The Algebra Teacher Powers to B.I.

 It’s been another month and thank goodness we are getting closer to the end of 2020! If you like to read about the updates to the Power BI program, then below I give a summary of the features I enjoyed the most from this month.  If you want the full experience and would like to see the new features demoed for you then check out the video Devin and I made for this month right here à November Power BI Updates    Devin and I, in addition to all of us at Pragmatic Works, hope this helps you along your Power BI journey. This month has quite a few updates and here are the ones I enjoy the most.   Updated Model View (Preview) With the new updated model view, you get a lot more navigation, functionality, and usability enhancements.   There really are too many to discuss here, so check out the video or just turn on the feature and see for yourself.   My favorite new features are pinning key fields, collapsing all columns to free up more space to see tab...

While holding a training on Power BI a few weeks ago, I was explaining the differences between a drill through page and drill-down capabilities on a visual.  Both are great tools to take advantage of when building your reports.  Drill down is wonderful when you want your end-user to see the details of your data on a smaller scale.  Think of seeing your data on the country level, then the state level, then the city level, zip code, okay you get the point :)  Now, a drill-through page on the other hand will take you to a brand new page where any visual you place on that page will be filtered based on a specific field from a visual on your current page. So what unique question/request did I get....? While explaining how a drill-through works, I was asked, "can a drill-through be turned off?"  For clarification, I explained "Do you mean if a drill-through was set up by the "state" field and you had multiple visuals with the "state" field could you turn t...

POWER BI can make apps too?   Wait, then what is the point of Microsoft Power Apps?   Well, that’s where there can be confusion and I see it often during my training sessions.   An app in Power BI is COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY DIFFERENT from an app in Microsoft Power Apps.     According to Microsoft a Power BI App is, “ An  app  is a Power BI content type that combines related dashboards and reports, all in one place. An app can have one or more dashboards and one or more reports, all bundled together.”  Notice how the word app has been italicized.  I didn’t format it that way.  I believe "app" is italicized in their documentation because the semantics can be confusing and intermingled. So let me give you my brief overview of a Power BI app.   Next week’s blog will dive into deeper details and have a video demonstration as well. I like to think of an app as a container where you place all the dashboards, reports, and workbooks you w...

Okay, okay, not really. Beer is though. But if my wife asks, it's "quality time spent with her watching British dramas on PBS Masterpiece." In all seriousness, if you are new to Power BI - then DAX may seem like a foreign language.  Do you want to find out some quick tips or best practices?  Well, let me give you a few tips that were helpful to me when first starting to write DAX formulas. The TAB key is your best friend.   Don’t try to type everything character for character for your formulas.   Just type until you the formula, column, table, etc. shows up directly under the formula bar.   Once, it is there hit the tab button and it automatically promotes it into your formula bar.  Is the formula text too small for you?   It’s always too small for me when doing demonstrations for others.   Place your cursor in the formula bar.   Hold down the control key on your keyboard and use your mouse scroll wheel to make the text larger or smaller...