Coming from Tableau Prep

If you're familiar with Tableau Prep Builder, you already understand visual data pipelines. Sigilweaver uses similar concepts with a few differences.

Terminology Mapping

Tableau Prep	Sigilweaver	Notes
Flow	Workflow	Both are saved files containing your pipeline
Step	Tool	Dragged from palette onto canvas
Connection	Wire	Visual links between steps/tools
Input	Input tool	Load CSV, Parquet, Excel files
Output	Output tool	Save to CSV, Parquet, Excel, JSON
Profile Pane	Data Preview	Click any tool to see its output
Changes Pane	Configuration Panel	Left-side panel for tool settings
Clean Step	Select tool	Choose, rename, reorder, cast columns
Filter Rows	Filter tool	Split data on true/false condition
Aggregate	Summarize tool	Group and calculate aggregations
Join	Join tool	Combine datasets on key columns
Union	Union tool	Stack datasets vertically
Pivot	(Coming soon)	Planned for future release

Common Tasks

Loading Data

Tableau Prep:
Connect → Select file → Preview appears

Sigilweaver:
Drag Input tool → Pick your file → Preview shows after execution

Filtering Rows

Tableau Prep:
Add Clean Step → Filter tab → Select field and condition

Sigilweaver:
Drag Filter tool → Write expression like pl.col("age") > 18 → True/False outputs split the data

Key difference: Sigilweaver uses Polars expressions instead of a GUI builder. This is more powerful but requires learning the syntax (see Expressions Guide).

Selecting/Renaming Columns

Tableau Prep:
Clean Step → Remove/rename columns in the profile pane

Sigilweaver:
Drag Select tool → Configure which columns to keep, rename, reorder, or cast

Aggregating Data

Tableau Prep:
Add Aggregate step → Choose group fields → Choose aggregations

Sigilweaver:
Drag Summarize tool → Select "Group By" for grouping columns → Select aggregation type (Sum, Mean, Count, etc.) for each column

Joining Tables

Tableau Prep:
Add Join step → Drag in second input → Configure join keys and type

Sigilweaver:
Drag Join tool → Wire left and right inputs → Configure keys and suffix → Three outputs: matched (J), unmatched left (L), unmatched right (R)

Key Differences

1. Expression Language

Tableau Prep uses visual builders for most operations. Sigilweaver uses Polars expressions for filtering and formulas:

# Filter example
pl.col("sales") > 1000

# Formula example  
pl.col("price") * pl.col("quantity")

Don't worry - the Expressions Guide covers everything you need.

2. Lazy Evaluation

Tableau Prep executes each step as you build. Sigilweaver uses lazy evaluation:

• The workflow is optimized before execution
• Data isn't processed until you preview or execute
• This allows working with datasets larger than memory

3. Multiple Outputs

In Sigilweaver, tools can have multiple outputs. For example:

• Filter has True and False outputs
• Join has matched, unmatched-left, and unmatched-right outputs

This gives you more flexibility to handle edge cases.

Your First Workflow

Let's recreate a simple Tableau Prep flow: load sales data, filter for active customers, and calculate total sales by region.

Steps:

1. Load data:

   • Drag Input tool to canvas
   • Pick your CSV file
   • Click the tool to preview data

2. Filter for active customers:

   • Drag Filter tool, wire from Input
   • Expression: pl.col("status") == "active"
   • Wire from the T (true) output for next step

3. Calculate total by region:

   • Drag Summarize tool, wire from Filter's T output
   • Set region to Group By
   • Set sales to Sum
   • Preview shows totals by region

4. Save results:

   • Drag Output tool, wire from Summarize
   • Configure output path and format
   • Execute workflow to save file

Next Steps

• Interface Guide - Learn canvas navigation and shortcuts
• Expressions Basics - Master the expression syntax
• Tools Reference - Explore all available tools

The visual paradigm is similar to Tableau Prep, so you'll feel at home quickly. The main learning curve is expressions, but they unlock more power than click-based builders.