Power BI Desktop User Guide

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 2
2. Power BI Desktop Overview .................................................................................................. 2
3. Install and Run Power BI Desktop .......................................................................................... 2
4. Connect to Excel Data ............................................................................................................ 5
5. Connect to Web Data............................................................................................................. 5
6. Transform Data ...................................................................................................................... 8
7. Shape Data ............................................................................................................................. 9
8. Merge Data .......................................................................................................................... 14
9. Build Reports ........................................................................................................................ 17
10. Publish & Save a Report/Dashboard .................................................................................... 20
11. Share a dashboard ............................................................................................................... 25
I. Notes about sharing................................................................................................ 27
II. To share with people outside the organization ...................................................... 27
III. Resharing ................................................................................................................ 28
IV. Unshare a dashboard .............................................................................................. 28
V. Turn off resharing ................................................................................................... 29
12. To create Organisation Packs, Security & Groups ............................................................... 29
I. Creating a group ..................................................................................................... 29
II. Creating a content pack .......................................................................................... 30
III. using the content pack............................................................................................ 32
IV. Edit content pack .................................................................................................... 32
Introduction
Power BI (Business Intelligence) is user friendly tools that connect to sets of data and visually
interact with the data, looking at patterns, trends etc.

Basically, Power BI is comprised of three steps.

1. Get my data To connect to various types of data sources.
2. Manipulate my data use the powerful drag-and-drop style tools to manipulate the way we want
to see the datasets.
3. Share a Report create real-time dashboards to show the data and keep up to date. There are
additional tools to share the reports with co-workers using Power BI Services, Data Management,
and mobile options.

Power BI Desktop Overview

With Power BI Desktop, we can connect to data (usually multiple data sources), shape that data (with
queries that build insightful, compelling data models), and use that model to create reports (which others
can leverage, build upon, and share).

Also save that work in Power BI Desktop file format, which is the .pbix extension. Power BI Desktop files
can be shared like any other file, but the most compelling way to share Power BI Desktop files is to
upload them (share them) on the Power BI service.

Install and Run Power BI Desktop

You can download Power BI Desktop from the Power BI service, by selecting the gear icon, then
select Power BI Desktop.

Power BI Desktop is installed as an application, and runs on the desktop.

When we run Power BI Desktop, a Welcome screen is displayed as below.
We can Get Data, see Recent Sources or Open Other Reports directly from the Welcome screen (from
the links in the left pane).To close the screen (select the x in the top right corner) and the Report view of
Power BI Desktop is shown below.

There are three views in Power BI Desktop: Report view, Data view, and Relationships view. Power BI
Desktop also includes Query Editor, which opens in a separate window. In Query Editor, we can build
queries and transform data, then load that refined data model into Power BI Desktop, and create reports.

The following screen shows the three view icons along the left of Power BI Desktop: Report, Data,
and Relationships, from top to bottom. The currently displayed view is indicated by the yellow bar along
the left. In this case, Report view is currently displayed. You can change views by selecting any of those
three icons.
With Power BI Desktop installed we are ready to connect to data, shape data, and build reports (usually
in that order).

Connect to Excel Data

Using Get Data we can connect to any sorts of data sources available in the Query window. From
following image we can connect to the required data source.

Navigate to Home ribbon, then Get Data > Excel > Open window appears > select relevant file > ok >
From the Navigator window, select the sheet (considered as table) > for any transformation (like
renaming column or table or to change data type ) > click Edit > Else > click Load(It may take few
minutes to load the data).

Connect to Web Data

Now we connect & fetch the web data.

Select Get Data > Web and paste the address.

When you select OK, the Query functionality of Power BI Desktop goes to work. Query contacts the Web
resource, and the Navigator window returns what it found on that Web page. In this case, it found a
table (Table 0) and the overall Web Document. We can select TABLE 0 from the list.
The Navigator window displays a preview.

At this point we can edit the query before loading the table, by selecting Edit from the bottom of the
window, or we can load the table.

When we select Edit, Query Editor Launches and a representative view of the table is presented.
The Query Settings pane is displayed as below.
Manipulation in Query settings plane such as renaming columns or tables, changing text to numbers,
removing rows, setting the first row as headers, and so on are explained in following sections.

