SSRS and Power BI Interview Questions

Following are some general and detailed questions about SSRS

development to see if general working knowledge of the SSRS reporting
lifecycle is known.

1) What are the different kinds of SSRS

Reports?
Graphical reports can be categorized into operational and analytical
reports. The distinction is based on the source of data and level of
analysis facilitated by any particular report.

Operational reports are based on OLTP sources and are static reports and
Analytical reports are based on OLAP sources (SQL Server Analysis
Services) and generally facilitate drill-down and drill-through for analysis.
Technically, SSRS reports can be categorized into parameterized reports,
linked reports, snapshot reports, cached reports, etc. Furthermore, reports
can be developed for regular SSRS, or they can be developed for and
added to Power BI. Finally, reports can be distinguished as main reports
and sub-reports. Sub reports pertain to reports that can be easily
embedded within another report. Reports also can be for mobile viewing
vs online viewing for increased interactivity by the users.

2) What are parameterized reports? What

are cascading parameters in SSRS reports?
Do issues exist when multi-select / multi-
value parameters are allowed and used.
Reports that accept parameters from users to fetch and report data
conditionally, are known as parameterized reports. When you have
multiple parameters in a report and values of different parameters are
dependent and populated dynamically based on the value of parent
parameters, it's known as a cascading parameter. A tangent to cascading
parameters are multi-value parameters which is a situation that allows
multiple values to be selected (or all values) within a parameter selector.

3) How would you go about developing a

SSRS report?
General development methodology for a SSRS report is to start by
creating a data source. Based on the data source, the report designer will
create one or multiple datasets as needed for parameters and for the
body of the report. Next the report designer will add required controls
from the toolbox which would act as a container for the fields in the
dataset. Subsequently, formatting of controls must take place. Next the
designer must verify and validate the report and finally deploy the report.
It is often a good idea to follow specific best practices, so your report tells
a story (and does so well) and performs optimally.

4) What is a dataset and what are the

different types of datasets? How do these
relate to a data source?
A dataset is similar to a query definition, which is executed when the
report is executed. Datasets are of two types: Shared and Embedded. An
embedded dataset is private to the report in which it exists and can only
be used by that report, and shared datasets can be shared across reports.
If a dataset is shared, it must be published to the Reporting Service Server
in order to be used across different reports and proper folder permissions
need to be set in order to access shared datasets.

Whereas a dataset is query definition of the data that is sought, a data

source is the "pipe" that is used to connect SSRS to the root location of
the data, whether it be SQL Server, Teradata or a whole sundry of other
sources. The data source also generally includes the credentials used to
connect to the source.

5) Would you store your query in a SSRS

report or a Database server? State the
reasons why or why not.
The answer to this question has changed over the years as SSRS has
matured. Previously storing SQL queries directly in text format in the
dataset was generally suggested against. However, with the advent of
shared datasets (see above), a single data set can be stored in SSRS and
shared by many reports. Still, the ideal situation is to use a stored
procedure on the database server. The benefit is that the SQL would be in
a compiled format in a stored procedure and brings all the benefits of
using an SP compared to using an ad-hoc query from the report. One
caveat is if you are using multi-select parameters. Using a query
embedded in a report or a shared dataset, allows the report designer to
take advantage of the multi-value parameter being passed appropriately
to a query whereas a passing a multi-value parameter to a stored
procedures requires additional parsing of the passed value array within
the stored procedure.
Further Reading:

 SQL Server Reporting Services Using Multi-value Parameters

 Set Select All as Default for Multi-Value Report Parameters in SQL Server
Reporting Services
 SQL Server Reporting Services Multi-Value Parameter - Wildcard Usage
 SQL Server Reporting Services Reports With Optional Query Parameters

6) Beside a chart or map visual, what are

the 3 types of objects used to display data
on a report and what differentiates each
object. What is a tablix?
SSRS allows 3 main types of objects for displaying data:

 List - The list object displays data in a column format

 Table - The table object is similar to a list, yet it can be a multi-column
 Matrix- The matrix object acts similar to a pivot table with rows and
columns groups

AA tablix can be seen as a control with combined capabilities of a table

and a matrix, which facilitates asymmetric and flexible, row and column
level, static and dynamic groupings in a data region. Ironically, you will
notice if you add any of the 3 above objects, list, table, or matrix, that
object becomes a tablix when placed on the design grid.

Further Reading:

 Alternate Row Background Color in SQL Server Reporting Services Tablix

and Matrix
 Dataset and tablix filtering in SQL Server Reporting Services
 SQL Server Reporting Services Matrix within a Matrix

7) How would you access SSRS reports

deployed on report server? Can that
interface be changed?
Reports Manager is the most straight-forward way to access SSRS reports
deployed on report server. Apart from executing the reports, it is the main
administration console for SSRS server to manage reports, permissions,
administrative settings, and folder structure. The Report Manager portal
can be customized with a set color scheme along with custom logos by
adjusting the report server configuration. This situation allows the SSRS
admin to brand the SSRS website with an organization’s specific branding.
Further Reading:

 Customize SQL Server Reporting Services Reports Manager Portal

8) Have you used the Report Viewer control

/ web part? What are the limitations?
The report viewer control / web part is the basic control to integrate SSRS
reports with external applications including windows applications and
webpages. Using these interface applications can link and display SSRS
reports within the application. The parameters toolbar in these controls
have a limited programmable interface to decorate and blend it with the
theme of the application.

Further Reading:

 Integrate Reporting Services Using the Report Viewer Controls - Get

Started
 Running a SSRS Report from a Windows Form Video
 SQL Server Reporting Services ReportViewer Control for Windows
Applications

9) Which is the latest version of SSRS and

what are the new enhancements?
The latest version of SSRS as of this writing is SSRS 2019. This version
includes expanded support for publishing SSRS reports on Power BI,
expanded support for Azure Managed Instances. Additionally, the SSRS
install process has been separated from the main SQL Server install and is
a separate download and installation.

Further Reading:

 SSRS Install, Setup and Configuration

 Upgrade and Migrate SSRS Report Server and Retain Server Name
 Install SSRS ReportServer Databases on Azure SQL Managed Instance
 SSRS vs Power BI

10) What is Report Builder? What are the

most recent enhancements to Report
Builder?
Report Builder is a light weight, ad-hoc report authoring tool primarily
targeted at business analysts to facilitate self-service report authoring.
What is neat about Report Builder is that it has matured with SSRS and
with the latest versions supporting the development of paginated reports
which can be published to Power BI.
Further Reading:

 Power BI Report Builder

 SQL Server Reporting Services Report Builder Tips
 SQL Server Reporting Services Report Builder with DAX Query Support
 SQL Server Reporting Services Report Builder Manual Data Sources

11) How would you deploy SSRS Reports

using out-of-box functionality and how can
you automate SSRS report deployment?
Visual Studio is generally used to deploy SSRS reports. From Visual Studio,
a report (and datasets and data sources) can be developed and then
published directly to specific folders on a report server. Additionally, the
RS.EXE command line tool can be used to deploy/publish reports; this tool
can also export reports to a file, configure system properties and adjust
security on your report server. Finally, a group of PowerShell commands is
available that function similar to the RS.EXE utility and actually provide
more functionality and an easier learning curve.

Further Reading:

 SQL Server Reporting Services RS.EXE Utility

 SSRS deploying reports using RS.EXE command line video
 PowerShell Commands for SQL Server Reporting Services

12) What are drilldown reports and drill-

through in SSRS?
Drill-down is a mechanism of decomposing summarized information to a
detailed level. Drill-through is a mechanism of decomposing the problem
by drilling information generally using more than one report. SSRS has a
rich drill down functionality that allows the use of +/- buttons to move up
and down a group hierarchy that is set up in a matrix report. Furthermore,
drill through functionality can be attained through show / hide actions on a
report or through link actions that allow another report to be called from a
source report which also allows the passing of parameters.

Further Reading:

 SQL Server Reporting Services Drilldown Features

 SQL Server Reporting Services Drill Through Tips
 Advanced KPI Configurations in SQL Server Reporting Services
 Cross Tab Report in SSRS

13) What is next for SSRS?

Only Microsoft knows the future of the SSRS product, but I would suspect
that your will see a continued merging of Power BI and SSRS; there is a
natural migration to push these two products and their related
development resources into a single powerful product that serves data,
engineering, and analysis under a single umbrella.

Summary
Interview questions can get more scenario based once you cover the
general questions related to the product The best was to get acquainted
with the SSRS is to install it on your local machine (along with SQL Server
Developer Edition) and begin to try it out. Also joining blog sites like
MSSQLTips allows you to keep up with changes that come with new
releases and also you can see the questions that come up related to those
items.

Next Steps

 SSRS Administration - SQL Server Reporting Services Administration Tips

 Best Practices - SQL Server Reporting Services Best Practices Tips
 Overview - SQL Server Reporting Services Overview Tips

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

1. What is Power BI?

Power BI is a collection of Business Intelligence tools, techniques, and

processes that are used to extract valuable information from the raw
business data by connecting, transforming, and visualizing raw data sets
from multiple sources.

It provides the right tools to create interactive dashboards and live reports
that can be shared and published on various platforms to help business
users and stakeholders make better decisions. With the competitive and
highly categorized information, planners and decision-makers can track
their performance in the market.

If you want to learn the tool in-depth, then come to us and sign up for
this Power BI Course at Intellipaat.

2. Why use Power BI?

Power BI provides a simple setup to connect, transform, and visualize the

raw business data from multiple sources. Even non-technical users can
extract valuable information from their business data and use it to make
better decisions. It provides a secure cloud service that enables the user
to view dashboards, reports and share them with other business users and
stakeholders in real-time analysis.
Power BI provides AI features in the form of Power Query and Power Q&A.
With Power Query, you can create the dashboards by simply typing in the
columns and the visuals you want to include. While Power Q&A allows you
to analyze your data by giving voice commands.

Small businesses can use Power BI Desktop to visualize their business

data without spending their time and money in maintaining a separate
team for data analysis.

3. What is the difference between Managed Enterprise BI and Self-service

BI?

The limitations of Managed Enterprise BI led to the birth of Self-service BI.

There are significant differences that separate them.

Managed Enterprise BI Self-service BI

Here, data flows in from a plethora of This enables companies to ingest

sources and, for this reason, there is no data from any data source,
order in which companies ingest and seamlessly. Companies take in data
manage their data sources. from any source in any format.

Companies fail to conduct their business

With data ingestion falling into order,
operations, effectively, as they are not
companies are able to process data
able to report and analyze data and
and, consequently, conduct business
collaborate for collecting valuable insights
operations with ease.
from it.

There are time constraints and a lack of Analyzing data is easy, and it is done
proper information when it comes to implicitly. Time constraints are hence
analyzing data. alleviated.

Third-party vendors are employed to help

There is no need for third-party
companies make the most out of their data
vendors anymore and all associated
sources, leading to budget problems and
constraints are eradicated.
slow productivity.

Users could generate intuitive and

Complex programming skills are necessary actionable dashboards almost
for generating reports. instantaneously without executing
complex programming codes.

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4. Why are you interested in Power BI? What makes you think that Power
BI would be a great career option?

A cloud-based data reporting and visualization tool, Power BI makes it

possible for users to generate reports online. Once reports are generated,
users can share them with their colleagues in their workplace. This aspect
of Power BI makes it quite popular among business users. And therefore,
Power BI is both an interesting and promising career option.

5. Mention the important features of Power BI.

Features of Power BI are many. The most notable ones are:

 It allows users to transform data into visuals and share those visuals with
colleagues.
 It allows users to explore and analyze data from all sources (in an all-in-
one view).
 It allows users to scale across organizations with built-in governance and
security.
 Once an output is generated, users can display the same in multiple
devices that are compatible with the Power BI application.
 With Power BI natural language processing or Power BI Q&A, users can
perform queries on reports using simple English words.

6. Is Power BI free to use?

Well, users can use Power BI for free. However, the best of Power BI can
be availed with the Power BI Pro subscription account. This can be
purchased from the Microsoft Store. The subscription account basically
offers an enhanced version of several features that are available with the
Power BI free account. Most business users use a subscribed account as it
offers more data refreshes per day and other features as compared to the
free version.

7. What are the versions of Power BI?

Power BI currently comes in three versions:

 Microsoft Power BI Free/Desktop – This version is for users who want

to get business insights from their data with visualizations.
 Microsoft Power BI Pro – This is the full version of Power BI. It allows
users unlimited reporting, sharing, and viewing of reports.
 Microsoft Power BI Premium – This version provides a license for all
users in an organization.

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understanding of Power BI!
8. What is Power BI Desktop?

Power BI Desktop is a Windows desktop-based application for personal

computers, primarily for designing, generating, and publishing reports to
the cloud. Used as an on-premise version of Power BI, Power BI Desktop
can run on PCs and work full-fledged even when the system is not
connected to the Internet. Just when users want to publish their reports to
the cloud or share with colleagues, they are supposed to connect to the
Internet. Power BI Desktop is basically the first application that users jump
into when they board on Power BI.

Check out the Power BI tutorial to learn more about its concepts.

9. What are the major components of Power BI?

There are five different components of Power BI.

 Power Pivot: Fetches and cleans data and loads on to Power Query
 Power Query: Operates on the loaded data
 Power Q&A: Makes it possible for users to interact with reports using
simple English language
 Power View: Lets users create interactive charts, graphs, maps, and
other visuals
 Power Map: Enables the processing of accurate geographic locations in
datasets

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10. What is the purpose of the ‘Get Data’ icon in Power BI?

When users click on the Get Data icon in Power BI, a drop-down menu
appears and it shows all data sources from which data can be ingested.

Data can actually be directly ingested from any source including files in
Excel, CSV, XML, JSON, PDF, and SharePoint formats and databases such
as SQL, Access, SQL Server Analysis Services, Oracle, IBM, MySQL, and
much more. Also, Power BI datasets and Power BI data flows are
compatible. Data can also be taken in from Azure and other online
sources.

11. How can we filter data in Power BI?

Data can be filtered using various filters that are available in Power BI,
implicitly. There are basically three types of filters, namely, Page-level
filters, Drillthrough filters, and Report-level filters.
  Drillthrough filters: With Drillthrough filters in Power BI Desktop, users
can create a page in their reports that focuses on specific entities such as
suppliers, customers, or manufacturers.
 Page-level filters: These are used to filter charts that are present on
individual pages.
 Report-level filters: They are used to simultaneously filter charts that
are present on all pages of a report.

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12. How is Power BI different from other BI tools?

Power BI provides better features and data manipulation tools as

compared to other BI tools like Tableau. A single user can connect with
multiple data sources without any experience in coding and data
analytics. As a product of Microsoft, Power BI is closely integrated with
other Microsoft tools such as Office 365, SharePoint, and Bing.

In the free version of Power BI Desktop, the user can analyze datasets of
up to 1GB in storage along with 10,000 rows of data steaming every hour.
Moreover, it provides features like Power Query which allows the user to
easily visualize the datasets by giving the command in the natural English
language.

13. MSBI vs Power BI

Below are the key differences between the MSBI and Power BI:

MSBI Power BI

SSRS in MSBI is used to integrate Power Bi is a collection of BI tools and

the processing components and techniques that allows the user to create
programming interfaces to test dashboards and reports by transforming the
and share the reports on various raw business data into visually interactive
devices. charts, maps, and graphs.

It cannot access the data from Can access the data from both On-premise
cloud storage. and cloud storage.

MSBI can handle large datasets Power BI can handle datasets of a maximum
without putting much stress on the of 10MB or 33,000 rows. The user has to run
computer systems. direct queries if the data exceeds the limit.

Power BI is used to create data models,

SSRS in MSBI can only be used to reports, and dashboards, which you can
create visualizations and reports. access and share via Power BI Apps and web
browsers.
14. Power BI vs Tableau

Below are some of the major differences between Power BI and Tableau:

Power BI Tableau

Power BI can handle a limited volume Can handle huge datasets without
of datasets. affecting the performance of the system.

Can be used by both naive and Used by experienced professionals for

experienced users. data analytics purposes.

Power BI has an easy-to-learn

The interface is difficult to understand by
interface that helps the user to
a non-technical user.
visualize the data and create reports.

Provides an easy way for embedding It’s a real-time challenge for embedding
the reports. reports in Tableau.

Power BI uses Data Analysis Tableau uses Multidimensional

Expression(DAX) to build formulas Expressions(MDX) to create complex
and expressions for measuring the calculations and measure columns and
columns. dimensions.

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enrolling in this Tableau Certification Course.

15. What are the essential applications of Power BI?

Power BI is used by the following professionals and departments:

 Project Management Office: Power BI is used by project managers to

identify the current situation of various business units. It helps them to see
the overall performance of the team and track the progress of various
projects.
 Business and Data Analysts: Business Analysts use Power BI to analyze
the raw business data at greater speeds and efficiency. They prepare the
data by cleaning and transforming it based on specific requirements and
prepare live reports to express the raw in the form of visual insights.
 Database Administrators: By using PowerShell or Microsoft 365, the
database administrator can increase the Power BI embedded capacity and
assign the roles to different team members. With Power BI, the Database
Administrators can set the passwords and decide who can access the
reports and dashboards in Power BI.
 IT Professionals: IT professionals can use Power BI to create stunning
visualizations and dashboards to track their performance and visualize
various log files for the meetings. It also helps them to find out the areas
where the team needs to work on and improve their performance.
 Reports for the consumer: With Power BI, the business user can add
custom reports to various applications designed from the consumer’s
perceptive. For example, you can create a report that shows your daily
sales down in different countries and add it to your social media profiles,
 websites, and applications. This will show the consumer your product’s
popularity and will motivate him to buy it.

Check out why Power BI is one of the best business intelligence

tool!

16. Advantages of using Power BI?

Here are a few advantages of using Power BI over other applications:

 ETL/Data Recovery Suite: Power BI has a robust set of tools for

implementing the ETL(extraction, transformation, and loading the
datasets) capabilities. Data preparation and transformation are very
important before moving to the visualization part. Power BI allows the user
to directly build reporting datamarts and remove any ambiguities present
in the datasets.
 Custom Visualization: Power BI provides you the flexibility of creating
custom visualizations and adding them to your dashboards and live
reports. Custom reports help the planners and decision-makers to identify
the problems and make the best decision to improve their performance in
the market.
 Q&A Capability: Power BI is capable of executing natural language
queries with the help of Power Query and Power Q&A. Power Bi use AI and
Natural Language Processing(NLP) algorithms to process the commands
given by the user and produce the desired results.
 Easy to use: You don’t need to be an expert to visualize your data and
create reports in Power BI. It has a simple interface that allows even a non-
technical user to transform the raw data into visually interactive
dashboards and reports.
 Price: Compared to other BI and data visualization tools, Power BI is
highly affordable. Small businesses can use power BI for free and take
smart decisions to improvise their performance in the market. Moreover,
Power BI Pro comes with an array of features for just $10 a month.

17. What is Power BI Dashboard?

Power BI Dashboard is a canvas that helps in creating a story with

visualizations and templates to better understand the data. It contains all
the highlights of the data in the form of a one-page report.

18. What are custom visualizations?

Power BI Pro users can create their own visualizations from the custom
visualizations library. First, a development project will have to be created
and then the visual can be tested in Power BI services. As soon as the
custom visualization is created, it is thoroughly tested before posting. It is
saved as a .pbiviz file before sharing.

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19. What are the parts of Microsoft’s self-service business intelligence
solution?

Microsoft’s self-service business intelligence solution has two

parts:

 Excel BI Toolkit – It helps users create interactive reports using imported

data from various data sources. Data can be modeled according to what is
needed in the report.
 Power BI – It helps users share the interactive reports created using Excel
BI Toolkit.

20. Is Power BI an effective solution?

Power BI is a cloud-based business intelligence tool. It helps analyze and

visualize raw data imported from various data sources. It integrates data
visualizations with data analytics, to help businesses make better
decisions centered around data. Power BI is easy to use and processes
data in a reliable and easy-to-understand way.
Power BI can work on different platforms and be shared on the cloud. All
of this makes it an affection solution.

21. What do you understand by Power BI services?

Power BI Services is a Service-as-a-platform or a cloud-based service. It

can be used to analyze, and visualize data aligned with sharing business
insights efficiently.

22. What is Power Query?

Power Query is an ETL tool. It can help shape, transform, and clean data
with the help of intuitive interfaces and no need for coding. Power Query
can help with the following:

 Importing data from various data sources like files, databases, social
media data, big data, etc.
 Appending and joining data from several sources.
 Adding or removing data to shape it according to requirements.

23. What is Power View?

Power View is a technology for data visualization that allows users to

create interactive graphs, charts, maps, and other visualizations that help
bring data to life. Power View is available in SharePoint, Excel, Power BI,
and SQL Server.

Enroll in our SQL Course to learn the concepts of Microsoft SQL

Server.
24. Differentiate between Power BI and Excel.

The following comparisons show the differences between Excel and Power
BI.

Paramete
Power BI Excel
r

Tabular Power BI is not very good at Excel is better at handling tabular

reports handling tabular reports. reports.

Duplicate Power BI can’t display Excel allows users to display

table duplicate tables. duplicate tables.

Power BI allows interactive, Excel users cannot perform advanced

Reports
personalized reports. cross-filtering between charts.

Power BI offers simple

Analytics Excel offers advanced analytics.
analytics.

Application Power BI is ideal for KPIs, Excel has new charts now but they
s alerts, and dashboards. can’t connect to data model.

Learn a step-by-step guide on exporting Power BI data to excel

from our blog!

25. Explain the filled map in Power BI.

Power BI comes with two built-in maps – chart maps and filled maps. A
filled map will show you data points in geospatial areas instead of just
showing points on a map. Working with a filled map can be a lot more
difficult than working with a chart map.

26. How to perform query tasks on the Power BI desktop?

In order to utilize Power Query within Power BI desktop, users have the
capability to employ the Power Query editor. To access this functionality,
one must navigate to the “Edit Queries” option located within the home
tab of the Power BI desktop interface.

27. How do you create a group in Power BI?

To group fields in Power BI, begin by selecting all the desired fields. Next,
right-click on the selection to open the context menu. From the menu,
choose the “Group” option, and Power BI will automatically group the
selected items for you.
28. What is the Time Intelligence function?

The Time Intelligence function allows users to manipulate data with the
help of periods.

Power BI Interview Questions for

Intermediate Level
29. Where is data stored in Power BI?

When data is ingested into Power BI, it is basically stored in Fact

and Dimension tables.

 Fact tables: The central table in a star schema of a data warehouse, a

fact table stores quantitative information for analysis and is not
normalized in most cases.
 Dimension tables: It is just another table in the star schema that is used
to store attributes and dimensions that describe objects stored in a fact
table.

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30. What are the different views in Power BI Desktop?

There are three different views in Power BI, each of which serves a
different purpose:
  Report View: Users can add visualizations and additional report pages
and publish the same on the portal from here.
 Data View: Data shaping can be performed through Query Editor tools.
 Relationship View: Users can manage relationships between datasets in
this view.

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31. How are relationships defined in Power BI Desktop?

If there are no null values or duplicate rows, relationships between tables

can be defined in two ways:

 Manually: Users can manually define relationships between tables using

primary and foreign keys.
 With the autodetect feature: When enabled, this inherent feature of
Power BI detects relationships between tables and creates them
automatically.

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32. What do you know about Power BI Query Editor?

By using Power BI Query Editor, users can load data from a wider number
of data sources and apply transformations to them, including adding new
columns and measures.

Power BI Query Editor comprises four tabs:

Query Editor
Use Case
Tab

 Import data from Query Editor into the New Query

group
 Use the Parameter group to create and manage
Home parameters
 Include a function to refresh the preview data for the
current table, or all tables, in the dataset
 Manage columns, reduce rows, and sort groups

 Change the data types of columns, rename columns,

replace values, and fix errors in the Any Column group
 The structured column group provides options for
Transform working with the nested data
 Run R Script function enables to run R Queries directly
on Power BI Query Editor

Add Column  Use Add Custom Column to create a new column using
a DAX formula
  Use Conditional Column to add a column based on the
values in another column
 Use
the From Number group to apply statistical, standard, a
nd scientific functions to numerical columns

 Show or hide Query Editor Settings

 From here, the Advanced Editor window can be opened
View
to view and edit the query code

33. What is Advanced Editor in Power BI?

Advanced Editor can be used to see the query that Power BI runs
against data sources to import data.

 The query is written in M-code, the Power Query Formula Language

 To view the query code from Power BI Desktop, choose Edit Queries from
the Home tab
 From either the Home or the View tab, click on Advanced Editor to work on
the query. The Advanced Editor window opens, displaying the code for the
currently selected query
 When we make transformations to our data in Query Editor, the steps are
saved to the Applied Steps in the Query Settings
 These steps are also applied to the code in the Advanced Editor

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34. Why should general formatting be applied to data in Power BI?

By formatting data, users can help Power BI categorize and identify data,
making it much easier to work with.

 Enter a custom formula to create a new column, including calculations

using values from the other columns
 To create a new column, click on Add Custom Column
 In the new column name box, type the name of the column and add the
formula to the custom column formula box; for example, [ShipDate] –
[OrderDate]
 Select a column from the available columns list and click on Insert or
double-click to add it to the custom column formula text box. Then, click
on OK
 The new column is appended to the table, and the formula is visible in the
Formula Bar

Custom Column Formula:

1=
Table.AddColumn(#"Sorted
2Rows",
3"DaysOrderToShip", each
[ShipDate] -
[OrderDate])

The above code is the formula to create a custom column, which

calculates the days from when an order was placed to when it got
shipped.

35. Name the different connectivity modes available in Power BI?

There are three main connectivity modes available in Power BI:

 SQL Server Import: It’s the default and most commonly used
connectivity option in Power BI. With SQL Server Import, the user can fully
utilize the Power BI Desktop. You can easily connect the SQL Server data
with Power BI and run queries on it.
 Direct Query: Direct queries can be executed on datasets exceeding the
recommended size. In this case, Power BI will only store the metadata of
the source and execute direct queries on it. However, it limits the
operations you can perform to prepare your data for reporting.
 Live Connections: Power BI Service can be used to connect with live
data sources such as SQL Server Analysis Services, Power BI Datasets
hosted by Power BI Service, and Azure Analysis Service. In a live
connection, all the interactions will be done using direct queries.

36. What are the different types of refresh options available in Power BI?

There are four types of refresh options available in Power BI:

 Package Refresh: It synchronizes your data in Power BI Desktop or Excel

files between Power BI service and SharePoint Online and OneDrive.
 Model or Data Refresh: Refresh the data available in Power BI Service
with the data stored in the original data source.
 Tile refresh: This feature updates the cache for Power BI tiles every 15
minutes on the dashboards.
 Visual Container Refresh: Used to refresh the visual containers and the
visuals of cached reports once the data is changed.

37. What data sources can Power BI connect to?

Power BI can connect to various data sources but it can be categorized as

follows:

 Files: Power BI can import data from.csv,.xslx,.pbix, and.xlxm files, among

others.
 Content packs are collections of connected items or documents that are
kept together for storage. Both content packs generated and shared by
other users inside the company as well as content packs from service
providers like Google Analytics or Salesforce are available in Power BI.
 Connectors: These include connectors to databases and other datasets
like Azure SQL, Database and SQL, etc.
38. What is a comprehensive working system of Power BI?

