# Timestamp Outputs in Tableau Prep | New in Tableau 2023.2

> 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:** 2023-06-21
- **Format:** Video · 4 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Data prep
- **Tools:** Tableau (parameters, prep)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/timestamp-outputs-in-tableau-prep-new-in-tableau-2023-2
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsX9JOnTByQ

I walk through a new feature in Tableau Prep 2023.2 that lets you add the run date or run time dynamically to your output file names using parameters. I cover why you'd want this for version control and snapshotting, and demonstrate setting it up live, bug and all.

## Key takeaways

- Tableau Prep 2023.2 adds system parameters so you can append the run date or run time to output file names without needing a date column in your data
- Previously you had to add a date dimension to your dataset and parameterise from that, which was messy; this removes that requirement
- The feature is useful for version control of outputs and for capturing daily snapshots you later combine in another flow
- You can choose different date and time formats, including granularity down to the second via run time, and add separators like hyphens
- Deleting the brackets around the parameter in the name field removes the parameter, so leave them intact

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/timestamp-outputs-in-tableau-prep-new-in-tableau-2023-2

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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