Transform Data
The Query editor in Power BI Desktop makes ample use of right-click menus, in addition to having tasks
available on the ribbon. The Transform ribbon is also available by right-clicking an item (such as a
column) and choosing from the menu that appears.
Shape Data
Shape data in the Query Editor, providing step-by-step instructions to adjust the data as Query
Editor loads and presents it. The original data source is not affected; only this particular view of the data
is adjusted, or shaped.

The steps (such as rename a table, transform a data type, or delete columns) are recorded by Query
Editor, and each time this query connects to the data source those steps are carried out so that the data
is always shaped. This process occurs whenever we use the query in Power BI Desktop, or when we use
shared query, such as in the Power BI service. Those steps are captured sequentially in the Query
Settings pane under Applied Steps.

The following image shows the Query Settings pane for a query that has been shaped.

For example we need the data to be in numbers. Just right-click the column header, and select Change
Type > Whole Number to change the data type. If we needed to choose more than one column, we could
first select a column then hold down SHIFT, select additional adjacent columns, and then right-click a
column header to change all selected columns. We can also use CTRL to select non-adjacent columns.
To change, or transform, those columns from text to header by using the Transform ribbon. Heres
the Transform ribbon, with an arrow pointing toward the Data Type button, which allows transforming
the current data type to another.
Note that in Query Settings, the Applied Steps reflect the changes that made. If we want to remove any
step from the shaping process, just select that step, and then select the X to the left of the step.
Another example To Remove the first column we dont need it, it just includes redundant rows that
say Check out how your state ranks for retirement which is an artifact of since this being a Web based
table.To remove the first column, simply select the column and choose the Home tab from the ribbon,
then Remove Columns as shown in the following figure.
To Change the Table Name that Table 0 is not a useful descriptor.

To Rename the columns, and the table first select the column, then either select Rename from the
Transform tab on the ribbon, or right-click and select rename, from the menu that appears. The following
image has arrows pointing to both options.
Merge Data
To append data from another web source.

From the Home ribbon in Query Editor, we select Get Data > Web and type the address, select OK, and
the Navigator window shows what it found on that Web page.

We can select Table [edit] which holds required data and click Ok to load the data.

We can combine the two tables or queries into one.

There are two primary ways of combining queries merging and appending.

When we have one or more columns that we like to add to another query, select merge. When we have
additional rows of data that we like to add to an existing query, select append the query.
To merge, we select the query into which we want the other query to merge, then select Merge
Queries from the Home tab on the ribbon.

The Merge window appears, prompting to select which table wed like merged into the selected table,
and then, the matching columns to for the merge .For example Select State from
the RetirementStats table (query), then select the StateCodesthe Merge window looks like the
following, and the OK button is enabled.

A NewColumn is created at the end of the query, which is the content of the table (query) that was
merged with the existing query. All columns from the merged query are condensed into the NewColumn,
and then select to expand the table, and include whichever columns required. To expand the merged
table, and select which columns to include, select the expand icon ( ). The Expand window appears.

We now have a single query (table) that combined two data sources, each of which has been shaped

To apply the changes in Query Editor and load them into Power BI Desktop, select Close & Apply from
the Home ribbon.
Build Reports
In Power BI Desktop Report view, we can build reports.

The Report view has five main areas:

1. The ribbon, which displays common tasks associated with reports and visualizations

2. The Report view, or canvas, where visualizations are created and arranged

3. The Pages tab area along the bottom, which lets you select or add a report page

4. The Visualizations pane, where you can change visualizations, customize colours or axes, apply
filters, drag fields, and more

5. The Fields pane, where query elements and filters can be dragged onto the Report view, or
dragged to the Filters area of the Visualizations pane

The Visualizations and Fields pane can be collapsed by selecting the small arrow along the edge,
providing more space in the Report view to build cool visualizations. When modifying visualizations, you'll
also see these arrows pointing up or down, which means you can expand or collapse that section,
accordingly.

To create visualization, just drag a field from the Fields list onto the Report view. In this case, lets drag
the State field from RetirementStats table.
Power BI Desktop automatically creates a map-based visualization, because it recognized that
the State field contained geo location data.

