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Step by step guide to creating Power Platform Solution Aware Power BI reports using Dataverse

Power BI Solution Aware components

Microsoft have recently introduced the ability to create Solution Aware Power BI Reports inside Dataverse. In this post I’m going to show you all the steps needed for this to happen, including the gotchas.

Below is a table of contents and if you’re feeling confident head to the “Let’s build” section.

End to End video tutorial

This video take you through all the steps needed to create your solution.


Why is this important for Power BI in the Power Platform?

Until now we’ve never had the ability to do this before, and Power BI reports have had an uncomfortable relationship with Power Platform solutions. Essentially, we’ve not been able to create full Power Platform solutions with fully spoorted reporting options.

The Application Management Life-Cycle Value Proposition

A great many Dataverse projects have reporting as a key element in enabling users to better understand the nature and quality of the data held within the system in its totality. Power BI is an excellent tool for this analysis, and until these recent developments it has been necessary to create reporting separate to the Power Platform solution.

This is problematic as there is effectively a disconnect between the reporting and the data being reported on and effectively an increased IT management burden.

By making Solution Aware Power BI reports we make our application management life-cycle much simpler.

What are Power Platform solutions?

Solutions are collections of those tables, apps, flows and a multitude of other Dataverse products that make up a product. Below is a very simple solution and the elements that need to be changed or added are highlighted.

We can see that we have a dataset and a report and we will set these up later on.

Solution Aware Power BI Reports

What does it all look like?

We’re going to use the Account table, and once you are done you’ll have created

  1. A dedicated workspace for your reporting, tied to Power Apps
  2. A report that points at the data in the environment and refreshes accordingly
  3. A solution that contains the dataset and the report (see below)

You’ll have a solution that finally is fully complete, inclusive of reporting similar to the one shown below.

Development pre-requisites

In order to be able to create a solution aware Power BI component the following are required :-

  1. Power BI Pro License
  2. Power Apps Per User License
  3. A Power BI report that has been written and configured to connect to Dataverse using parameters
  4. A Dataverse Environment in the SAME REGION as Power BI for your tenant

Is it easy?

I’d suggest that all the elements are straightforward, but taken together it will feel complex. Core elements are

  • Writing a Power BI report with parameters that define the location of the source data. Many are unfamiliar with using Power BI parameters at all.

Below is an image of us using the parameter in Power BI Power Query

  • Updating the environments so that Power BI can extract the parameters

  • Be very careful of the gotchas below

Are there any gotchas?

There are some, but once you know them you’re fine. They are as follows :-

  • A Power Apps environment in the SAME REGION as Power BI for your tenant.

  • Associating the report parameter with the solution report is fiddly, but in the end makes sense

Let’s build!

Setup checks

Confirm that your Power Platform environment is in the same region as Power BI.

Environment configuration

We’ll need to make sure that the Power Platform environment is “aware” of Power BI.

Go to https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com/environments select your environment. Select Dynamics 365 Apps below. Head to

Search for Power BI Extensions, and install – takes about 10 minutes

Create a simple solution

You can create a simple solution for yourself inside the environment. My preference is to do this and connect it to the Account entity and build a simple model driven app to go with it. At this point it will look as show below, but without the dataset and report

Create and publish a report

Shucks – this is fiddly, so best for us to look at creating a simple report. Key features are that it is tied to Dataverse and the environment domain is created using a parameter.

VIDEO REQUIRED HERE

Note : We can publish to ANY POWER BI WORKSPACE at this stage

Introducing the report into the solution

This is the cool bit, but relatively simple. Add the report you’ve just created as shown below.

Associating the dataset with the report parameters

But you’re not done yet. The report doesn’t know about the parameters yet. For this to work we’ll need to edit the parameters.

You’ll need to create a parameter and associate it with the current domain. Note – it is possible to associate it with an environment variable, which would be relevant it you are using non-dataverse data sources.

Publishing all your changes

In line with normal practice I would publish my customizations by heading to All as show below.

Viewing the report in the new Power BI workspace

This is super simple. Go to the report and Open in Power BI

I’ve created a very simple report here, however this should be seen as the start point for future development work.

Editing the report

Initially I was confused as to how this would work, however you simply need to take your original PBIX file, edit it and publish it up to the newly created workspace (not the temporary one we used earlier).

How to refresh the report

Initially, when the report is published to the cloud it won’t be set up to referesh. Just go to the workspace, find the dataset

One you’re there head to data source credentials and sign in.