Power BI operates on a four-step process to facilitate efficient data

analysis:

 Data Import: The initial phase involves importing data from various
sources and converting it into a standardized format for further
processing.
 Data Cleansing: Once the data is gathered, it undergoes a
transformation process to eliminate any undesired or irrelevant
information, ensuring a clean dataset for analysis.
 Data Visualization: Utilizing a robust set of visualization tools, the
processed data is visually represented in the form of interactive reports
and dashboards within the Power BI desktop environment. This step aids in
extracting valuable insights from the data.
 Save and Publish: After the report creation phase, the finalized reports
can be saved and published, enabling seamless sharing and collaboration.
Users can access the reports via mobile applications and web platforms,
facilitating widespread data dissemination.

39. What are the different types of filters in Power BI reports?

There are various filter types in Power BI:

 Visual-level Filters – These filters work on single visualizations. They

reduce the amount of data the visualization can see. These filters can filter
calculations as well as data.
 Page-level Filters – These filters work on the report-page level. Different
pages in the same report can have different page-level filters.
 Report-level Filters – These filters work on an entire report. They filter
all visualizations and pages included in the report.

40. What are the types of visualizations in Power BI?

The following are some types of visualizations that are available

in Power BI:

 Bar and Column Charts: You can use these visualizations to look at a
specific value across various categories.
 Area Charts: Area Charts help look at the magnitude of change over
time.
 Card: Cards can be used to show the aggregate value of particular data
points.
 Doughnut and Pie Charts: These charts help you visualize the
relationship between parts of a whole.
 Maps: Maps show quantitative and categorical data with spatial locations.
 Matrix: Matrix is a type of table that helps see aggregate data easily.
 Slicers: A slicer is used to filter other visuals on the page.
41. Why and how would you use a custom visual file?

A custom visual file helps users if none of the already existing visuals fit
the needs of the business. These are usually generated by developers and
they can be used just like prepackaged files.

42. What are the various types of users who can use Power BI?

 Report Consumers: They consume reports according to their particular

needs.
 Report Analyst: They require detailed data for their analysis of the
reports.
 Self-Service Data Analyst: They need an in-depth analysis of the data
to work with.
 Basic Data Analyst: They are able to build their own datasets.
 Advanced-Data Analyst: They can write SQL queries and bring hands-on
experience in Power BI.

43. Where do you reshape data in Power BI?

Data can be reshaped in Data Editing.

44. Which is a single-page canvas that uses visualizations to depict a

story?

Power BI Dashboard.

45. List out some drawbacks/limitations of using Power BI.

Some limitations of Power BI are as follows:

 Complex in nature
Power BI has been designed a little complex. Users need to know in-depth
about Power BI before they can start working on it.
 Large Data
Power BI isn’t capable of handling large data and might time out while
processing it. It cannot process data larger than 1 GB.
 Limited Sharing of Data
Only users who are on the same domain or have their email addresses
listed on Office 365 can receive the files you share.
 Limited Data Source
Power BI allows real-time connection with very limited data sources.

46. What are the purpose and benefits of using the DAX function?

DAX or Data Analysis Expression is a functional language that can create

calculated columns and/or measures for smarter calculations to limit the
data the dashboard has to fetch and visualize.
47. What are the different Excel BI add-ins?

The most important Power BI add-ins to Excel are as follows:

 Power Query – Power Query helps in editing, loading, and finding

external data.
 Power Pivot – Power Pivot is mainly used in data analysis and data
modeling.
 Power View – Power View is used to design interactive and visual reports.
 Power Map – Power Map helps display insights on 3D maps.

48. What is Power Pivot Data Model?

The Power Pivot Data Model encompasses a range of integral elements

such as data tables, data types, table relationships, and columns. These
data tables act as dedicated repositories responsible for housing data
associated with distinct business entities.

49. Can we have more than one active relationship between two tables in
Power Pivot Data Model?

When considering database relationships, it is crucial to understand that

two tables cannot simultaneously have multiple active relationships. While
it is feasible for two tables to establish multiple relationships, only one of
these relationships can be active at any given moment.

50. Can SQL and Power Query/Query Editor be used together?

Certainly, The integration of SQL and Power Query/Query Editor enables

the utilization of an SQL statement as the source for a Power Query/Query
Editor function. This integration serves the purpose of executing a reliable
database query directly at the source, resulting in a reduction of
unnecessary complexity and processing on the client machine. By
seamlessly combining these technologies, the efficiency and effectiveness
of data retrieval and transformation processes can be optimized.

51. What are the primary requirements for a table to be used in Power
Map?

The primary requirement is to have unique rows. The table also needs to
have location data. The location data can be in the form of
latitude/longitude pair, address fields, etc.

52. What are the data sources for Power Map?

The data sources can be Excel or external. To prepare the data you have
to make sure all the data is in the Excel table format, with each row
depicting a unique record. The row/column headings must contain text
and not actual data. This is important to make sure Power Map interprets
it correctly while plotting geographical coordinates. You can use
meaningful labels to make the category and value field handy when
you’re designing your tour in the Power Map Tour Editor pane.

If you want to load data from an external source, you can follow
these steps:

1. Open Excel, click Data, and then the connection you want to add from the
Get External Data group.
2. A wizard will open. You can follow the steps given.
3. On the final step of the wizard, check the Add this data to the Data Model.

53. Is Power BI available on-premises?

No. Power BI isn’t available on-premises as a private cloud service. But,

you can securely connect your on-premises data sources with Power BI
and Power BI Desktop.

54. What is Power BI Q&A?

Power BI Q&A is a language tool that helps with data querying and
obtaining the required results. Q&A renders your questions and reveals a
restated query about what it requires from your data.

Advanced Power BI Interview Questions for

Experienced
55. What are the most common data shaping techniques?

The most common data shaping techniques are:

 Removing Columns and Rows

 Adding Indexes
 Applying a Sort Order

56. What is the difference between Calculated Columns, Calculated Tables,

and Measures?
Calculated Columns Calculated Tables Measures

Added to tables by Use other DAX functions to

Created using DAX formula
applying DAX formula create complex
to define values
on the existing data calculations

DAX formula defines Used for highlighting

values in new columns Created in both Report and running totals, comparing
rather than querying Data views sales, sales forecasting,
data sources and other purposes

Useful when data Work well for intermediate Created in both Report and
sources do not contain calculations and the data
data presented in the that users want to be stored
Data views
desired format in the model

57. Which In-memory Analytics Engine is used in Power Pivot?

The primary in-memory analytics engine behind Power Pivot is xVelocity.

This engine handles large amounts of data as it stores data in columnar
databases. In in-memory analytics, all data is loaded to RAM memory, and
therefore, the processing speed is really fast.

58. What is Power BI Designer?

A powerful and flexible new tool under the Power BI umbrella, Power BI
Designer empowers users to create intuitive reports and dashboards,
easily and quickly and also lets the users change visual views of their data
at their fingertips for better analytics and informed decision-making. This
designer is a host of drag-and-drop capabilities that help users place
content exactly where they want it on the report canvas in a well-
structured layout.

59. Is it possible to refresh Power BI Reports after they are published to

the cloud?

Yes, it is possible. Gateways can be used to do so.

 For SharePoint: Data Management Gateway

 For Powerbi.com: Power BI Personal Gateway

If you have any doubts or queries related to Power BI, get them
clarified from Power BI experts on our Power BI Community!

60. How can geographic data be mapped into Power BI Reports?

Through a map chart and a filled map chart, Power BI makes it possible for
users to visually map geographic data, both globally and regionally.

 Power BI integrates with Bing Maps to find default coordinates for locations
in a process known as geocoding.
 This integration means that users do not need to provide longitude and
latitude coordinates.

61. What happens when you click on a single data point in one of the
multiple visuals in a report?

When we do that, data gets selected and copied to the clipboard. Further,
the copied data can be pasted anywhere as per the requirement of the
user.
62. What is z-order in Power BI?

Z-order is a design strategy that is used for arranging visuals over shapes.
Also, z-order can be defined as an implementation method that can be
applied when reports have multiple elements. Further, this can also be
used to refresh the display after the order of items in a report is changed.

63. What is the prerequisite for connecting to a database in Azure SQL

Database?

There is only one prerequisite for this. Before connecting to a database in

Azure SQL Database, users should configure firewall settings to allow
remote connections.

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Ideas!

64. What are some ways that Excel experience can be leveraged with
Power BI?

In Power BI, the excel experience can be leveraged in the

following ways:

 Power BI Publisher for Excel:

o The charts, tables, and ranges can be pinned to Power Bi Service.
o Datasets and reports stored in Power BI Service can be used to
connect with the publisher for Excel.
 Excel workbooks can be used for Power BI report creation by exploring the
models in tables in Excel.
 Pivot models of Excel workbooks can be imported to Power BI Desktop
models and to save both time and effort.
 You can upload Excel workbooks in Power BI and view them on a web
browser, Power BI Desktop, or Power BI Apps.
 Like any other report, Excel reports can be shared on Power BI Service
with other users.

65. How is the FILTER function used?

The FILTER function gives back a tabler with a filter applied for all of its
source table rows. The FILTER function is used as a parameter for other
functions.
FILTER can have a negative impact on large source tables as it is an
iterator.

A complex filtering logic can be applied, for example,

FILTER(ATable,[SalesMetric]
1
> 1000)
66. What is the CALCULATE function in DAX?

The CALCULATE function helps calculate the sum of an entire column. It

can be modified using filters.

Syntax:

CALCULATE ( [, [, [,
1
… ]]] )

Expression: The expression that has to be evaluated.

Filter: The filter is a boolean expression or a table expression that is

supposed to define a filter.