Notice that in the Visualizations pane, we can select different types of visualizations, and in the area
below those icons, we can drag fields to different areas to apply a Legend, or otherwise modify the
visualization.
From the below report we can see the different visualisation used like 100% stacked bar
chart,treemap,Scatter chart, text boxes and map. Just drag a field from the Fields list onto
the Report view and change the visualization in visualization pane.

Publish & Save a Report/Dashboard

Once report got created, we can save & share it with others on the Power BI service. There are a few
ways to share your work in Power BI Desktop. You can publish to the Power BI service or you can upload
the .pbix file directly from the Power BI service, or you can save the .pbix file and send it like any other
file.

First, let's look at publishing to the Power BI service directly from Power BI Desktop. On
the Home ribbon, select Publish.
You may be prompted to sign in to Power BI.

Select destination either default My Workspace or In case some secured groups created then select the
required group to publish.

Once publish process is complete, you see the following dialog box.

When you sign in to Power BI, you'll see Power BI Desktop file you just loaded in
the Dashboards, Reports, and Datasets sections of the service.

Another way to share your work is to load it from within the Power BI service. The following link brings
up the Power BI service in a browser:

https://app.powerbi.com
Select Get Data to start the process of loading your Power BI Desktop report.

The Get Data page appears, from which you can select where to get your data from. In this case, we
select Get from the Files box.
The Files view appears. In this case, we select Local File.

When we select the file, Power BI uploads the file.

Once the file is uploaded, we can select the file from the Reports in the left pane of the Power BI service.
The Power BI service displays the first page of the report. Along the bottom of the page, we can select
any tab to display that page of the report.

We can make changes to a report in the Power BI service by selecting Edit Report from the top of the
report canvas.

To save the report, select File > Save As from the service. Also we can create Dashboard from reports by
just pin any visual to new or existing dashboard.
Once saved, it is ready for sharing.

Share a dashboard
1. Open the dashboard and select Share .

2. Select Invite and type the email addresses in the top box and, optionally, modify the message.

If any of the addresses is outside your organization, we will get a warning.

3. To allow the colleagues to reshare the dashboard with others, check Allow recipients to share
your dashboard.

Only colleagues in the organization can reshare that dashboard. People outside your
organization can view the dashboard but not reshare it.

4. Select Share.

Power BI sends an email invitation with a link to the shared dashboard. Clicking the link adds the

dashboard to the colleague's Power BI service. They see this icon next to the shared
dashboard, indicating the dashboard is shared with them.

If they haven't yet signed up for Power BI, they can create an account after they click the link.

Note: The sharing experience is different for people outside the organization.
5. To see who we have already shared the dashboard with, select Shared With.

People outside the organization are listed as Guest.

Notes about sharing
When dashboard shared:

Everyone we share with can see the dashboard and interact with the reports in Reading View.
But they can't create new reports or save changes to existing reports.

Everyone can even see the changes we make (after we save those changes).

No-one can see or download the dataset.

Everyone can refresh the data.

When you share with colleagues

If you we Office 365 for email, we can share with members of a distribution group by entering
the email address associated with the distribution group. However, we can't share with
distribution groups with more than 500 members.

Colleagues who have the same email domain as we, and colleagues whose domain is different
but registered within the tenant, can reshare the dashboard. For example, say the domains
contoso.com and contoso2.com are registered in the tenant. If your email address is
konrads@contoso.com, then both ravali@contoso.com and gustav@contoso2.com can reshare.

Note: If colleagues already have access to a specific dashboard, we can send a direct link to that
dashboard just by copying the URL when we are on the dashboard. For example:

https://powerbi.com/dashboards/g12466b5-a452-4e55-8634-xxxxxxxxxxxx

To share with people outside the organization

When we share with people outside organization, they get an email with a link to the shared dashboard.
They have to sign in to Power BI to see the dashboard. If they don't have a Power BI account, they can
create one after clicking the link.

After they sign in, they see the shared dashboard in its own browser window without the left navigation
pane, not in their usual Power BI portal. They have to bookmark the link to access this dashboard in the
future.

