UseRelationship or Role-Playing Dimension; Dealing with Inactive Relationships in Power BI

In a Power BI model, relationships are important for passing filters, filter propagates through relationships. However, sometimes you create the relationship between two tables, and the relationship is a dashed line. In this post, I’ll explain to you everything you need to know about a dashed relationship, or as it called Inactive relationship. I will Read more about UseRelationship or Role-Playing Dimension; Dealing with Inactive Relationships in Power BI[…]

Power BI Date Dimension; Default or Custom? Is It Confusing?

If you have worked with Power BI for some time, you know that there are two types of the Date dimensions; Custom or built-in/Default. It is always confusing for people, that which date dimension is good to use, and what is the difference between these two approaches. Also based on the selection of the type Read more about Power BI Date Dimension; Default or Custom? Is It Confusing?[…]

Fuzzy Matching in Power BI and Power Query; Match based on Similarity Threshold

After a long wait, in the October 2018 release of Power BI Desktop we saw the fuzzy matching feature added finally. Yay! Have you ever wanted to match two tables together but not on exact matches, but also on a threshold of similarity? if your answer to this question is yes, then this feature is Read more about Fuzzy Matching in Power BI and Power Query; Match based on Similarity Threshold[…]

Reference vs Duplicate in Power BI; Power Query Back to Basics

When you work with tables and queries in Power Query and Power BI, you get the option to copy them through these actions: Duplicate, or Reference. It has been always a question in my sessions and courses that what is the actual difference between these two actions. The explanation is simple but very important to Read more about Reference vs Duplicate in Power BI; Power Query Back to Basics[…]

DatesInPeriod vs DatesBetween; DAX Time Intelligence for Power BI

There are many time intelligence functions in DAX, and each of those is helping in aspects of analyzing data on dates. There are two functions which work very similar to each other but have a bit different usage; DatesInPeriod, and DatesBetween. In this post, I will show you what is the difference between these two Read more about DatesInPeriod vs DatesBetween; DAX Time Intelligence for Power BI[…]

Master Detail Design with Drillthrough Filter in Power BI

One of the most common requirements in any reporting solution is the ability to drill through from master page to the details page and see the details of an item or category. In this post, I will explain how this feature is simply possible in Power BI, and what are things to consider when you Read more about Master Detail Design with Drillthrough Filter in Power BI[…]

Find Mismatch Rows with Power Query in Power BI

Finding rows that are in one table, but not the other is one of the most common scenarios happening in any data related applications. You may have customer records coming from two sources, and want to find data rows that exist in one, but not the other. In Power Query, you can use Merge to Read more about Find Mismatch Rows with Power Query in Power BI[…]

Watch Your Steps! Power Query Performance Caution for Power BI

I work with Power Query transformations every day these days, and I want to share one simple, but critical caution with you. If you use Power Query a lot, this tip can improve the performance of your transformation significantly. The number of steps that you add in a query counts in the performance of your Read more about Watch Your Steps! Power Query Performance Caution for Power BI[…]

Sharing Power BI Reports with Selection of Slicers and Filters; What it Means?

  The most recent feature added in the Power BI service is a great update, which should not be overlooked. You can now share reports and pass the selection of filters and slicers. This ability, which is announced yesterday, open doors to many possibilities. You can now create “report views” for different personas of users. Previously Read more about Sharing Power BI Reports with Selection of Slicers and Filters; What it Means?[…]

What is the Direction of Relationship in Power BI?

Relationships in Power BI are a bit different from other database management systems. In most of the systems, you just have a relationship and there is no “Direction” for it. In Power BI, however, there is a direction for the relationship. The direction of a relationship plays a critical role in the way that filtering Read more about What is the Direction of Relationship in Power BI?[…]