Power BI Weekly

Issue #91 - 5th January 2021

Welcome to the 91st edition of Power BI Weekly, and Happy New Year to all. It's a bumper edition this week, making up for last week's holiday-season break. I hope everyone has stayed well over the last couple of weeks, and (for those who celebrate) had a wonderful Christmas.

There were a couple of pretty cool announcements that didn't quite make it into the last edition of Power BI Weekly. We can now Quickly create reports in the Power BI service (preview) removing the need for users to download Power BI Desktop to quickly author a Power BI report - just copy and paste data into a manually entered table and you can get going. Naturally, this feature is quite limited at the moment, so don't put too much reliance on it just yet! There is now also the preview of the Datasets Hub to explore and analyze your business data where you'll see a list to all the datasets to which you have access, view their metadata and quickly create reports.

Elsewhere over the last couple of weeks, Reza Rad has investigated Row-Level Security on a DirectQuery to Power BI dataset composite model, sharing findings about some of the current limitations. And Chris Webb has shared a github repo created by David Browne which allows you to run queries against an Azure Analysis Services or Power BI (Premium/Embedded) model via a simple REST API, which opens up lots of use-cases for wider analytical solutions.

Finally, if you're after a bit of light-hearted watching, the Power BI team has shared a video in their blog Happy New Year! from Power BI.

🛠️ Data Prep

Chris Webb (@cwebb_bi) blogs about Inlining KQL Query Fragments Using Value.NativeQuery In Power Query
Philipp Lenz (@lenz_philipp) describes Building an Slowly Changing Dimension with Power BI
On the Power BI community blog, Stephen Tao explains how to Convert to date type in different formats in the Date column
Rick de Groot (@ExcelGorilla) describes how to Aggregate Text Values Using Group By in Power Query
Spencer Baucke (@JSBaucke) writes about YTD Flags in Power Query
Melissa de Korte explains how to Create A Dimension Table In A Text File - Problem Of The Week 2 Power Query Solution and explains how to Create A Custom Text Cleaning Function In Power Query
On the MSSQLTips site, Scott Murray writes about Power BI Merge Queries and Append Queries
On the Power BI Community blog, Yingjie Li writes about Matching words in multiple columns
Also on the Power BI Community blog, Allan Qin describes how to Group by and find the specific information for each group
Pat Mahoney (@HoosierBi) explains how to Get SharePoint List Data with Power BI ... Fast and write It's So Random - Tips for Random Numbers in Power BI
On the dev.to blog, Henry Hamon writes about the Power BI Connector for InterSystems IRIS
On the Prologika blog, Teo Lachev (@tlachev) talks about Microsoft Dataverse: A Verse Without Rhymes
Gil Raviv (@gilra) shares the Business Impact of Power Query – Survey Results

🧩 Data Modeling

James Serra (@JamesSerra) writes about DirectQuery for Power BI datasets and Azure Analysis Services (preview)
Philipp Lenz (@lenz_philipp) writes about DirectQuery Realtime Datasets and the composite model
On the RADACAD blog, Reza Rad (@Rad_Reza) discusses DirectQuery for Power BI dataset: How does it work
Wolfgang Strasser (@wstrasser) writes about A New Era for Self-Service BI: Direct Query for Power BI DataSets and writes DirectQuery for Power BI Datasets – What does Chaining mean?
Mimoune Djouallah (@mim_djo) explains how to Refresh individual Tables using The Enhanced Semantic Model in Power BI
Paul Turley (@paul_turley) writes Doing Power BI the Right Way: 6. Data Modeling Essentials & Best Practices 1 of 2 and Best Practices 2 of 2
On the SQLBI blog, Marco Russo (@marcorus) reviews What has happened in the DAX world in 2020
Chris Webb (@cwebb_bi) shares a Sample HTTP Endpoint For Querying Azure Analysis Services And Power BI Premium
On the Enterprise DNA blog, Sam McKay (@_EnterpriseDNA) writes about the DAX Formulas Clean Up Tool: Some Updates To Logic
On the Towards Data Science blog, Peter Hui describes Using a Multi-Fact Model
Mark Walter (@markwaltercpa) talks about Using TREATAS to improve profitability reporting
On the Power BI Tips and Tricks blog, Mike Carlo (@PowerBITips) shares a presentation: Phil Seamark on Aggregation Tables
Mark Walter (@markwaltercpa) describes how to Insert Custom Subtotals in the Matrix Visual

