Power BI Weekly Newsletter Issue #194

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Data Prep

Covering: Power Query (M), Dataflows, Data connectors, AI Insights

• Imke Feldmann (@TheBIccountant) describes how to Reference an intermediate step from a different query in Power Query
• Chris Webb (@cwebb_bi) covers Avoiding The “Maximum Allowed Size” Error In Power BI DirectQuery Mode With Aggregations On Degenerate Dimensions and writes about Dynamic What-If With User-Entered Data In Power BI
• On the Enterprise DNA blog, Melissa de Korte (@_EnterpriseDNA) describes Power BI Between Dates Working Hours Solution
• Also on the Enterprise DNA blog, Sue Bayes (@sue_bayes) describes how to Use Cascading Parameters To Filter Data In Power BI Report Builder
• On the Select Distinct blog, Simon Harrison (@SelectDistLtd) describes how to Change the data source in Power BI

Data Modeling

Covering: DAX (Measures & Calculated Tables/Columns), Relationships, Analysis Services, Composite models

• Reid Havens (@HavensBI) discusses [DAX] Best Practices 101 for Optimization & Performance (with Alberto Ferrari)
• Paul Turley (@paul_turley) writes about Creating and Displaying a Last Refresh Date Measure
• Patrick Leblanc (@GuyInACube) covers Time to look at the new INDEX function in DAX and Power BI
• Ignacio Barrau (@ignacho_07) covers [DAX] Time Intelligence vs WINDOW vs OFFSET [Spanish]
• On the Enterprise DNA blog, Sam McKay (@_EnterpriseDNA) describes RANKX DAX Function In Power BI: A Comprehensive Overview, describes How To Get Totals Correct When Using Advanced DAX Logic In Power BI [2023 Update] and discusses Time Based Cohort Analysis - How To Setup Your Data Model In Power BI
• Brian Julius (@_EnterpriseDNA) describes How To Automatically Delete Unused Columns And Measures In Power BI
• Imke Feldmann (@TheBIccountant) describes how to Automatically plug or balance your balance sheet in Power BI

Report Authoring and Interactivity

Covering: Layout and formatting, Visualizations, Interactivity, Themes, Mobile reports, Dashboards

• On the Power BI blog, Sara Elizabeth Temby (@MSPowerBI) describes how to Create stunning and more accessible reports in minutes with our new color themes
• Reid Havens (@HavensBI) provides an Intro to Categorical Slicers & Options in Power BI and writes about Hidden Publish Defaults for Categorical Slicers in Power BI
• Kurt Buhler (@kurtbuhler) talks about Smart Buttons & Power BI Reporting
• On the Towards Data Science blog, Zoumana Keita (@zoumana_keita_) covers Everything You Need to Know About Heatmap - Tutorial With Power BI
• On the Learning Science YouTube channel, Learning Science describes How to add Search Bar in Power BI Slicer
• On the xViz blog, Xviz Coe (@xvizsuite) describes how to Visualise Task Dependencies in xViz Gantt Chart for Power BI
• Also on the Enterprise DNA blog, Sue Bayes (@sue_bayes) explains how to Create A Gantt Chart In Power BI Report Builder: An Introduction and explains how to Create A Matrix In Power BI Report Builder

Deployment, Security and Operations

Covering: Workspaces and Apps, Template Apps, Deployment Pipelines, Gateways, Security, Sharing, Licences, Admin operations, Developer Tooling

• On the Power BI blog, Ikechukwu Edeagu (@MSPowerBI) announces Power BI Activity Logs: New Workspace Metadata for Excel Scenarios
• Gilbert Quevauvilliers (@GilbertQue) blogs about Scheduling the Power BI Premium Backup – Part 2
• Shabnam Watson (@ShbWatson) writes about Incremental Refresh for Power BI datasets based on a numeric column (Year): Working with Parquet/Delta files in Azure Synapse Analytics

General

Covering: Cross-topic announcements & feature summaries, Whitepapers, Community events, Learning Resources & Certifications, Podcasts, Sample reports, End-to-end walkthroughs

• Adam Saxton (@GuyInACube) delves into Guy in a Cube answers the web’s most searched questions on Power BI

Useful Links

• Azure Weekly - Interested in Azure? Sign up to our sister newsletter Azure Weekly to receive all the week's Azure news
• M language reference - Official Power Query M Reference
• DAX Studio - Useful open source tool for executing and analyzing DAX queries, founded by Darren Gosbell
• DAX Guide - Your go-to reference on the DAX language, created by the SQLBI team
• Power BI Visuals Reference - An exhaustive list (as of Sep. 2018) of all Power BI native & custom visuals, placed into separate categories, again created by the SQLBI team
• Report Theme Generator - A handy report theme generator created by the Power BI Tips and Tricks team
• Power BI Theme templates - Detailed Power BI Theme templates for all the native visuals, created by David Eldersveld
• Power BI from Rookie to Rock Star - Free, detailed eBook to get up and running with Power BI, written by Reza Rad
• Power BI Architecture diagram - An informative Power BI Architecture diagram, created by Dustin Ryan
• Power BI Whitepapers - A list of official Power BI whitepapers, covering Security, Premium deployment, Advanced Analytics and more