Starting a new video series on Power BI. Here is the first video: Power BI Data Import.
Tag Archives: Power BI Desktop
Is Power BI Free ?
This is a commonly asked question. I will try to answer it in the simplest possible manner. Of course, this is as of May 2018. Things change very fast. So please check online for the latest status. Power BI Free does exist. In two forms. One is built into Excel and one is a subscription option. Continue reading Is Power BI Free ?
Announcing Pivot Table to Power BI course
I am happy to announce that my first detailed training course is now up and running at Udemy. It is about Power BI. But it starts with what you already know – Pivot Tables. That is why the course is called Pivot Table to Power BI.
Quick Calc in Power BI
Quick Calc in Power BI (Desktop as well as Portal) is a handy feature. Similar to Show Values As in Pivot Tables.
How to use Quick Calc in Power BI
When you add a measure in the value area, it can be shown as % of Grand Total. Just open the dropdown next to the field and choose Quick Calc.
In the dialog, choose the summarization as desired and then choose Percent of of grand total option from the Show Value As dropdown. Here is the result. I have added the same column twice. Once to show the actual and other as % of total.
With little bit of tweaking of formatting options in Power BI designer, nice looking reports can be created. One of the most common complaints is that the default font size is too small. That can be changed by going to the General section of formatting area.
The Show Values As dropdown has only one option as of now. Of course, it is nothing compared to the Pivot Table Show Values As capability – which offers 14 options. I am sure more options will be added to Power BI soon.
Eliminates a measure
Without Quick Calc in Power BI, you would have to create a measure for the % Total with the following syntax.
%ofTotal =
SUM ( Query1[Likes] ) / CALCULATE ( SUM ( Query1[Likes] ), ALLSELECTED () )
Or better still, to avoid DIV/zero error in a single command:
%ofTotalBetter =
DIVIDE (
SUM ( Query1[Likes] ),
CALCULATE ( SUM ( Query1[Likes] ), ALLSELECTED () ),
0
)
The base formatting in Power BI itself is rather primitive at this point of time. This code was formatted using the amazing tool created by Alberto Ferrari and Marko Russo called Dax Formatter. You just copy paste valid DAX code there and it formats it automatically. Output can be an image, HTML or Word. API also available.
Power BI Udemy Course coming very soon
Power BI is becoming more and more powerful day by day. It is time everyone got to know about it. It is the next natural progression from Pivot tables. It is not just easy to use. It gives you more capabilities which you have never had before – and that too with lesser effort.
As promised, the detailed Power BI course is almost ready. It will be released in the near future. Watch this place for further announcements.
Convert Power View dashboards to Power BI Desktop
Although Power View and Power BI reports are similar, Microsoft is focusing on the later. Power BI platform is being separated out from Excel for many reasons. One of the reasons is to eliminate the dependence upon Silverlight (technology used to create Power View, which is now being phased out).
Here is a 2 minute video which explains how to convert Excel based Power BI components like data mode, queries, relationships and Power View dashboards into Power BI Desktop. Once converted, you can publish these to the Power BI portal.