67. What is special or unique about the CALCULATE and CALCULATETABLE

functions?

These are the only functions that allow you to modify the filter context of
tables or measures.

 You can add to the existing filter context of the queries.

 You can override the filter context from the queries.
 You can remove the existing filter context from the queries.

Limitations:

 Filter parameters will only be able to work on one column at a time.

 Filter parameters will not be able to reference a metric.

68. What is the common table function for grouping data?

SUMMARIZE()

 This is the main groupby function in SSAS.

 You should specify tables and groups by columns instead of metrics.

SUMMARIZECOLUMNS

 It is the new group by function in SSAS and Power BI desktop. It is also

more efficient.
 You should specify groups by table, expressions, and columns.

69. How would you create trailing X month metrics via DAX against a non-
standard calendar?

You will have to use the following:

 CALCULATE function to take over the filter context of measures.

 ALL to remove the existing filters on the date dimension.
  FILTER to identify which rows of the date dimension you would use.

CONTAINS can also used.

70. What are some of the differences between data modeling between
Power BI Desktop and Power Pivot for Excel?

The differences between Power BI Desktop data modeling and Power Pivot
data modeling are as follows:

Power BI Desktop Power Pivot

Supports bi-directional cross-filtering

Supports only single relationships.
relationships.

Security roles can be defined in Power Security roles cannot be defined in Power
BI Desktop. Pivot for Excel.

71. What are data destinations for Power Queries?

There are two different data destinations for Power Queries:

 You can load to a table in a worksheet.

 You can load it to the Excel Data Model.

72. What are some common Power Query/Query Editor transforms?

Filtering rows, Adding new columns, Grouping, Choosing/Removing

columns, Changing data types, Splitting a column into multiple columns,
etc.

73. What are query parameters and Power BI templates?

Query parameters are used to give a local Power BI Desktop report with a
prompt to the users. This helps specify the values they’re interested in.

 The query and calculation can use parameter selection.

 PBIX files can also be exported as Power BI Templates (PBIT).
 The Template files will contain everything from the PBIX files except for the
data.

Templates and parameters help share small template files and limit the
amount of data that is loaded into the local PBIX files. This improves the
experience as well as processing time.

74. Why do we need Power Query when Power Pivot can import from
mostly used sources?

Power Query is a versatile tool that enables users to extract data from
diverse sources, apply necessary transformations, and seamlessly import
it into Excel. Its functionality surpasses that of Power Pivot, as Power
Query not only facilitates data loading but also provides extensive
capabilities for data manipulation, allowing users to tailor it to their
specific requirements.

75. Name some commonly used tasks in the Query Editor.

 Shape Data – You can transform your data according to your needs, to
shape and clean it.
 Pivot Columns – You can pivot columns and then create a table with the
aggregate values.
 Connect to Data – You can get data from various sources and transform
it.
 Group Rows – You can group the values of various different rows in a
single value by summarizing.
 Advanced Editor – You can modify data using Advanced Query Editor.
 Create Custom Columns – You can create custom columns with the help
of custom formulas.

76. What are the data management gateway and Power BI personal
gateway?

Gateways bridge the gap between data sources on-premise and Azure
cloud service.

Let’s look at the features of both of these separately.

Power BI Personal Gateway:

 No central managing, Only Power BI service, Only import

 Can only be used by one person

Data Management Gateway:

 Supports direct query and import

 Multiple users can use the gateway to develop content
 Monitor and control centrally

77. What happens when you click the Infocus mode of a tile on the Power
BI dashboard on the browser?

When you click the Infocus mode of a tile, it expands the tile and the tiles
take full space.

78. How do you consolidate inquiries in Power BI?

Inquiries in Power BI are consolidated using Join Queries.

79. What is a calculated column in Power BI and why would you use them?

Calculated columns are DAX expressions. They are calculated during the
model’s refresh process/processing of every row of the particular column.
It can also be used like any other column of the model.

Calculated columns consume more memory and reduce query

performance. They also reduce refresh/processing performance if they are
applied on large tables.

80. How is data security implemented in Power BI?

A DAX expression has to be applied on a table that filters its own rows at
query time. Dynamic security will involve using USERNAME functions in
defining security roles. Finally, a table will be created within the model
that will relate users to specific dimensions and roles.

81. Why might you have a table in the model without any relationships to
other tables?

There are usually two reasons for doing that:

 An unrelated table can be used to provide the user with parameters that
need to be exposed and selected in slicers.
o DAX metrics can retrieve this information and use it in other
calculations or metrics.
 An unrelated table can also be used as a placeholder for UI metrics.

82. What are the differences between a Power BI dataset, a Report, and a
Dashboard?
Power BI Dataset Report Dashboard

Power BI Desktop files Visuals taken from

Source data provides the basis
may contain several different reports make
for creating reports and visuals.
pages of reports. up this slideshow.

Data are contained within a

Built for interactive, in- Built for easy visuals and
model or available via direct
depth analysis of metrics collection from
query connection from its
specific datasets. multiple datasets.
source.

83. What are the three Edit interactions options of a visual tile in Power BI
Desktop?

The three edit interaction options are:

 Filter – It completely filters a visual tile on the basis of the filter selection
of another visual tile.
 Highlight – It highlights the related elements on the visual tile and greys
out the unrelated elements.
  None – It ignores the filter selection from another visual tile.

84. How does SSRS integrate with Power BI?

There are a few ways SSRS can integrate with Power BI:

 Some report items like charts can be pinned on Power BI dashboards.

 If you click on the tile in the Power BI dashboard, it will take the user to the
SSRS report.
 Users will soon be able to publish Power BI reports on SSRS portals.

Power BI Interview Questions for 3 Years

Experienced
85. What exactly is Self-service BI?

Self-service BI or Self-service Business Intelligence (SSBI) is an approach

to data analytics, reporting, and visualization that enables users to
generate easy-to-understand, intuitive, and actionable dashboards, almost
instantaneously.

The most striking feature of SSBI is the fact that users are not required to
be adept at technical expertise when it comes to data reporting. Using
available filters and data manipulation options, they can influence data as
per their business needs and further create reports. There are two parts to
Microsoft SSBI:

 Excel BI toolkit
  Power BI

Learn more about Why Power BI is a Revolutionary Business

Intelligence Tool?

86. What are formats in Power BI?

The different formats in Power BI are as follows:

 Power BI Desktop – Power BI Desktop can be downloaded and installed

on your PC. You can connect it to the data source, transform the data, and
analyze and visualize it with the help of templates.
 Power BI Services – Power BI Services is a Service-as-a-platform or a
cloud based service.
 Power BI Mobile App – The Power BI App is available for iOs, Android,
and Windows.

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journey today!

87. How can you refresh data in Power BI?

Data can be refreshed in the Gateway in Power BI by scheduling Refresh.

88. What is row-level security?

Row-level security restricts the data that a user can view and has access
to, based on filters. For configuring row-level security, users can define
rules and roles in Power BI Desktop and publish the same to Power BI
Service. Also, the username() function can be used alongside table
relationships to restrict the data to the current user.

However, for enabling row-level security, a Power BI Pro subscription

account is required, and Excel sheets can only be used when they are
converted to the .pbix file format.

89. What is DAX? What are the benefits of using variables in DAX?

DAX or Data Analysis Expressions can be used to query and return data by
a table expression. It is a formula language that is used to perform basic
calculations and data analysis on the data in Power Pivot. Also, it is used
to compute calculated columns, calculated fields, and measures.
However, data cannot be inserted or modified using DAX.

DAX Syntax:

1Total Sales =
SUM(Sales[SalesAmount])

Where ‘Total Sales’ is a ‘Measure’; ‘SUM’ is a ‘DAX Function’, and

‘Sales[SalesAmount]’ represents the referenced table and the referenced
column name.

Benefits of using variables in DAX:

 Variables can be reused in DAX queries, thus avoiding additional queries of

the source database.
 Variables make DAX expressions understandable.

90. What is bidirectional cross-filtering in Power BI?

Bidirectional cross-filtering in Power BI Desktop allows data modelers to

determine how they want filters to flow for data using relationships
between tables. With bidirectional cross-filtering, the filter context is
propagated to a second related table on the other side of a table
relationship. This can help data modelers solve the many-to-many
problem without writing complicated DAX formulas. Thus, bidirectional
cross-filtering simplifies the job for data modelers.

91. What are the most common DAX functions used?

Here are some of the most commonly used DAX functions:

 SUM, MIN, MAX, AVG, COUNTROWS, DISTINCTCOUNT

 IF, AND, OR, SWITCH
 ISBLANK, ISFILTERED, ISCROSSFILTERED
 VALUES, ALL, FILTER, CALCULATE,
 UNION, INTERSECT, EXCEPT, NATURALINNERJOIN,
NATURALLEFTEROUTERJOIN,
SUMMARIZECOLUMNS, ISEMPTY,
 VAR (Variables)
 GEOMEAN, MEDIAN, DATEDIFF

92. Which language is used in Power Query?

M-code is a new programming language used in Power Query. It’s really

easy to use and pretty similar to other programming languages.

Power BI Interview Questions for 5 Years

Experienced
93. What are the building blocks of Power BI?

