# Tableau 2020.2: Data roles in Ask Data

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2020-05-06
- **Format:** Video · 4 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data visualisation, Analytics
- **Tools:** Tableau (ask data, server)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/tableau-2020-2-data-roles-in-ask-data
- **Watch:** https://www.youtu.be/DADYT4NPrj0

I walk through the new data roles feature in Ask Data, introduced in Tableau 2020.2. I show how to add synonyms and edit field descriptions on a published data source, then publish those settings as a reusable data role that other data sources can apply.

## Key takeaways

- Data roles let you add synonyms and edit field descriptions in Ask Data so users can phrase natural-language questions more flexibly
- You can add synonyms for both a field name (e.g. 'demographic' for segment) and its individual domain values (e.g. 'business' for corporate)
- Always hit enter after typing a synonym so Ask Data stores it correctly
- Publishing a data role to a project folder makes those synonym assignments reusable, and you can apply different saved roles to swap assignments in and out

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/tableau-2020-2-data-roles-in-ask-data

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena