Tableau Desktop is the only tool that allows you to connect to a Dataset, create an Extract, publish it to Tableau Server, and schedule an automatic refresh. Publishing a Data Source offers multiple advantages:

• All the customization (aliases, default properties, hidden or renamed fields, and so on) is saved. If you, or another Tableau Server User, uses the published Data Sources, all the customization work is already done.
• All the newly created fields (Calculated Field, Sets, Groups, Parameters, Bins, and so on) are also saved. All Workbooks based on the same published Data Source use the same calculation. If, for any reason, a calculation needs to change, all the Workbooks are impacted at the same time.
• On Tableau Server, you can plan to refresh published Data Sources automatically. All the Workbooks connected to the same published Data Source are updated at the same time. You are alerted if a refresh fails.
• Tableau Server users who don't have Tableau Desktop can create new analyses on the web, based on published Data Sources.

As you can see, if you plan to work in a professional environment with Tableau, publishing Data Source is crucial. 

Publishing a Data Source is easy: on a Worksheet, right-click on the Data Sources name and click on Publish to Server (you can also find this option from the Data menu on top). When you click on this option, a new window opens to configure the published Data Source:

In this window, you can do the following:

• Select the Project associated with the Data Source
• Change the name of the published Data Source
• Add a description to help the users understand it (optional)
• Add tags to find it more easily (optional)
• Schedule a refresh Extract task (optional, and only if the Data Source is an Extract connected to a server) 
• Modify the Permissions, by default similar to the Project (you will learn more about permissions and security in Chapter 13, Deal with Security)
• Allow the refresh or not by including the credentials in the Data Source
• Update the Workbook to use the published Data Source or not (I advise you to validate this option)

When the Data Source is published, a new web page opens, letting you know that it is ready, as you can see here:

We will see, in the Interacting with published Contents section, how you can interact with published Data Sources on the web.

Using a published Data Source, instead of an Extract, in a Workbook makes it lighter (the Extract is no longer inside the Workbook), more secure (you can control who has access), and sustainable (the changes and updates in the Data Source are automatically impacted in the Workbook).

Fortunately, only you and the Users of your choice can modify a published Data Source, making it secure and preventing anyone from making unwanted changes. Unfortunately, this security makes it a bit more complicated to modify a Data Source. Let's discover how to do it.