Below are the building blocks of Power BI:

  Visualizations: These are the visual representations of the raw data
collected from varied data sources. Visualizations can be different types
such as line graphs, donut charts, pie charts, bar graphs, maps, etc.
 Datasets: It’s a collection that Power BI uses to create visualizations and
reports. Datasets in Power BI can be of different types such as Excel
sheets, CSV files, Oracle tables, and more.
 Reports: A report in Power BI is a collection of visualizations bought
together on a single or multiple pages. Each visualization in a report
shows the specific aspect of the data based on the requirements. For
example, profit by-products, sales by country, city report, etc.
 Dashboards: Dashboards are single-layer presentations with one or more
visualizations embedded on a single page. Dashboards can be shared on
various platforms like Power BI Apps to provide live information.
 Tiles: Tiles are the single visualizations in a dashboard or report. For
example, a pie chart, line graph, or any other visualization is a single tile
in Power BI.

Next up on this top Power BI interview questions and answers, let us

check out some of the top Power BI questions that come under the
intermediate category.

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provided by Intellpaat.

94. What is Power Pivot?

An add-in for Microsoft Excel 2010, Power Pivot enables users to import
millions of rows of data from various sources into one Excel Workbook.
Users can create calculated columns, measure using formulas, and create
relationships between heterogeneous data. They can also build
PivotCharts and PivotTables. Users can analyze data effectively to help in
making timely business decisions without any help from IT.

Check out how to build an impressive Power BI Developer

Resume!

95. Explain what M language is in Power BI.

M is a query language formula that is used in Power BI Query Editor. It

helps in preparing data before loading it into the Power BI model. The
main function of Power Query is to mash-up data from one supported
source to another. These data mashups are expressed with the help of
Power Query M Formula Language.

96. What are content packs?

Content packs are packaged reports, dashboards, and datasets, which can
be shared with other Power BI users in the organization. When a content
pack is connected on the Powerbi.com portal, report items are merged
into workspace lists.
The most notable features of content packs are as follows:

 Provide access to specific groups or entire organizations

 Can be customized with a title and a description to help users select the
right pack
 Users who have access to the content pack can create new dashboards
from the contents

97. What is the maximum data limit per client for the free version of
Power BI?

A free Power BI version allows users 10 GB of storage space in the cloud

for hosting Power BI reports. The maximum size allowed for a report in the
cloud is 1 GB.

98. What are the three fundamental concepts of DAX?

Three fundamental concepts of DAX are as follows:

 Syntax: It is the formula that includes the functions. If the syntax is

wrong, the result will show an error.
 Functions: These are arguments that a specific order to perform.
 Context: Contexts are of two types – Row Context and Filter Context. Row
Context is applied when a formula has a function that applies a filter to
identify a row in a table. Filter Context is applied when one or more filters
are used to get a value.

99. What is query folding in Power Query?

Query folding refers to the process in Power Query where the defined
steps are translated into SQL and executed by the source database
instead of the client machine. This practice holds significant importance in
terms of optimizing performance and ensuring scalability in data
processing.

100. What gateways are available in Power BI, and why use them?

A gateway basically acts as a bridge between on-premise data sources

and Azure Cloud Services.

 Personal Gateway: Data can be imported and valid on Power BI Service

only. Also, this gateway can only be used by a single person.
 On-premises Gateway: This gateway is the advanced form of Personal
gateway. It supports Direct Query, and multiple users can use this for
refreshing data.
101. What are many-to-many relationships and how can they be
addressed in Power BI?

Many-to-many relationships include a junction or a bridge table that

reflects combinations from two dimensions.

 Bi-directional relationships can be utilized in PBIX.

 CROSSFILTER function is utilized in Power Pivot in Excel.
 DAX is used to check or transform the filter context.

Power BI Scenario Based Interview

Questions
102. You have been provided with sales data that shows sales over a
period of time in specific intervals (could be daily or monthly intervals) for
each product and their quantity. How will you visualize the sales for each
product?

 Take a table and add the columns. (Sales, product name – taken to find
each product), Order date – (taken to specify the month interval), Order
quantity (taken to specify the quantity).
 Make sure the Order date column is in the date data type. Only in date
data type we can give a hierarchy like year, quarter, monthly, and day.
 Choose either the month or day to specify the interval.

103. Let’s suppose you have data that contains purchase information
along with the age and gender of the customers. Visualize the segments
of customers along with the total spend of each customer.

 Segment Visuals include bar charts, pie charts or tables.

 You have to choose the gender, age, customer name columns.
 Create a measure to calculate
Total_Spent=SUM(table_name[SalesAmount]))
 Visual taken in both bar chart and table visual format

104. You have to visualize the overseas sales of a product using Power BI;
how will you do it?

 Overseas indicate the map visuals.

 Take a map visualization and include the country column; the bubble size
would be the size of sales.
 Take the Product name in the legend
  Note: Map1 with Product Name column , Map2 without Product Name
column

105. You have to create a visualization to depict the difference in

budgeted revenue and actual revenue for a product over a period of time.
How will you do it?

 Create a DAX column to find the difference.

 Difference=Table1[Budgeted_revenue]-Table2[Actual_Revenue]
 Note: If there is no budgeted revenue, you have to calculate using DAX

106. How will you create a report that will visualize the top products based
on their sales?

 Columns taken: Product Name or Product Id with Sales Column.

 Apply a visual filter for Top 10 or Top 5 or Top 3
 Give the by-value condition as Sales and apply the filter.

Power BI Salary on the Basis of Experience

Average Salary in Average Salary in
Job Role
India the USA

Minimum – 3.6 Minimum – 95,000

LPA USD
BI Developer
Average – 111,000
Average – 6 LPA
Fresher – Experience (0 to 9 USD
Years) Maximum – 139,000
Maximum – 9 LPA
USD

Power BI Trends in 2024

1. Global Demand: With more and more data generation across the globe,
the imminent need for Power BI professionals is growing to analyze and
visualize data to help data-driven decision-making through insights.
2. Growth Projections: The user-friendly interface is encouraging a plethora of
businesses to adapt to the platform and is creating a surge in market
demand for Power BI professionals. With over 8000 active jobs on LinkedIn
in India and over 25000 jobs in the USA power BI jobs are flooding the
market.
3. Emerging Markets: Mobile Analytics is one of the most evolving aspects of
Power BI technology for mobile reporting and embedded analytics.
 4. Future Trends: Natural Language Integration through Generative AI is a
promising aspect for generating readable descriptions for insights.

Job Opportunities in Power BI

Data analysis and reporting play a crucial role in data-driven decision-
making, and hence has created a surge in demand for skilled
professionals who can create interactive dashboards for reporting and
analysis. Some of the most sought-after Power BI job roles are as follows:

Job Role Description

Using Power BI tools, analyze data to

Power BI Analyst
find patterns, insights, etc.

Analyzes data and develops designs,

Power BI Developer visualization, and reports to present
findings.

Devise end-to-end business intelligence

solutions that include data integration,
Power BI Architect data modeling, visualization, etc. to find
insights from data for data-driven
decision-making

Roles and Responsibilities of a Power BI

Developer
Reporting and analyzing also invites a lot of skilled professionals to
various organizations. Typical roles and responsibilities according
to IBM are as follows:

Based on similar requirements, we have summarized the following roles

and responsibilities of a Power BI Developer:

1. Reporting: A Power BI developer is responsible for creating interactive

dashboards that present insights using dashboards for data-driven
decision-making.
2. Data Analysis: Import data from different sources, perform calculations to
find patterns and insights, and create visualizations for various reports.
3. Business Intelligence Solutions: Develop end-to-end business intelligence
solutions for effective gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information
for data-driven decision making.
4. Problem Solving: A really effective problem-solving mindset to devise
innovative strategies to find insights in the unstructured or structured data
and visualize the findings in the most informative manner.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Power BI Desktop & Power BI Service Interview Questions

What is Power Query, and what is it used for in Power BI?

Power Query is an ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool within Power BI. It
allows us to import, clean, transform, merge, and modify data sets.

What are the different types of filters in Power BI reports?

Power BI reports can be filtered using slicer visuals or through the

collapsable filter pane on the right-hand side of Power BI. Slicer visuals are
intuitive and easy to use. The filter pane offers more complex filtering
options, such as page-level, report-level, and drillthrough filters. However,
this can stay hidden from the user and be preset and locked so that they
persist for all users.

What's the difference between a report and a dashboard in Power BI?

Power BI reports are typically designed using Power BI desktop and are
then published to the Power BI service. On the other hand, dashboards are
made up of 'tiles' from one or more reports in a single workspace.
Dashboards allow us to condense present insights from multiple reports in
one place.

How can we refresh the data in a report published to Power BI Service?

Data that is imported from an on-premise storage location can only be

refreshed from Power BI service through a gateway. This offers a secure
way for cloud-based reports to access locally-stored data.

Power BI DAX Interview Questions

Most Power BI job interviews will include questions about DAX - they are a
critical component of Power BI. You should understand DAX functions and
how to construct them in detail. From basic functions like SUM and COUNT
to more complex functions like RANKX.

Additionally, you should be familiar with how these expressions interact

with each other, knowing how to prevent circular dependencies and
optimize your DAX expressions to ensure high-performing reports. Lastly,
you should also be able to debug your DAX formulas, finding and fixing
errors or typos. We will break down each of these aspects of DAX in this
section.
Understanding DAX Functions and Expressions
What is the difference between DAX functions, expressions, and variables?

 DAX functions are pre-built definitions that allow you to perform

calculations on your data.
 DAX expressions are made up of one or more DAX functions.
 Variables store the results of a DAX expression for use within a particular
DAX expression.

