ABC! Always Be…. Coding (calculated measures) Tommy Puglia December 5th 2017

First, an Intro Who are you? Tonight’s Theme Why? Tips & Demos

Thank you Alec Baldwin

Flip the Script

Why Models Matter

Creating a Standard: Good Models are: Good Models make Good Processes Reproducible Organized Efficient Accurate Good Models make Good Processes Scalable for Models of any size Use the same process from simple to highly complex calculations Able to explain to others, able to back-track your steps

How Models get Complicated How many Reports have you perfected on the first attempt? Answer: Never Report Creation = Expect to Modify Updates to Business Logic & Calculations Additional Feature Requests Data Validation testing

Simple Reports are Simple

But More is always Needed…

The Gap between Good & Bad Bad Models can Hurt Harder to Back-Track Prone to Data Inaccuracy Decrease in Performance Difficult to explain & Share Good Models make you better Easier Navigation in your Report Flexible to edits & new requirements Helps with data validation Logical convention of tables/queries to confirm business rules

Standards of a Data Model

What you MUST have Naming Convention for objects Organized Queries into Folders ABC…. Always Be Coding Calculated (Measures)! Fact & Dimension Tables Relationships

The Three Sections in the Power BI Model Query Editor Data View / DAX Report View / Design

Query Editor Best Practices

Define Your Goal & What you Need Always start with: What am I trying to do? What data do I need? What data do I have? Demo – Baseball Player & Team Stats How did players & teams perform in 2015/2016?

Key Takeaways for Query Editor Options & Settings Names & Organization Optimize your data Referencing & Duplicating Loading & Refreshing

Before We Begin – Data Modeling 101 Naming Objects Tables Use Logical Names! Avoid Spaces or Special Characters Columns Do not have same column name in 2 different tables! Avoid Spaces if possible Optimize What you need Remove Columns that are unnecessary Create & use Dimension Tables

Power BI Report Options & Settings For each new File Deselect Autodetect Relationships Auto Date/Time… Maybe Data Preview - Discussion Global Settings Query Editor Formula Bar, Display Query Settings Native Queries (Security) Enable Preview Features (Preview features)

Query Editor Demo

Query Editor Summary Defined & Scoped our Model Create Baseload Queries for multiple tables Organize Queries in Folders Gave Queries logical names Optimize where you can (Reference, columns needed) Only load what you need Only refresh what you need

Data View / DAX

Key Takeaways for Data View/DAX Clean & Verify Data Types Connect our Tables via Relationships Organize our Tables & only show what we need Measures vs. Columns Measure Tables Foundational Measures

Data View Demo

Let’s Stop Right Here ABC – Always be Coding (Measures!) Measures are the foundation of Power BI in your Report Standard to link/relate measures to each other Implicit vs. Explicit Measures – Always Explicit! Always Think like DAX Relating from other tables Use Format!

DAX Measures - Demo Implicit vs. Explicit

DAX Example - $ per Home Run What was the Avg. Cost per Home Run hit for MLB Batting Leaders by Year? Approach 4 Tables – Batting (HR), Salary (Salary), Year, Player Name Batters Qualify for Leaders by 3.1 AB per Game Need to flag Batters years to see if they Qualify Why DAX is going to Matter

Data View Summary ABC!!! Think like DAX, Always Be Coding Calculated Measures! Organize, Relate, & Optimize your Tables & Measures Use the formatting options to polish Only show what you need Always use Logical names Foundational Measures Understanding DAX Engine & Thinking

Report View - Design

Key Takeaways for Report View Titles & Naming Formatting Options Adjust your Sizes Color Themes Visual vs. Column Names View Options Custom Visuals

Report View Demo

Tools & Resources

Tools & Why DAX Studio Notepad ++ for M Language DAX Formatter Report Theme Generator Excel Power Query Power BI Helper Custom Visuals Gallery

Resources for Learning – Blogs General Learning Power BI Blog RadaCad PowerPivotPro Guy in a Cube M Language Chris Webb’s Blog Excel Guru BI Insight DataChant DAX SQLBI Excelerator BI

Resources – Websites & Communities Tampa PUG User Group Page Power BI Documentation Power BI Community Forums Microsoft TechNet Forums – Power Pivot Microsoft TechNet Forums – Power Query Stack Overflow – Power Query Stack Overflow – Power BI

Books Power Pivot & Power BI: The Excel User’s Guide to DAX – Rob Collie The Definitive Guide to DAX – Alberto Ferrari & Marco Russo Analyzing Data with Power BI & Power Pivot – Alberto Ferrari & Marco Russo DAX Patters – Alberto Ferrari & Marco Russo M is for (Data) Monkey – Ken Puls Power Query for Power BI and Excel – Chris Webb