📊 Report Authoring and Interactivity

On the Power BI blog, Amanda Rivera (@MissAmandaN) describes how to Quickly create reports in the Power BI service (preview)
Wolfgang Strasser (@wstrasser) explains how to Create a new Power BI report and dataset (simply in the service, without Power BI Desktop)
Dhruvin Shah (@DhruvinShah16) describes how to Quickly create Power BI reports in Power BI Service
On the Enterprise DNA blog, Sam McKay (@_EnterpriseDNA) explains how to Recreate A Visualization In A Power BI Dashboard and shares Less Is More - Power BI Design Tips For Simple & Compelling Reports with Greg Philps
Daniel Marsh-Patrick (@the_d_mp) shares "Deneb" Prototype Dev Log: 0.1.0.60
On the Power BI community blog, Ben Howard (@ben_project) describes Adding HELP buttons to Power BI reports
On the Enhansoft blog, Garth Jones (@GarthMJ) shares some SSRS and Power BI Report Standards

🚀 Deployment, Security and Operations

On the Power BI blog, Yaron Canari (@YaronCanari) highlights the Datasets Hub (preview) to explore and analyze your business data
On the RADACAD blog, Reza Rad (@Rad_Reza) writes Row-Level Security on a DirectQuery to Power BI dataset composite model: My Findings
Erik Svensen (@donsvensen) describes how to Change the data source in your composite model with direct query to AS/ Power BI Dataset
Philipp Lenz (@lenz_philipp) writes about Power BI Service Principals and talks about Translations and the XMLA Endpoint
On the Burningsuit blog, Stuart Box (@StuartBox) writes about Power BI Licences, what is Premium Per User?
Ruth Pozuelo Martinez (@CurbalEN) explains how to Subscribe to Power BI reports in PDF or PPT format
On the Towards Data Science blog, Nikola Ilic (@DataMozart) writes a Hitchhiker's guide to Azure Purview for Power BI professionals
On the Purple Frog Systems blog, Jeet Kainth describes Azure Analysis Services Cube Backup
Dhruvin Shah (@DhruvinShah16) highlights the Power BI Search from Office.com, SharePoint Home, and Bing Search

🌐 General

On the Power BI blog, Jeroen ter Heerdt (@jeroenterheerdt) writes Happy New Year! from Power BI
On the BIFocal podcast, John White and Jason Himmelstein (@bifocalshow) present Episode 173 - Power BI December 2020 Feature Summary and Episode 174 - Power BI 2020 Hindsight
Chris Webb (@cwebb_bi) writes a Sixteenth Blog Birthday Post: On The Question Of “Why Don’t You Add This One Simple Feature To Power BI?”
Lars Schreiber (@SchreiberLars) blogs about Power BI User Group Hamburg: Quality Assurance Tools for Power BI (Imke Feldmann)
Asanka Padmakumara (@asanka_e) writes Power BI: One for All? All for One?
Ruth Pozuelo Martinez (@CurbalEN) explains how to Get football data for the main championships for free in Power BI
Parv Chana (@parvchana) explains How to Create an Amazon-esque Shipping Status report in Power BI
On the Excel Basement YouTube channel, Rahim Zulfiqar Ali (@rahimzulfiqar) writes about Real-Time Cricket Match Score Update in Power BI
Mimoune Djouallah (@mim_djo) describes Building a Modern Data Stack using BigQuery, Dataform and PowerBI
Allison Kennedy shares The Twelve Days of Christmas blogs