What's the difference between a measure and a calculated column in Power BI?

Measures and calculated columns both use DAX expressions. However,

measures perform an aggregation on the data and will return a value
based on the filters in the report. Calculated columns return the result of a
DAX expression for each row of a table. The result of a calculated column
can be viewed just like any other column in the Data and Model views.

Describe how you would use function X

The types of functions that are asked about in this question are unique for
each organization. However, you should have a good understanding of
most of the available DAX functions in Power BI.

What are circular dependencies? How can you avoid creating circular
dependencies in your DAX expressions?

Circular dependencies are created when two expressions reference each

other, and Power BI doesn't know which one to calculate first to determine
the result. Usually, circular dependencies occur when improperly using the
CALCULATE function.

Power BI Technical Interview Questions

Intermediate to senior-level Power BI jobs that require at least a few years
of experience will usually involve technical questions around architecture,
connectivity, and data modeling in Power BI. You should be familiar with
the components that make up BI solution architecture in general and how
Power BI fits into this architecture.

You should also know how to connect Power BI to multiple data sources
and import and transform that data in Power BI (using Power Query).
Additionally, it would be best if you had a good understanding of data
modeling principles and the best practices for them. Lastly, the technical
interview may also involve questions about data refresh and the Power BI
gateway for the deployment of reports to the cloud using Power BI
Service.
Power BI Architecture

In this section, you could be asked about BI solution architecture at a

high-level and/or about one or more elements within the solution
architecture framework. Here, it is good to understand BI solution
architecture in general and how Power BI fits into each element. So let's
go over them briefly.

BI semantic models are built using BI platforms like Power BI. They are
usually built on top of existing structured data models, like in a data
warehouse or database. After that, these reports can be published to a
cloud platform to share with business users, as is the case when
publishing to Power BI Service.

Data Modeling

One of Power BI's most important (and powerful) aspects is data

modeling. Some of these concepts can be highly complex, so take your
time to understand them well.

Describe what a star schema is and how it works.

A star schema is made up of a central fact table and multiple dimension

tables branching off this fact table, giving the appearance of a star. A fact
table is made up of values that can be aggregated, as well as one or more
keys that link to the dimension tables.

What is cardinality?

Four cardinality choices exist: many-to-one, one-to-one, one-to-many, or

many-to-many. When creating relationships, it is recommended that the
joining field contains unique values in at least one of the tables. This
allows you to use the one-to-many or many-to-one options in your data
model.
Explain the difference between single and bi-directional relationships

The directionality of relationships is defined using the cross-filter direction

option. Relationships flow from the table with unique values to the table
with many values, affecting filtering. The single direction is recommended
for most cases.

Describe a common issue with using many-to-many cardinality in a relationship

Many-to-many relationships can become an issue if there are different

levels of granularity in the data. Power BI cannot infer greater levels of
granularity if it does not exist in one of the tables. This causes the results
of calculations to get duplicated according to the filter applied.

Interview Questions on Data Gateways for Power BI Service

If the organization you are interviewing with uses on-premise data stores,
then they will likely use data gateways. These are some of the more tricky
questions you can encounter on gateways.

What's the difference between a standard and a personal gateway?

The personal gateway is linked to the user account that installed it. This
means that multiple users cannot share and configure the gateway. For
example, if the user left the organization and their user account was
deleted, the gateway would stop working. On the other hand, a standard
gateway is not linked to any user account and allows more centralized
management of data sources. In addition, the standard gateway supports
other connection types, such as Direct Query.

What considerations should be made when choosing a machine to install the

gateway on?

The biggest factor affecting the performance of data gateways is the

number of concurrent users consuming the report. This is especially
important to consider if any reports use real-time data connections.

Can a gateway contain both import and direct query connections?

Yes. However, using separate gateways for import and direct query
connections is good practice. This is because direct query connections can
place a lot of strain on the machine that the gateway is installed on. To
avoid delays or potential issues as you scale the number of reports and
the number of users for those reports, it is best to use separate gateways.

Power BI Scenario-Based Interview

Questions
For intermediate-level Power BI jobs and above, it is common to receive
scenario-based interview questions. These questions are unique to the
company you are interviewing for and depend on their industry and how
Power BI is used in their organization. However, there are some common
themes between these scenario-based questions, and they can be used to
test your knowledge of some Power BI concepts.

For a complete walkthrough of a case study for a job interview, see this
live training session on Solving a Job Interview Case Study with Power BI.

Handling Complex & Large Data Sets

We want to design a Power BI report on complaints and compliments received
through our customer services department. However, this information is located
within a folder of about 100 files. How would you go about importing these files
into Power BI?

You can select an entire folder as a data source in Power BI. Using the
format from a single file in the folder, you can import all files according to
that same format. However, it is essential to remember that every file
should follow the same format, or the imported data will make little sense.

We currently have a Power BI report that imports a large volume of data from
our warehouse. How would you optimize the performance of a Power BI report
for big data?

There are three basic things you can do to immediately improve the
performance of reports that use large volumes of data:

1. Turn off time intelligence - this is a feature of Power BI that automatically

creates date/time hierarchies every time a date field is added to a visual,
causing a bloated, slow Power BI report.
2. Only load the columns you actually need - if a column is not used in the
report, do not import (for example, ID fields).
3. Only load the rows you actually need - it is better to either filter out or
aggregate historical data.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

1. What is Power BI?

Power BI is a cloud-based business intelligence and data visualization

software developed by Microsoft to fetch raw data from various sources,
transform and analyze it, extract meaningful insights from it, build
interactive dashboards and reports reflecting those insights, and share the
results with a relevant group of data consumers – your colleagues,
managers, or shareholders – to make smart, data-driven business
decisions.
A visualization (sometimes also referred to as a visual) is a visual
representation of data, like a chart, a color-coded map, or other interesting
graphical displays you can create in Microsoft Power BI to represent your data.

2. What are the advantages of Power BI?

There are many advantageous features of Power BI that make it an

excellent business intelligence software:

 It’s easy to use, even for non-technical people.

 It has a powerful toolkit for conducting ETL (extraction, transformation,
and loading the data).
 It helps share the insights from the data with data consumers.
 It accommodates fast updates of the data in use from the data sources.
 It is equipped with template dashboards and SaaS solution reports.
 It allows real-time dashboard and report updates.
 It allows results displays on various devices (computers, tablets, and
mobile phones).
 It ensures quick and safe connection to the data sources in the cloud or
locally.
 It enables data querying using natural language processing.
 It provides hybrid configuration and smart deployment.
3. What are some disadvantages of Power BI?

The main disadvantages of Power BI to keep in mind include the following:

 The software is not very intuitive for the beginners.

 Dashboard and report sharing is limited: only users with the same email
domain can access the results.
 The majority of data sources don't support real-time connections to Power
BI interactive dashboards and reports.
 Power BI for free users can't process datasets larger than 1 GB.
 We can't store an adjusted filter in the saved Power BI visual report filter.
In addition, the filter is always displayed on the report, which isn’t always
convenient

However, Power Bi is in the process of constant development and

improvement, so we can expect the software to overcome some or all of
its limitations.

Power BI consists of three main elements: Power BI Desktop, the Power BI

service, and Power BI Mobile. These work together to let you create, interact
with, share, and consume your data however you want.

4. What is a common workflow in Power BI?

A standard Power BI workflow includes the following four steps:

 Fetch the data to the Power BI Desktop, clean and manipulate the data,
and create a report.
 Publish the report to the Power BI Service and build dashboards.
 Share the dashboards with your colleagues, managers, or shareholders.
 Interact with the final dashboards and reports in Power BI Mobile apps to
extract business insights.
5. What are the main business applications of Power BI?

Since Power BI is a business intelligence application, we can apply it to a

range of business spheres. Its most crucial applications include the
following:

 Extracting meaningful business insights from the available raw data

 Creating compelling live reports and insightful interactive dashboards
 Identifying the current state of different departments or projects
 Tracking progress and KPIs of different departments or projects
 Detecting the strong and weak sides of a project from the standpoint of its
performance
 Distributing the roles inside the team
 Granting access to the dashboards and reports to the relevant group of
team members
 Displaying various statistics of a certain business on many different
applications and websites in a favorable light for a potential customer

6. What kind of specialists typically use Power BI?

The following roles comprise the majority of Power BI users:

 Project managers
 Business analysts
 Data analysts
 Data scientists
 IT specialists
 Data administrators
 Developers
 Report consumers

Power BI Desktop allows you to retrieve data from many types of files. You can
find a list of the available options when you use the Get data feature in Power BI
Desktop.
7. What is a dashboard in Power BI?

A dashboard in Power BI, also called a canvas, is a single-page selection of

the most insightful visualizations taken from the report — those that share
the most important highlights of the data-driven story. The end users of
Power BI dashboards can access them from various devices (including
mobile phones), interact with them to extract valuable business insights,
grasp the big picture of the business or project (and the relationships
between different parts of the whole).

8. What is Power BI Desktop?

Power BI Desktop is a free and open-source Microsoft application that

connects to various data sources, fetches data, cleans and transforms that
data, builds a data model, and creates reports and dashboards with
meaningful visuals. It also allows users to publish the final reports and
dashboards to the cloud through the Power BI Service and share them
with other people.