Final thoughts

Initially, I found the process pretty confusing, but as I’ve gone through thisng I ‘ve found that the decisions that they have taken have been both clever and logical. It’s worth noting that this is in preview at the moment, but my view would be that they are reasonably close to having the finished user experience for creating solution aware Power BI reports using Dataverse

Microsoft Resources

Below is a consumable resource describing some, but not all the elements needed to allow a user to create Solution Aware Power BI Reports.

You can also find the Microsoft documentation on this topic here.

The UP Podcast Joins the Power Platform Hall of Fame

The Up Podcast Logo

Introducing the Up Podcast

I’ve been quietly putting together a “best of the best” list of Power Platform content from around the globe. Today I’m focussing on the UP Podcast and why I like it.

Great Content

The UP podcast focusses on Microsoft Technologies, was launched in 2020 and is proving extremely popular (at least in my house”).

The Power Platform Hall of Fame

Find out more here https://powerplatformlearn.newzenler.com/courses/power-platform-hall-of-fame/contents/60d57cfd6a945

The UP Podcast

1999 students building awesome apps

1999 Students www.powerplatformlearn.academy

Today is a day for Pride. I feel proud today as the course I have laboured on for almost 12 months has nearly 2000 students.

I’m proud that I even started a Power Apps course on a platform that means a great deal to me, I mean, like what right do I even have to teach people? I’m proud of the fact that I spent 6 weeks considering the structure before recording a single video and then started creating a course that stretches out to 250+ lessons, and then gave it away for free.

My amazing and committed students

Most of all though I am proud of the all the students that have decided that they want to take the time to learn their craft properly.

I’m thankful too!

As well as that I am thankful to every person that has signed up for the course and to those that have provided me with counsel to make it the best that it can be.

I’m also thankful to my wife and family for putting up with me making my recordings and turning off the boiler so that the sound wasn’t disturbed (and then wondering why there was no hot water)

a romantic setting in the bathroom
Motivation

I started out with a simple idea, that I might be able to create something of use to someone, some individual person who wanted to do more for themselves and their organisation.
I still believe that if it is worth a single person travelling through the course, then it is worth 10,000 following the same path.

Students Young and Old(er)

This is very much the beginning for so many people, from those that start aged 6 using http://www.PowerApps4Kids.com through to those that are 60 and beyond. This is Paul Burns talking to Dona Sarkar at Ignite 2021 about his app he created to help him to write again after a stroke – the sky really is the limit.

Pride http://www.powerplatformlearn.com

Here’s a link to the interview. https://youtu.be/Bha8qs4wB_8?t=35802

I cannot wait to see what you, what we will all build over the months and years to come.

If you’d like to come and join us click on the link below

Good luck everyone,

Keep Power Apping

Rebuilding the 3 Screen Power App with ease from Blank in 45 minutes

Rebuilding the 3 screen Power App

You can rebuild a 3 Screen Power App in about 3 minutes with 1 click. But how would you build it from scratch? I this video we take a simple spreadsheet, upload it to sharepoint and build out the app from scratch. It’s easy, but not as easy as you think 🙂


Like this sort of thing? Head over to http://www.powerplatformlearn.academy

Scottish Summit 2021 – Getting the most out of it

Scottish Summit is just around the corner. But how do you get the most out of the 365 sessions that will be on? Here’s a little guide.

Signing up for the event
Signing up to the Scottish Summit

From the home page at https://scottishsummit.com/ you need to head to “Watch Live”

Scottish Summit Home Page

You’ll then be prompted to choose a password if you’ve not done so already. You’re now in the hub of the event.

Signing up for a session
  • Head to the Schedule
  • Go to the Gallery view
  • Select the date you are interested in
  • Hit the filter buttons
  • DESELECT Show All
  • Select the track you are interested in – I chose Power Apps
  • Select the session
  • Add to your schedule

I’m presenting with Pieter Veenstra at 11:00 am in Prestwick on PowerApps4Kids.com Lessons Learned from Teaching Children. A direct link to the session can be found here https://eventmobi.com/ss2021/agenda/021f9132-738f-4b5e-b7f2-8ad6d993abb6/ce3a59fd-9b11-4698-acc5-75d3ec409b3b

If you would like to learn more about Power Apps – why not head to the Free courses at www.powerplatformlearn.academy – we have courses for children and for adults. Hope to see you there some time.

App Download

Android App

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.community.emss2021&hl=en

IOS App

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/scottish-summit-2021/id1526867435

Project 10000 Students

In Satya Nadella 2019 said that over the next 5 years we would create 500m apps we both really believe that citizen developers hold the key to us becoming a reality and helping us to be truly productive. During 2020 I put together a free course for citizen developers to learn about how to build Canvas Power Apps. I really only set out with the objective of creating the course that I would have wanted when I first started, and here we are 239 lessons later and I need your help.

Read more
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