Developing Effective Reports in Power BI

Data Ingestion and Semantic Models with Microsoft Fabric

Alex Kuntz

Head of Cloud Curriculum, DataCamp

Understanding Semantic Models

  • Logical Data Representation: Simplifies complex data for intuitive analysis Semantic Model

  • Auto-Creation: Automatically created while creating Lakehouse/Warehouse.

    • Lakehouse:Semantic Model (default) in Lakehouse Creation

    • Warehouse:Semantic Model (default) in Warehouse Creation

Isolated Tables

Semantic Models - Connected Tables

Data Ingestion and Semantic Models with Microsoft Fabric

Understanding Relationships in model

  • Building Relationships: Connect matching columns to unify data from multiple tables.

Representation of Physical Relationship

Data Ingestion and Semantic Models with Microsoft Fabric

Cardinality in Relationships

  • Cardinality: Defines how data in one table relates to another.

    • One-to-Many (1:*) One record relates to many in another table. Cardinality - One To Many
    • One-to-One (1:1) Each record has a unique match in both tables. Cardinality - One To One
    • Many-to-Many (*:*) Multiple records in both tables relate to each other. Cardinality - Many To Many
Data Ingestion and Semantic Models with Microsoft Fabric

Visuals in Power BI Report

  • Transform data into insights and make it easy to understand

Variety of visuals:

  • Structured View: Table, Matrix
  • Comparisions: Bar, Line, Pie chart, Treemap
  • Filtering and Aggregations: Slicers, cards

Customize & personalize:

  • Adjust colors, fonts, Layouts.
  • Add titles, description, labels.

Visualizations in Reports

Data Ingestion and Semantic Models with Microsoft Fabric

Introduction to DAX

  • DAX Language: Formula language for Power BI
  • Custom Calculations: Create sums, averages, and more
  • Complex Calculations: Works across multiple tables
  • Used for: Creating Measures and Calculated Columns

DAX Exmaple

Data Ingestion and Semantic Models with Microsoft Fabric

Measures

  • Filter Context: Calculated based on report filters and slicers
  • Does not Store Data: Only calculated when needed in visuals
  • No Visible Column: Results are shown in visuals, not in data tables

Visualizing Measures

Measure Creation

Data Ingestion and Semantic Models with Microsoft Fabric

Calculated Columns

  • Row Context: Calculated for each row in the data model
  • Adds New Fields: Creates permanent new columns in the table
  • Static Values: Calculated once and visible directly in the table

Calculated Column

Calculated Columns in Table

Data Ingestion and Semantic Models with Microsoft Fabric

Let's practice!

Data Ingestion and Semantic Models with Microsoft Fabric

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