power bi tips & tricks - power bi user group
TRANSCRIPT
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Power BI Tips & TricksRui Romano
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https://ruiromanoblog.wordpress.com
@RuiRomano
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruiromano
Head of BI @ DevScope
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DevScope’s Suite of Power BI tools
Connect data from Power BI or OLAP cubes to Excel, search
for any values in the data model and apply filters in bulk.
Embed Power BI Reports in PowerPoint presentations, Word
documents or Outlook messages.
Schedule and automatically send Power BI data to anyone,
anywhere.
Try Now
Try Now
Try Now
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Agenda
This session is not
• Intro to Power BI
• Advanced DAX/M Tips
• Deep-Dive on anything
This session is
• Fast-paced, full of demos
• Learn useful techniques on Power BI
• Learn some productivity Hacks
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Tip - Think like a Analyst (not a DBA ☺)
Entities not Tables =>Power BI is not MS Access!
Think about your naming & be coherent
Only load what you really need
Learn more: link1
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Tip – Change defaults on Data Load
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Tip –Keyboard Shortcuts on DAX Editor
See Link: xxlbi.com or biinsight.com
My Favorites:
CTRL + SHIFT + L Find and Replace ALL highlighted texto
CTRL + D Find and replace highlighted text
SHIFT + ENTER New Line with Indent
CTRL + ALT +
UP/Down
Enter multiple lines at once
CTRL + SPACE Activate Intellisense
CTRL + K + C/U Comment/Uncomment multiple lines
ALT + UP/Down Move lines up/down
CTRL + G Go to line number
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Tip – Calendar/Date table
Generate your calendar table with M Script or DAX
Use Relative *Period fields => Dynamic Filter Reports over Time
Learn more: link1
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Tip – Filter first, Transform later
Know “Query Folding” concept
Some transformations don’t “fold” the query
Filter ASAP (as second step if possible)
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Tip – Use the Barcode Scanner
Little effort, big impact
IOS only
PowerApps
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Tip – Parameters
PBIX Templates
Change the values after PublishChange the Database without Re-Publish
Change the Query without Re-Publish
Set the Type (don’t use “Any”)
Use REST API to change valuesSet-PBIDatasetParameters
Learn more: link1
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Tip – DAX Tables to reduce DB Impact
Not a Best Practice! But very useful in some scenarios where query is slow
1 Server Query => N Tables
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Tip – Optimize your model size
Focus on columns w/ high cardinalityUse Status Bar, DMV’s or tools like VertiPaq Analyser
Approaches
Remove columns you don’t need (ex: Transaction Number)
Find alternate ways (ex: separate query)
Separate query for things like “Transaction Count”
Split column for less distincts (ex: DateTime into Date + Hour)
Learn more: link1
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Tip – Value.NativeQuery + Dynamic Queries
Centralize Connection settingstimeouts, maxdop,…
Query Parameters
Query as a separate stepNo UI on Value.NativeQuery
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Tip – Folder Proxy
FolderProxy
Redirects to FileSystem or Cloud (ex:
Sharepoint)
Easy development w/ cloud data
sources like Sharepoint or DataLake
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Tip – Measures as Dimension
Reusability: YTD, LY,… over all the measures
One dashboard for multiple measures
Scorecards & KPIs
*Performance hit
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Tip – Unichar and SVG Measures
Set measures as Image URL
Use SVG (flexibility) or images as base 64
Only works on tables/matrix
This month ☺
Useful for Micro charts, ex: Sparlines
Learn more: link1, link2, link3, link4
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Tip – Burguer Filter => Save Report Space
Use: Bookmarks + Shapes + Visibility + Slicers
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Tip – Slow Report? Identify the cause…
Create Empty Page
DAXStudio & start capturingBy SQLBI & DAXStudio
Learn more: link1
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Tip – Dynamic Security
Evaluate your scenario, probably the basic approach is enough
Simple to manage
Versus standard security model with relationships
Don’t work w/ DirectQuery
Standard Security Model Lookup Security Model
Users Table
DAX Expression in the Roles
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Tip – Dashboard Pin’s
Use dashboard to show what’s important
More focus, less noise
Don’t PIN report pages! – Slow Dashboard, Limited UX
Use Relative Date slicer
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Tip – Scale the Gateways
Use different gateways: DirectQuery and import
Big Performance gain
On-Premises Gateway
On-Premises Gateway
PBI Service
Dashboards Reports Datasets
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Tip – Know the REST API
Use the REST API to: Automation, Productivity, DevOps,…
Examples:
Export all pbix from PowerBI.com to Folder
Bulk Create Multiple Workspaces using Folders and Files
Sync between Workspaces: (ex: Dev to Prod)
Learn more: link1
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Tip – Power BI + Real Time!
Multiple ways => Choose the best for you!
Streaming DataSets => Quick w/ Low Effort (very fast…)
REST API => More Control (not so fast…)
DirectQuery/Live
Power BI Embedded (Ted Pattinson GitHub as sample)
Learn more: link1, link2
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Tip – Power BI + Flow + RealTime
Learn more: link1
Easily send data to PBI DataSets
PowerQuery Support
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Tip – Real-Time Session Voting
https://tinyurl.com/pbivoting
https://bit.ly/2HVi5ej
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Contacts
▪ https://ruiromanoblog.wordpress.com/
▪ @RuiRomano
Linkshttps://github.com/DevScope/powerbi-powershell-modules