Tag: Power BI Desktop

Power BI, Power BI Desktop, Power BI Desktop RS

Power BI Desktop Versions Demystified: Part 1, Power BI Desktop and Power BI Desktop RS

If you are a Power BI power user, you may have wondered: how many versions of Power BI Desktop are there? The quick answer is: it depends!

Depending on your organisation’s preferences, data governance requirements, and the platforms you intend to use for report deployment you may use either Power BI Desktop, the “standard version”, or Power BI Desktop RS (Report Server). Power BI Desktop has variations tailored to meet specific needs, such as cloud-based analytics or on-premises reporting. While many users might only encounter the standard version, there’s another important variant for specialised scenarios.

Power BI Desktop comes in two primary versions:

  1. Power BI Desktop:
    This is the standard version most users rely on. It’s the go-to tool for transforming data, creating semantic models, and building interactive reports. This version is designed to seamlessly integrate with the Power BI Service hosted on Microsoft Fabric, enabling cloud-based sharing, collaboration, and advanced features like Direct Lake, AI-driven insights, and more. Regular updates ensure that this version includes the latest features and innovations, such as new Power Query and DAX functions, enhanced visuals, and cutting-edge integrations.
  1. Power BI Desktop RS (Report Server):
    This is a specialised version of Power BI Desktop designed to work exclusively with Power BI Report Server, a locally hosted reporting platform. It is tailored for organisations that prefer to keep their data and reports on-premises due to regulatory, security, or strategic reasons, avoiding reliance on cloud services like the Power BI Service on Microsoft Fabric. Although the two versions look nearly identical in functionality, they serve distinct purposes. Power BI Desktop RS is specifically aligned with the capabilities of Power BI Report Server, supporting features available up to the latest release cycle of the server. For instance, Power BI Desktop RS updates are less frequent; typically released every few months, in line with Power BI Report Server’s update schedule; making it slightly behind the standard version in terms of cutting-edge features. However, it ensures stability and compatibility for on-premises deployments.
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Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Power BI Desktop, Power BI Service

Microsoft Fabric: Troubleshooting Query Parameters in Published Semantic Models

Microsoft Fabric: Troubleshooting Query Parameters in Published Semantic Models

Power Query is a powerful tool within the Microsoft Fabric environment, enabling users to manage data sources and transform data efficiently. However, a common issue you may face is that after publishing the Semantic Model, the Power Query parameters either do not appear or are greyed out, making them non-editable. In this post and its accompanying YouTube video, I’ll walk you through the steps to diagnose and fix these problems, ensuring that your parameters work as expected in your published semantic models.

Why Do Power Query Parameters Become Unavailable?

There are a few reasons why your Power Query parameters might not appear or be editable after you’ve published your report to Microsoft Fabric. These issues generally relate to either the way the parameters are set up within Power Query in Power BI Desktop or how they interact with the data sources.

Common Cause and Fix

1. Parameter Data Type in Power Query

One of the most common reasons your parameters might be greyed out or non-editable is due to the parameters’ data types defined in Power Query within Power BI Desktop. If your parameters are of type any, then they won’t show up, or they are read-only (greyed out). The fixation is easy:

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Copilot, Fabric Capacity, Microsoft Fabric, Power BI

Use Copilot in Power BI Desktop to Create Measures from Numeric Columns

I have been thinking about a mechanism to generate measures from numeric columns on Power BI data models. Of course, we can use Tabular Editor, but it requires some scripting, which is all right. However, the more advanced our requirements get, the more complex the C# script. In real-world development scenarios, it does not make sense to blindly create measures for all numeric columns, such as the key columns used to define relationships between tables, making C# scripting a bit more complex.

In this blog and accompanying YouTube video, I explain using Copilot within Power BI Desktop to create measures from numeric columns. This feature represents a significant advancement in Power BI’s capabilities as of April 2024, enabling data analysts and BI professionals to streamline parts of their data analysis tasks.

Prerequisites

As explained in a previous post here, we first need to enable Copilot on the Fabric Portal. Please note that Copilot in Power BI Desktop requires either Power BI Premium Capacity or AT LEAST an F64 Fabric Capacity. Unfortunately, Copilot is NOT available on PPU, Embedded capacities, Fabric capacities smaller than F64 and Fabric Trial (FT) capacities.

We also need to have the latest version of Power BI Desktop installed on our machine. With that, let’s begin.

YouTube Video

Here is the video on YouTube where I explain the same thing in less than 5 min. But if you are after more details, continue reading.

Introduction to Power BI and Copilot

As Power BI evolves, it incorporates more sophisticated AI-driven capabilities that simplify various aspects of data analytics. The integration of Copilot in Power BI Desktop enhances user interaction with data in many ways. Our focus on this blog is specifically using Copilot to create simple yet crucial measures based on numeric columns that previously required manual effort.

Use Copilot for Measure Creation

Using Copilot is straightforward and demonstrates impressive intelligence in its operational logic. The following steps explain how to do so:

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Azure DevOps, GitHub, Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Power BI Desktop, Power BI Service, Self-Service BI, Source Control

Microsoft Fabric: Source Control Options for Power BI Developers

Source Control Options for Power BI Developers

In Power BI development in Microsoft Fabric, understanding and utilising source control mechanisms is crucial for efficient collaboration and version management. This blog post delves into the essential aspects of source control for Power BI. This blog also includes the recording of my session at Saudi Arabia’s Excel User Group on the 26th of August 2023. The event was organised by Microsoft MVP, Faraz Sheik, where we walked through all the topics discussed in this blog.

Understanding Source Control

At its core, source control is a system that records changes to a file or set of files over time. This lets developers recall specific versions later, ensuring efficient collaboration and error management. It’s particularly vital for development teams, allowing multiple contributors to work on the same codebase without overwriting each other’s work.

For Power BI developers, this means tracking changes made to reports, and data models that are the most crucial components of every Power BI project.

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