Pro Power BI Desktop

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxxiv

   PDF

2. Discovering and Loading Data with Power BI Desktop

   • Adam Aspin

   Pages 1-15

3. Discovering and Loading File-Based Data with Power BI Desktop

   • Adam Aspin

   Pages 17-39

4. Loading Data from Databases and Data Warehouses

   • Adam Aspin

   Pages 41-84

5. DirectQuery and Connect Live

   • Adam Aspin

   Pages 85-105

6. Loading Data from the Web and the Cloud

   • Adam Aspin

   Pages 107-147

7. Loading Data from Other Data Sources

   • Adam Aspin

   Pages 149-179

8. Structuring Imported Data

   • Adam Aspin

   Pages 181-233

9. Data Transformation and Cleansing

   • Adam Aspin

   Pages 235-282

10. Restructuring Data

    • Adam Aspin

    Pages 283-318

11. Complex Data Loads

    • Adam Aspin

    Pages 319-350

12. Organizing, Managing, and Parameterizing Queries

    • Adam Aspin

    Pages 351-389

13. The M Language

    • Adam Aspin

    Pages 391-427

14. Creating a Data Model

    • Adam Aspin

    Pages 429-482

15. Table Visuals

    • Adam Aspin

    Pages 483-532

16. Matrix and Card Visuals

    • Adam Aspin

    Pages 533-575

17. Charts in Power BI Desktop

    • Adam Aspin

    Pages 577-618

18. Formatting Charts in Power BI Desktop

    • Adam Aspin

    Pages 619-651

19. Other Types of Visuals

    • Adam Aspin

    Pages 653-678

20. Third-Party Visuals

    • Adam Aspin

    Pages 679-703

Deliver eye-catching and insightful business intelligence with Microsoft Power BI Desktop. This new edition has been updated to cover all the latest features of Microsoft’s continually evolving visualization product. New in this edition is help with storytelling—adapted to PCs, tablets, and smartphones—and the building of a data narrative. You will find coverage of templates and JSON style sheets, data model annotations, and the use of composite data sources. Also provided is an introduction to incorporating Python visuals and the much awaited Decomposition Tree visual.


Pro Power BI Desktop shows you how to use source data to produce stunning dashboards and compelling reports that you mold into a data narrative to seize your audience’s attention. Slice and dice the data with remarkable ease and then add metrics and KPIs to project the insights that create your competitive advantage. Convert raw data into clear, accurate, and interactive information with Microsoft’s free self-service BI tool.


This book shows you how to choose from a wide range of built-in and third-party visualization types so that your message is always enhanced. You will be able to deliver those results on PCs, tablets, and smartphones, as well as share results via the cloud. The book helps you save time by preparing the underlying data correctly without needing an IT department to prepare it for you. 






What You Will Learn

• Deliver attention-grabbing information, turning data into insight
• Find new insights as you chop and tweak your data as never before
• Build a data narrative through interactive reports with drill-through and cross-page slicing
• Mash up data from multiple sources into a cleansed and coherent data model
• Build interdependent charts, maps, and tables to deliver visually stunninginformation
• Create dashboards that help in monitoring key performance indicators of your business
• Adapt delivery to mobile devices such as phones and tablets

Who This Book Is For


Power users who are ready to step up to the big leagues by going beyond what Microsoft Excel by itself can offer. The book also is for line-of-business managers who are starved for actionable data needed to make decisions about their business. And the book is for BI analysts looking for an easy-to-use tool to analyze data and share results with C-suite colleagues they support. 

• Power BI
• Power View
• Power Query
• SQL Server
• Visualization
• Business Intelligence
• Dashboards
• Microsoft
• Power BI Training
• Power BI Tutorial
• Microsoft Power BI Cookbook
• Mastering Microsoft Power BI
• Microsoft Power BI Dashboards
• Supercharge Power BI
• Analytical Data Models
• Data Analytics
• Data Model
• Data Visualization
• Data Narrative

• Stoke-on-Trent, UK

  Adam Aspin

Adam Aspin is an independent business intelligence (BI) consultant based in the UK. He has worked with SQL Server for more than 25 years. During this time, he has developed several dozen reporting and analytical systems using Microsoft analytics.

A graduate of Oxford University, Adam began his career in publishing before moving into IT. Databases soon became a passion, and his experience in this arena ranges from Access to Oracle and MySQL, with occasional sorties into the world of DB2. He is, however, most at home in the Microsoft universe using SQL Server, SQL Server Analysis Services, SQL Server Reporting Services, SQL Server Integration Services, and Power BI, both on-premises and in Azure.

Business Intelligence has been Adam's principal focus for the last 25 years. He has applied his skills for a range of clients in industry sectors such as finance, utilities, telecommunications, insurance, manufacturing, and banking.

Adam is a frequent contributor to SQLServerCentral.com and Simple-Talk. He has written numerous articles for various French IT publications. A fluent French speaker, Adam has worked in France and Switzerland for many years. He speaks regularly at events such as SQLBits, SQL Saturdays, and local SQL Server user groups.

Adam is the author of the following Apress books: SQL Server Data Integration Recipes; High Impact Data Visualization with Power View, Power Map, and Power BI; Business Intelligence with SQL Server Reporting Services; and Data Mashup with Microsoft Excel (Apress).

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