Power BI
1. Introduction to Power BI
What is Power BI?
- Power BI is a business analytics tool by Microsoft for data visualization, analysis, and sharing insights.
- It has 4 main components: Power BI Desktop, Power BI Service, Power BI Mobile, and Power BI Gateway.
Power BI Components:
- Power BI Desktop: For data transformation, modeling, and report creation (free tool).
- Power BI Service: Cloud service to share and collaborate on reports and dashboards.
- Power BI Mobile: App to view and interact with reports on mobile devices.
Power BI vs. Excel:
- Power BI is better suited for creating visual, interactive reports, while Excel is good for data analysis and manipulation.
- Power BI can handle larger datasets and offers more advanced visualizations.
Installing Power BI:
- Download Power BI Desktop from the official site and install it on your Windows machine.
2. Navigating Power BI Desktop
Power BI Interface:
- Ribbon: Contains tools for actions like data loading, report formatting, etc.
- Report View: Area for building and viewing reports.
- Data View: Shows the data in a table format.
- Model View: Displays relationships between tables in the data model.
Creating a Report:
- Click Get Data to import data and use Report View to create and visualize your first report (charts, tables).
3. Connecting to Data Sources
Importing Data:
- Power BI supports data from various sources such as Excel, CSV, SQL Server, SharePoint, and more.
- Use Get Data to import your data and click Load to bring it into Power BI.
Previewing Data:
- After loading, view your data in Data View to check its structure.
4. Transforming Data with Power Query
Power Query Editor:
- Power Query is used to clean and shape your data before analysis.
- Open Power Query by clicking Transform Data.
Data Transformations:
- Remove Columns: Delete unnecessary columns.
- Change Data Types: Correct data types (e.g., number, text).
- Rename Columns: Rename columns for clarity.
- Filter Data: Filter rows by criteria.
- Merge and Append Queries: Combine data from different tables.
5. Basic Data Modeling
Creating Relationships:
- Use Model View to define relationships between tables (e.g., One-to-Many).
- Power BI automatically detects relationships, but they can be manually adjusted.
Data Types:
- Power BI uses various data types: Text, Number, Date, Boolean.
6. Introduction to Visualizations
Types of Visualizations:
- Bar Chart: Compares different categories.
- Line Chart: Shows trends over time.
- Pie Chart: Displays parts of a whole.
- Table/Matrix: Shows detailed data in tabular format.
Creating Visuals:
- Drag and drop fields into visualizations on the report canvas.
- Customize the chart by adjusting properties like titles, labels, and colors.
7. Slicing and Filtering Data
Using Slicers:
- Slicers allow users to filter reports by specific fields (e.g., date, region).
- Add a slicer by selecting the slicer visual and dragging a field into it.
Filters:
- Visual-level Filters: Filter applied to individual visuals.
- Page-level Filters: Filters applied to all visuals on a page.
- Report-level Filters: Filters applied across the entire report.
8. Creating Basic Calculations with DAX
What is DAX?:
- DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is a formula language used for creating calculations and measures in Power BI.
Creating Measures:
- A Measure performs an aggregation calculation like sum or average.
- Example Measure:
Total Sales = SUM(Sales[Amount])
Basic DAX Functions:
- SUM: Adds up the values in a column.
- AVERAGE: Computes the average of a column.
- COUNT: Counts the number of items in a column.
9. Creating Reports and Dashboards
Building Reports:
- Combine multiple visuals (charts, tables) on one page to create a report.
- Use interactivity: clicking on one visual filters others in the report.
Page Layouts:
- Adjust the size of visuals and arrange them neatly using gridlines or snapping options.
Drill-through and Tooltips:
- Drill-through: Right-click on a visual to access a detailed report page.
- Tooltips: Display additional information when hovering over a visual.
10. Publishing and Sharing Reports
Power BI Service:
- After building a report in Power BI Desktop, you can publish it to Power BI Service (cloud) for sharing and collaboration.
Publishing Reports:
- Click Publish to upload your report to Power BI Service. Select the workspace and hit Publish.
Sharing Reports:
- In Power BI Service, share reports by sending links or granting access to specific users or groups.
11. Introduction to Power BI Mobile
- Power BI Mobile App:
- Download the Power BI app for iOS or Android devices.
- Use the app to view, interact with, and share reports on your mobile device.
Conclusion
- Power BI Essentials:
- This syllabus provides the core knowledge needed for beginners to get started with Power BI.
- You can now import data, create visualizations, build reports, and share them with others using Power BI Service.