1. Copy the code from Add Points to Polygon to R Studio
2. Edit lines 2-5 to put the directory where the files are, the shapefile name, and the name of the .csv file with the lat/lon data
3. If you have not installed the packages, uncomment lines 7-11 to install the necessary packages
4. Run the file
5. New CSV with matching polygons will appear in the specified directory