Tableau-Desktop-Found Connecting to and Preparing Data Practice Question
Exhibit
Log: 'Metadata extraction failed for table [Orders]. Connection established, but table schema is inaccessible.'
Refer to the exhibit. You are connected to an Oracle database. You can see the tables list, but when you drag a table onto the canvas, you receive this error. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume the error is due to a bad network connection or a driver issue, rather than recognizing it as a permission-based metadata access failure.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The user lacks permissions to read the table metadata.
Metadata extraction failure often indicates that while the connection to the server succeeds, the user lacks the necessary read permissions for the specific schema or table metadata. This is a common issue in enterprise environments where database administrators restrict access to system catalogs. Without metadata, Tableau cannot query the column definitions required to build the join or extract structure.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The database is currently offline.
Why it's wrong here
If the database were offline, the initial connection attempt would fail entirely before the metadata extraction phase. Since the connection is successfully established, the issue is not the server's uptime, but rather the specific permissions or constraints on the table level within the database.
- ✓
The user lacks permissions to read the table metadata.
Why this is correct
Metadata extraction requires the ability to query information schema or system tables to identify column names and types. If the database user is restricted, Tableau cannot retrieve these details, resulting in the failure. This is a security configuration issue on the database side, not a Tableau error.
- ✗
The data table is empty.
Why it's wrong here
Empty tables are perfectly valid in relational databases and Tableau can connect to them without issue. The metadata (column headers) exists regardless of whether the table contains any rows. Therefore, an empty table would not trigger a 'schema is inaccessible' error during metadata retrieval.
- ✗
The Oracle driver is incompatible with the version.
Why it's wrong here
Driver incompatibility typically leads to immediate connection failure or errors during query execution, not specific metadata access failures after the connection is established. A successful connection indicates that the driver is functioning correctly for basic communication, pointing the root cause toward database permissions instead.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Tableau (Salesforce) exam blueprint
This Tableau-Desktop-Found practice question is part of Courseiva's free Tableau (Salesforce) certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the Tableau-Desktop-Found exam.