BI Notes (2025-08-01)
1. What is Power BI?
Power BI is a business analytics tool by Microsoft that allows users to visualize data, share insights, and
make data-driven decisions. It connects to various data sources and transforms raw data into
interactive dashboards and reports.
2. Power BI Components
• Power BI Desktop: Main development tool for designing reports.
• Power BI Service: Cloud platform for publishing and sharing reports.
• Power BI Mobile: Mobile app to view reports on the go.
• Power BI Gateway: Bridges on-premises data sources with Power BI cloud.
• Power BI Report Server: For on-premises report hosting.
3. Key Features
• Data transformation using Power Query
• Data modeling with relationships and calculated columns
• DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) for measures and custom calculations
• Visualizations: charts, graphs, KPIs
• Slicers and filters for interactivity
• Scheduled data refresh
4. Common Data Sources
• Excel
• SQL Server
• Azure
• SharePoint
• Web APIs
• CSV/JSON/XML files
5. Power Query Editor
Used for: - Cleaning and transforming data - Removing nulls, filtering rows - Splitting/merging columns
- Changing data types - Appending and merging tables - Filling values up or down - Pivoting and
unpivoting data
6. Data Modeling
• Create relationships between tables (1:Many, Many:1)
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• Normalize data using dimension and fact tables (Star schema)
• Create calculated columns or measures using DAX
7. DAX Basics
• Calculated Column: Row-by-row calculation stored in the data model.
• Measure: Aggregated value calculated on-the-fly.
Common DAX Functions: - SUM(), AVERAGE(), COUNTROWS() - CALCULATE(), FILTER(), ALL() - IF(),
SWITCH(), RELATED() - Time Intelligence: TOTALYTD(), SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR()
8. Visualizations
• Bar, Column, Pie, Line charts
• Matrix and Table
• KPI, Card, Gauge
• Maps (Filled Map, ArcGIS Map)
• Custom visuals from the marketplace
9. Filters and Slicers
• Visual-level filters
• Page-level filters
• Report-level filters
• Slicers: Buttons to interactively filter visuals
10. Publishing and Sharing
• Publish from Power BI Desktop to Power BI Service
• Share dashboards and reports with colleagues
• Create and manage workspaces
• Set up row-level security (RLS)
• Schedule refresh and alerts
11. Concept Questions with Examples
Different Views in Power BI Desktop: - Report view, Data view, Model view
Calculated Column vs Measure: - Calculated column: stored in the model; row-level. - Measure:
calculated during runtime; context-sensitive. - 🔹 Example: TotalSales = Sales[Qty] *
Sales[Price] (calculated column); Total Revenue = SUM(Sales[Revenue]) (measure)
DAX: - A formula language used in Power BI for calculations.
Desktop vs Service: - Desktop: used for creating reports; Service: used for sharing and collaborating.
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Row-Level Security: - Restricting data access for users based on roles. - 🔹 Example: Only showing sales
data for a specific region to a regional manager.
Slicers vs Filters: - Slicers are visual and interactive; filters are backend control.
Power BI Gateway: - Connects on-premises data sources to the Power BI service.
Star Schema: - Fact table in the center connected to dimension tables (1-to-many relationships). - 🔹
Example: A "Sales" fact table connected to "Product", "Customer", and "Date" dimensions.
KPI: - A visualization to show key performance indicators. - 🔹 Example: Current vs target revenue with
color indicator.
Performance Optimization: - Use star schema, minimize columns, filter data during load, avoid heavy
DAX, use aggregations.
Fill Down and Fill Up: - Fill Down: Fills empty cells with the value from the cell above. - Fill Up: Fills
empty cells with the value from the cell below. - 🔹 Example: Filling missing categories in an Excel-like
table where only the first row of each group had the category name.
Pivot: - Pivot in Power BI (Power Query) transforms rows into columns. - 🔹 Example: Turning "Month"
values (Jan, Feb, Mar) in a column into separate columns with corresponding sales.
Changing Data Types: - In Power Query Editor, select a column → right-click or use the top ribbon →
choose the correct data type. - 🔹 Example: If "OrderDate" is imported as text, change it to Date to
enable date-based calculations or filtering.
12. Best Practices
• Always rename steps in Power Query
• Use folders and naming conventions in visuals
• Limit visuals per page (avoid overload)
• Use tooltips for context
• Use bookmarks for navigation
Keep this as a quick revision and prep guide.
