Copy workspace, Publish to Multiple workspaces, Download all PBIX files, and much more in Power BI Helper April Edition

In RADACAD we do our best to improve user experience using Power BI every single day, and throughout that experience, we add more and more functions to Power BI Helper. The newest version of Power BI Helper comes with break-through functions such as connecting to service. Documenting all service objects such as workspaces, datasets, dashboards, reports, and also able to manage the content through the service. Even functions which are not possible through Power BI Service, such as publishing a *.pbix file to multiple workspaces, and copying content from one workspace to another! All available now for you for free.

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What is new in Power BI Helper April 2019 Edition

Power BI Helper April 2019 edition has the functionality to work with service, and also XMLA endpoint connectivity. let’s have a look at them in bullet points and then the detailed explanation:

• XMLA endpoint Connectivity
• Connecting to Power BI objects (workspaces, dashboards, datasets, reports, dataflows) in the service
• Documentation of all Power BI objects in the service
• Downloading a version of all Power BI reports (PBIX files) from all workspaces to a local folder
• Publishing Power BI files to multiple workspaces
• Copying content from one workspace to another!

XMLA endpoint connectivity

Previously you could use Power BI Helper to connect to a model in Power BI Desktop and analyze that model, getting the list of all tables, columns, measures, alongside with measure dependency and modeling advise, and also documenting everything at the end. The good news is that now with having XMLA endpoint available, you can connect directly to Power BI datasets in the service, and get all those functionalities with that.

To get the XMLA endpoint URL in an organizational workspace, go to the setting of that workspace, and copy the URL from there.

Note that XMLA endpoint (at the moment) is limited to premium capacity associated workspaces.

You can now use that URL in the Power BI Helper’s Model Analysis tab:

You will then see the connection made through to the service directly, with the list of all datasets and all the details about them.

And you can also (as you could do before) publish this documentation for future use:

Getting the list of all workspaces

Using the Power BI Helper now you can connect to all workspaces in your tenant. If you are using a Power BI administrator account, you will get all workspaces, even those that you are not a member of it. If you just use an account which is not an admin account, then you will see only workspaces that you are a member of.

To use this functionality, you have to register Power BI Helper as an app in your tenant. This article, explains how you should do that.

After registering and adding your Application Id in the Power BI Helper, You can use the Service tab. Log in using your Power BI accounts.

Important Note:

Power BI Helper does NOT store any information from your tenant. Nothing at all. List of workspaces, datasets, dashboards, reports, dataflows, users, everything is just populated runtime in the application to show to you. Nothing will be stored in our servers or databases. Not even your username and password and application ID.

If your account is an administrator, you can keep the “Login as Admin” checked, and then you will see the list of all workspaces in your tenant. even if they are in the removing state or orphaned.

You can also see the number of reports, dashboards, datasets, and dataflows in each workspace, and is the workspace on a dedicated capacity or not. If your account is not an admin account, you can uncheck the “login as admin” and you would be able to see all workspaces that you are a member of.

You also get a list of all reports, dashboards, datasets, and dataflows in all workspaces;

Download All Power BI reports from the Service: Good for keeping a version

It has always been a question from many of our clients, that we want to keep a version of our reports. Good news is that using the Power BI Helper, now you can download all reports across all workspaces using one simple checkbox. And this way you keep your version anytime you want.

You will get a list of all reports, their sizes and their download status in the Power BI Helper;

You can also see actual PBIX files stored in your desired folder;

Very soon, we will make this process enable for scheduling too, so you can sit back and relax and make sure, there will be a copy of your reports somewhere.

Documentation of all objects in the Power BI Service

And of course

, you can document all the information above using Power BI Helper;

This is sample documentation generated from the Power BI service objects;

Publish to Multiple Workspaces

Yes! if you cannot do it using Power BI Desktop, or using Power BI Service, not to worry! Now you can do it using Power BI Helper.

Select all the workspaces you want the file to be published, and then publish to them all at once!

Copy Workspace!

Yes, we left the last spot for the best feature! copying content in a workspace been a long-time-wanted feature in Power BI service. Well, while the Power BI team are adding it in their busy schedule, we thought better to make it available for you to use.

To use this function, select the From workspace using actions below;

Then select to To workspace similarly;

And finally, click on Copy. You can then see the content start copying through!

This is a sample content added into the workspace now accessible through Power BI service:

Have fun and give us feedback

Now it is your turn to play with Power BI Helper and see it by yourself. Please give us feedback about your usage. If you love the tool, share the love with the world, please 🙂

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Reza Rad

Trainer, Consultant, Mentor

Reza Rad is a Microsoft Regional Director, an Author, Trainer, Speaker and Consultant. He has a BSc in Computer engineering; he has more than 20 years’ experience in data analysis, BI, databases, programming, and development mostly on Microsoft technologies. He is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP for 12 continuous years (from 2011 till now) for his dedication in Microsoft BI. Reza is an active blogger and co-founder of RADACAD. Reza is also co-founder and co-organizer of Difinity conference in New Zealand, Power BI Summit, and Data Insight Summit.
Reza is author of more than 14 books on Microsoft Business Intelligence, most of these books are published under Power BI category. Among these are books such as Power BI DAX Simplified, Pro Power BI Architecture, Power BI from Rookie to Rock Star, Power Query books series, Row-Level Security in Power BI and etc.
He is an International Speaker in Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft Business Applications Summit, Data Insight Summit, PASS Summit, SQL Saturday and SQL user groups. And He is a Microsoft Certified Trainer.
Reza’s passion is to help you find the best data solution, he is Data enthusiast.
His articles on different aspects of technologies, especially on MS BI, can be found on his blog: https://radacad.com/blog.