They can't edit any content in this dashboard or report. They can interact with the charts in the report
(cross-highlight) and change any filters/slicers available on the reports connected to the dashboard.Only
your direct recipients can see the shared dashboard.

People outside the organization can't see any data if role- or row-level security is implemented on
Analysis Services tabular models on-premises.

Licensing requirements for sharing outside the organization

Sharing content outside the organization has the same licensing requirements as sharing content within
the organization.
If we created dashboard with only free Power BI features, the recipients will just need a free Power BI
license to view the content. If we used Power BI Pro features like groups or on-premises connectivity, the
recipients will need a Power BI Pro license to view the content.

Resharing
Resharing allows colleagues to forward the email invitation to others in organization (the invitation
expires after one month). Colleagues can also reshare through the Power BI service and mobile apps. As
the owner of the dashboard, we can turn off resharing and also we can revoke resharing on an individual
basis. People outside the organization can't reshare.

Unshare a dashboard
1. Open the dashboard and select Share .

2. Select Shared With to see the complete list of people.

3. Select the ellipsis (...) next to Can view and select:

 o Stop sharing with that person or
o Disable reshares to keep that person from sharing with anyone else.
o Or if the person hasn't yet accepted the share invitation, Cancel Invite.

Turn off resharing

Only the dashboard owner can turn resharing on and off.

If you haven't sent the sharing invitation yet, clear the Allow recipients to share your
dashboard check box at the bottom of the invitation.

If colleagues haven't accepted your sharing invitation yet, cancel the invitation and invite them
again without selecting Allow recipients to share your dashboard.

If they have accepted your sharing invitation, select Shared With, select the ellipsis (...) next
to can view and click Stop sharing.

To create Organisation Packs, Security & Groups

Features like content packs that allow packaging up a dashboard, a report and even a dataset to send to
other people so that they can build their own and even further enhance it. And also things like groups
that having a subset of users and using that as a security model to just allow certain people in the
organization to access to the dashboards, reports and datasets that we create.

Creating a group
Groups are a way of defining a set of users who have access to particular reports or dashboards etc.
They actually tie into Office 365 groups so if we have been using them to manage emails and
calendars and documents and their like, we actually respect that within Power BI and when we
create a group through Power BI we are creating one of those Office 365 groups.

Login and get into the Power BI Dashboard, on the left-hand side we can see the My Workspace so
these are all the dashboards, reports and datasets that got uploaded or created & shared with other
people.

If we expand My Workspace, under Group workspaces click on + symbol, where we have an

option to create a group
By clicking this create group will bring up a dialogue that gives the below options.

Here we can customize that if we want to do and also we can choose the privacy level of this group.
Once the email addresses & privacy is been added we can save the group and now we can see the
group which we created rather than my Workspace.

Creating content pack

Content pack can be created for some existing artifacts within Power BI, for example we have a
dashboard, report & dataset and we want to package those up so that other people in the
organization can reuse them. To do that, there is a little settings icon on the top right and on this
menu we can also see the amount of storage that we are using for the own content and here we can
create them and package those things up into a content pack.

On this page we have got a few different options, we can either specify that particular groups within
the organization have access to this content pack or we can provide access to everybody in the
organization. First we need to give a title & lengthy description, its useful to put some details in here
as thisll appear when people are browsing for the content pack.

Also we can do things like uploading an image and again when people are browsing for it, this is
what theyll see in the content pack list. And now select the dashboards, reports and datasets that
we need to publish as part of the pack and when we hit Publish, that content pack is going to get
created and sent up to the organization content gallery.
Using the content pack
We can personalize the content pack by creating a copy of the content pack where we can make
changes to reports and dashboards. So when changes are done it is actually creating a copy of the
package and it now means that if the owner of the content pack makes changes such as moving
things around on the dashboard or adding new reports, we wont get those updates. But we can
now come in and edit these reports; also we can explore the creating of reports from scratch.

Edit content pack

When we edit and make changes to some content that was published as part of the content pack.
Itll be prompting to update that content to make sure that other people who are using the content
pack get those changes as well. By clicking the update content pack, we will be taken to the below
screen.

Just hit on edit and say update which will update the content pack and hence those changes will be
updated for the users using that content.

----------------------------------------------- End of the Document ---------------------------------------------------------