Today I am combining a few techniques to show how to build a robust cleansing approach for your data using Power Query. This article will demonstrate the following Power Query techniques Joining tables (Merge Query) Self Referencing tables Adding Custom Columns Sample Data I am using some sample data as […]
Level: Intermediate Last week I shared how it was possible to easily create an online survey using Excel for O365. Once such a survey is created, the data can be imported into PowerBI.com and used to create a simple report. The biggest issue with directly connecting to OneDrive like I showed […]
Level: Beginners I think today’s article will be of interest to my readers even though it is a little astray from my normally pure Power BI, Power Pivot and Power Query content. I will show you how to quickly and easily create an On-Line Survey that you can distribute to […]
Level: Beginners I often get asked if there is an easy way to create documentation for DAX measures when using Power Pivot for Excel. I am not a big fan of documentation for the sake of it, but I do see value in having “some” appropriate level of documentation. I […]
As many of you would already know, 32 bit applications do not always play well with their bigger sibling, 64 bit applications. There are lots of “under the hood” files and applications that are always designed to be either 32 bit or 64 bit – not both. In the case […]
Edit Feb 2017: I am very excited to discover that download report now works as I would expect. This blog post was going to be about how excited I was to hear that there is now an option to download a PBIX file from the Power BI Service to your […]
Level: Intermediate [Edit: April 2019] Microsoft made the PDF Connector in Power BI generally available in April 2019. This is another instance to show that Microsoft is listening to the community to add or improve the Power BI features. The PDF File connector will appear under the File category in the […]
Today I am sharing an easy way to use Power BI Desktop as a SSAS tabular server on your local PC. I find increasingly that I am building data models in Power BI Desktop and yet I still want to use Excel to analyse the data some of the time. […]
Level: Beginners Today Avi Singh and I met with Howie Dickerman from Microsoft to discuss the Power Pivot for Excel Add-In. You can read the background to this meeting at my blog post last month. Howie is the Program Manager assigned to Power Pivot for Excel and has a wealth […]
Level: Beginners Today I explain when it is important to create a lookup table and when it is fine to use native columns in a data table. I have rated this topic as a beginner topic as it is a fundamental skill to learn on your journey to become a […]
Level: Beginners If you want to learn new skills using a new tool, then you simply must practice. One great way to practice is to weave the new tool into you daily problem solving. If you have something meaningful to do with the new tool, then you are much more […]
Level: Beginners I got this dreaded Dropbox email recently as shown below. I needed to clear out some of the files I have loaded in Dropbox so I didn’t have to upgrade my account. It occurred to me that I could make this process a lot easier by using Power […]
I am the joint founder and host of the Sydney Australia chapter of the Power BI User Group (PUG) along with Iman Eftekhari from Agile BI. Next week on Wednesday 26th October (for the first time) we will be holding a live meet up in Parramatta to make it easier […]
Level: Beginners I was chatting to Avi Singh the other day and we were comparing notes about the live Power Pivot training classes we both offer in Australia (me) and the USA (Avi). One thing we both have in common is that the Microsoft Excel Power Pivot Add-In CRASHES a lot during training! […]
Level: Beginners One of the great challenges Microsoft has faced with its “new” suite of Self Service BI tools (particularly Power Pivot) is that most people that could benefit from the holy trinity (Power Pivot, Power Query and Power BI) don’t even know these tools exist, let alone how the tools […]
I have been on holidays taking a much needed break from work, so it has been very quite on my blog over the last few weeks. But I am back now! I woke up this morning to a very pleasant surprise – Microsoft has delivered the long waited for Query […]
Back in February 2016, I was tweeting with some others about the need for a new name for the Power Query Formula Language. I came up with the name PQL, pronounced Peequel and made a suggestion to this effect at ideas.powerbi.com. This post today is to explain why a name […]
Level: Advanced I’ve helped a couple of people out on various forums on this topic over the last week, and that is normally a good sign that I need a blog post on the topic. The scenario is to create a Pareto cumulative running total based on the top products, customers or […]
Level: Beginners Edit: Sep 2019 I really love Power BI, and I have learnt so much over the last 12 months that sometimes it is easy to forget the challenges I had in getting started. Today I am sharing my top 10 tips on how to get started with Power […]
There was a great new feature that snuck in unannounced to the July release of Power BI Desktop. It was only a tweet by my colleague Imke Feldmann from http://www.thebiccountant.com/ that I was even aware it was there. Include in Report Refresh When you look in the Queries pane in […]