9. What is Power Query?

Power Query is a business intelligence ETL (extract-load-transform) tool

developed by Microsoft Excel and available in the Power BI Desktop
through the Power Query Editor. With this tool, users can load and
combine the data from different data sources like SQL, Oracle, Excel or
CSV files, social media, etc., then using the Power Query Editor, users can
clean, reshape, transform, and analyze the data. Power Query has an
intuitive interface, and it uses the M language under the hood. We also
can (even though we don't need to) apply this language to write and
modify the code ourselves.

The Power Query Editor ribbon contains many buttons you can use
to select, view, and shape your data.
10. What is Power Pivot?

Power Pivot is a built-in component of Microsoft Excel 2010 developed to

extend the analytical capability of the application. We can use it to import
the data from multiple data sources, store compressed data in a single
Excel spreadsheet, build models of tabular data using the DAX (Data
Analysis Expression) language, define relationships between different
tables, write formulas, calculate new columns, create PivotTables and
PivotCharts, apply filters of various levels, and analyze the data.

Power BI Interview Questions: Power BI Structure

In this section, we'll consider some typical questions related to Power BI.
They’re mostly basic, but they can sometimes be misleading. Indeed,
terms get confused often, like "building blocks," "components," "views," or
"elements" of Power BI. Some terms even get used interchangeably, or
there isn’t a standard term (e.g., "formats" or "versions"). Fortunately, the
question itself usually offers some context on what exactly is in question.

11. What are the main elements of the Power BI package?

There are three main elements of the Power BI package:

 Power BI Desktop — a Microsoft Windows desktop application used to

create interactive dashboards and reports for further sharing
 Power BI Service — an online SaaS (Software as a Service) used for
publishing reports to the cloud
 Power BI Mobile Apps — available on any device, with native mobile BI
apps for Windows, iOS, and Android, so that mobile users of Power BI can
view the insights

On the Model tab, we can edit specific column and table properties by selecting
a table or columns, and we can transform the data by using the Transform
Data button, which takes us to Power Query Editor.
12. What are the building blocks of Power BI?

Everything we do in Power BI breaks down into the following basic building

blocks:

 Visualizations. A visualization, or visual, is a visual representation of the

underlying data designed to provide business context and insights that
would be difficult to discern from a raw table or text data. In Power BI, we
have a variety of visualizations, such as bar charts, pie charts, line graphs,
gradient-colored maps, bubble maps, etc.
 Datasets. A dataset is a collection of data, possibly fetched from different
data sources, used to create visualizations and reports. Datasets can be
Excel sheets, CSV files, Oracle or SQL server tables, and more.
 Reports. A report is a set of interrelated visualizations arranged together
on one or more pages to showcase various business insights extracted
from the same dataset. Some examples are product sales reports,
marketing campaign reports, and sales by company branch reports.
 Dashboards. A dashboard, or canvas, is a selection of the most
compelling visuals from the report on one page. It provides insights into
the data story we're going to tell to our colleagues, managers, or
shareholders. The consumers of a dashboard can view it from various
devices and interact with it to get the information they need.
 Tiles. A tile is an individual visual contained in a rectangular block
surrounded by other tiles in a report or a dashboard — for example, a
single bar chart on a dashboard, or any other visualization.

13. What are the main components of the Power BI toolkit?

Here are the main components of the Power BI toolkit — and what we use
them for:

 Power Query: to gather data from various sources and transform it

 Power Pivot: to build data models
 Power View: to create data visualizations
 Power Map: to create 3D geospatial data visualizations
 Power Q&A: to get the answers from the final reports by using natural
language

14. What are the different connectivity modes in Power BI?

There are three connectivity modes in Power BI:

 Import mode, aka SQL Server import. This is the default connectivity
mode in Power BI since it's used more often than the other two, and it also
offers the fastest performance. In this mode, we can import the data into
the Power BI Desktop for further querying. However, unless we have Power
BI premium, we can't import datasets larger than 1 GB.
 Direct query mode. This mode connects to the data from specific data
sources and is particularly efficient at importing large data. Power BI
doesn’t store the data itself; it stores its metadata and performs direct
queries on the data. The drawback of this connectivity mode is that, in this
case, there are limitations on which operations we can perform to
manipulate the data.
  Live connection mode. With this connectivity mode, the copy of the
data isn't stored in the Power BI model either. Instead, the data source is
directly queried every time from Power BI. We can use this mode to access
only three data sources: SQL Server Analysis Services, Azure Analysis
Services, and Power BI Datasets

Every Power BI data analyst should understand the star schema. In a star
schema, each table within your dataset is defined as a dimension or a fact table.

15. What types of data sources can Power BI connect to?

The various data sources Power BI can connect to divide into the following
groups:

 Files. These can be Excel, CSV, text, or Power BI Desktop files.

 Content packs. These can be from service providers or organizations
(i.e., shared by other people in our company).
 Connectors. These connect to databases and datasets such as Azure SQL
or SQL Server Analysis Services.

16. What are the different views in the Power BI Desktop?

 Report view. A default view showing the interactive visuals of a report. In

this view, we can add and manipulate report pages of various templates,
add and adjust visualizations, and publish final reports.
 Data view. In this view, we can implement data shaping and
transformation through Query Editor tools, create new calculated columns,
and view the data in a table format after it has been fed to the model.
 Relationship view, aka model view. We use it to explore, compare, and
manage complex relationships between data models or their subsets.

Power BI Interview Questions: Intermediate level

The last set of questions is more advanced; it can be helpful if you're

looking for more senior jobs.
17. Where is the data stored in Power BI?

The data in Power BI is stored in the form of either fact tables

(quantitative, usually non-normalized data) or dimension tables (the
attributes and dimensions related to the data in a fact table) in one of the
two cloud repositories:

 Microsoft Azure Blob Storage: contains the data uploaded by the users
 Microsoft Azure SQL Database: contains all the metadata and the
artifacts of the system

For both, encryption and passwords protect the data.

Power BI automatically detects relationships, but you can also go to Manage

Relationships > New and create the relationship on the Date column. This will
ensure that the granularity is the same between your different tables.

18. What is the difference between Power BI and Tableau?

While both Power BI and Tableau are business intelligence (BI)

applications used for business data wrangling, data analysis, and data
visualization, there are some significant differences between them:

 Power BI uses DAX (Data Analysis Expression) for calculations, while

Tableau uses MDX (Multidimensional Expressions).
 Power BI can work with relatively limited volumes of data, while Tableau
easily handles huge volumes.
 Power BI has a relatively easy-to-learn interface that both professionals
and beginners can use. The Tableau interface is more challenging,
therefore less suitable for beginners.
 Power BI has a smaller range of data sources to connect to, compared to
Tableau.
  Power BI is much less expensive than Tableau.
 Power BI is a perfect tool for reporting, while Tableau excels at data
visualization.

19. What is the M language in Power BI?

The M language, or M-Code, is a functional, case-sensitive programming

language used in the Power Query Editor of Power BI to filter and combine
the data through queries.

20. What is DAX in Power BI?

DAX is an acronym for Data Analysis Expressions. It's a functional

programming language of Power BI providing a set of functions, operators,
and constants that we can use in formulas for computing columns,
measures, and tables, as well as overall extraction of new information
from the available data. DAX supports various data types: whole and
decimal numbers, Boolean, text, date, currency, and N/A.

21. What does self-service business intelligence (SSBI) mean?

SSBI is a set of approaches and tools that enable end users — even those
without any background in BI (e.g., sales or marketing teams, product
developers, etc.) — to access, manipulate, analyze, and visualize the data
in an intuitive way to make strategic, data-driven business decisions.

A smaller data model uses less memory and achieves faster data refreshing,
calculations, and rendering of visuals in reports. Therefore, the performance
optimization process involves minimizing the size of the data model and making
the most efficient use of the data in the model.

22. What are content packs in Power BI?

A content pack is a package of Power BI interrelated documents, such as

dashboards, reports, and datasets, that are stored as a group. In Power BI,
there are two types of such packages: service content packs from services
providers like Google Analytics, Marketo, MailChimp, or Twilio that we can
access by typing our account data, and organizational content packs
created by the users of our company and shared with the entire
organization or a selected group of people.

23. How can we define the relationships between two tables in a data model in
the Power BI Desktop?

There are two approaches:

 Manual: by using primary and foreign keys

 Automatic: the relationships are identified automatically if the autodetect
feature is switched on

To define the relationships between two tables, there shouldn't be any

null values or duplicate rows in the data. Also, it's possible to have
multiple relationships between tables (represented by dotted lines), but
only one of them can be active (represented by a continuous line).

24. What are the different refresh options in Power BI?

There are four refresh options in Power BI:

 Package refresh: synchronizes the Power BI Desktop between the Power

BI Service and OneDrive or SharePoint Online without fetching the data
from the data source.
 Model refresh, aka data refresh: refreshes the dataset available in the
Power BI Service with the data in the original data source.
 Tile refresh: updates the cache for tiles in Power BI on the dashboard
every time the data changes (approximately every 15 minutes — or we
can also force it).
 Visual container refresh: refreshes the visual container and updates the
cached report visuals once the data changes.

25. What types of filters can we use in Power BI reports?

The filters in Power BI can be one of the following types, depending on the
scope of their applicability, in descending order:

 Report-level filters: applied to the entire report

 Page-level filters: applied to a particular page of a report
 Visualization-level filters: applied to a single visualization