Power BI Weekly

Issue #83 - 3rd November 2020

Lots of announcements this week. Starting with Dataflows: we've been notified that the enhanced compute engine is now enabled by default, which enables increased query performance within the dataflows and allows for Direct Query mode to be used from a Power BI Dataset. Moving on to data connectors now: the enhanced Azure Databricks connector has now been deployed to the Power BI Service, and you can now use the data lake engine Dremio to connect to your data in your data lake in Direct Query.

Other news this week: there's now Priority Access sign-up for the Power BI Premium per user public preview, we've been told that reports and apps can now be certifed and promoted (just like datasets and dataflows), and the Power BI Report Server October 2020 Feature Summary has been released.

Besides announcements this week, Avi Singh has described How to Cross Join ❌ in Power BI Using Power Query: The Smart and the Dumb Way!, Didier Terrien has added the "export to Excel" capability in the Power BI Sidetools external tool, and Melissa Coates has presented a user group talking about What You Need to Know to Administer Power BI.

🛠️ Data Prep

On the Power BI blog, Charles Webb (@CharlesWebb22) writes that The enhanced compute engine is now enabled by default
Also on the Power BI blog, Kay Unkroth writes about the Power BI Connector to Azure Databricks Public Preview
Chris Webb (@cwebb_bi) writes about Geospatial Analysis With Azure Data Explorer, Power BI And Dynamic M Parameters
Gil Raviv (@gilra) shares the recording about Power Query: From No-code to Low-code Enterprise ETL
Kreimir Ledinski describes how to Dynamically remove top rows in Power Query
On the Towards Data Science blog, Peter Hui writes about Functions in Power BI—Table.FindText
Avi Singh (@powerbipro) describes How to Cross Join ❌ in Power BI Using Power Query: The Smart and the Dumb Way!
On the RADACAD YouTube channel, Reza Rad (@Rad_Reza) writes about Conditional Column in Power BI using Power Query
On the Power BI Community blog, Paul Zheng describes how to Extract Date Time From Texts In Several Scenarios
Jarret Moore talks about Showing Last Refresh Date/Time In Power BI Reports
Also on the Towards Data Science blog, Nikola Ilic (@DataMozart) provides a Power BI 101—Data Shaping in a nutshell

🧩 Data Modeling

On the SQLBI blog, Marco Russo (@marcorus) discusses KPIs in Tabular models for Power BI and Excel
Meagan Longoria (@mmarie) writes about DAX Logic and Blanks
On the Towards Data Science blog, Nikola Ilic (@DataMozart) describes Dynamically display tasks in Power BI
John White (@diverdown1964) writes about Dynamic time zone conversion using Power BI
Matt Allington (@ExceleratorBI) covers Building a Matrix with Asymmetrical Columns and Rows in Power BI
On the Enterprise DNA blog, Sam McKay (@_EnterpriseDNA) shares a few blogs: Power BI And Excel: Difference In DAX Formulas, Power BI CALCULATE: Key To Advanced DAX Formulas, DAX Examples In Power BI – Advanced DAX Formulas and Using Table Functions In Power BI
Chandeep Chhabra (@chandeep2786) describes a Weighted Average in Power BI
Parker Stevens (@PowerBIElite) discusses DAX for Power BI - MTD/YTD vs Previous Years
On the Power BI community blog, Pragati writes about Organising Measures in Power BI
On the Forsight BI blog, Ahmed Oyelowo (@AhmedOyelowo) covers Thinking like DAX – Understanding Filters Context
Ruth Pozuelo Martinez (@CurbalEN) shares DAX Fridays #190 - Part 3: Year Over Year population change in Europe with Eurostat API
Dhruvin Shah (@DhruvinShah16) writes about After Union Two tables, data goes to the wrong column with Power BI DAX?
On the BI Power blog, Didier Terrien describes how to Easily export to Excel with Power BI Sidetools
On the Power BI Community blog, Jay describes how to Highlight the decrease data
Also on the Power BI Community blog, Amit Chandak (@amitchandak78) writes about Distributing/Allocating the Yearly Target (Convert to Daily Target) -Part 1 - New Table
Marcus Wegener (@PowerBIler) writes about Tastenkürzel (Shortcuts) DAX Editor [German]

📊 Report Authoring and Interactivity

On the RADACAD YouTube channel, Leila Etaati (@leila_etaati) talks about Power BI Custom Visuals with Charticulator and Reza Rad describes Showing an alternate text when no data available in a Power BI chart visuals
Adam Saxton (@GuyInACube) explains how to Analyze days from two months on one line chart in Power BI
Reid Havens (@HavensBI) describes Using the Bullet Chart Visual to Show Total Comparisons on Tooltips
Rick de Groot (@ExcelGorilla) describes How to use Conditional Formatting based on a Measure in Power BI
Brian Julius talks about The Best Custom Visual You've Never Heard Of
Jarret Moore describes How To Use Options Within Bookmarks in Power BI
Sam McKay (@_EnterpriseDNA) describes How to Add Or Overlay Tooltips To Any Area Within A Power BI Report
Zainab Balogun describes how to Be Smart With Smart Narratives
On Le CFO Masqué, Sophie Marchand (@Mon_Cher_Watson) writes Analyses et simulations d’un état des résultats 📈 [French]

🚀 Deployment, Security and Operations

On the Power BI blog, Christopher Finlan (@cmfinlan) highlights that Priority Access sign-up for Power BI Premium per user public preview now available
Also on the Power BI blog, Yaron Canari (@YaronCanari) writes about Certified and Promoted reports and apps
On the Power GI blog, Cyrus Christian writes about the Power BI Feature Availability Matrix [Update]
Adam Saxton (@GuyInACube) explains how to Enable Power BI in Microsoft Teams for EVERYONE!
Martin Schoombee (@MartinSchoombee) describes Automating Power BI deployments: Update refresh schedule
On the SQL Server Central blog, John Miner (@JohnMiner3) blogs about Managing Power BI Workspaces with PowerShell
On the CSG Pro blog, Melissa Coates (@SQLChick) writes about What You Need to Know to Administer Power BI
Gilbert Quevauvilliers (@GilbertQue) describes How to easily remove a Power BI On-Premise Data Gateway from a Cluster
The Power BI team (@MSPowerBI) talks about Improvements to lineage view with Power BI
Also on the Power BI Community blog, Farhan Ahmed (@FarhanAhmed1984) writes about Row Level Security with Admin Control Table

🌐 General

On the Power BI blog, Roseanne Levasseur provides a Power BI Report Server October 2020 Feature Summary
Also on the Power BI blog, Arun Ulag (@arunulag) blogs about Power BI + Dremio = A Seamless BI Experience for Cloud Data Lakes
BI Polar delves into Data Culture: The Importance of Strategy and shares the Data Culture: Series Finale
On the BIFocal podcast, John White and Jason Himmelstein (@bifocalshow) present Episode 165 - Power BI October 2020 Feature Summary - Part 1 and Episode 166 - Power BI October 2020 Feature Summary - Part 2
Devin Knight (@knight_devin) shares the Power BI Monthly Digest – October 2020 with Matt Peterson
Alexander Arvidsson (@arcticdba) shares Podcast episode 137
Adam Saxton (@GuyInACube) present 🔴 Power BI tips from the Pros – LIVE w/ Justyna Lucznik (Oct 31, 2020) (Member Chat 2nd Half)
On the Power BI Tips and Tricks blog, Gomathy Viswanathan and Ashwini Nayak share the Power BI Virtual Escape Room - Harry Potter Edition