Power BI Report Data Import - Snack 4

Enough fooling around, let's get down to making a basic Power BI Report.

You will need a properly formatted Excel file of your data.

If you are not sure of what that is, take a look at this sample file. Even if you think you are sure, take a look at the sample file anyway.

What do I mean by properly formatted?

Named Columns and their data ONLY.

If you have totals at the bottom, or special calculations off to the side or pretty colors representing something only known to you, none of that is going to work.

Named Columns with data. Period.

Make sure it is all in one worksheet too.

The Instructions Below (using that sample file)

In OneDrive

1. Create a New Folder
1. I called mine "Power BI Data"
2. You will use this to store all of your data for Power BI there.
2. Copy your Excel file in that folder

In Power BI,

1. Click "New Report"
2. Choose "Excel"
3. Window appears -> Connect to data source
1. In some instances, you may need to "Create a new connection"
1. Do that now, if you are unable to access your OneDrive.
2. Browse to your Excel file
3. Select your Excel file
4. Click "Next"
5. Window Appears -> Choose Data
1. Select the worksheet that has the data you want
1. If the data is in two sheets, you will need to merge it into one.
2. Click "Create"
6. Window Appears > Loading your data
1. After it is done processing ...
1. If your screen looks like the screenshot below, you win this round!
1. Note:  The Data sidebar in the right panel must display the name of your data to win (in this case, financials - highlighted).  
1. Yours will not be highlighted.
7. Last Step - Save your work!
1. At the top left of the screen, choose File > Save
2. In the screen presented after that, click "My Workspace"
3. At the bottom "Enter a name for your r..."
4. Click Save

Snack time is over.

Oh!  

Wait!

That reminds me!

There are a few more terms to know, related to that screen shot.

• Build visuals with your data
• This is where the report building will happen.
• Filters Panel
• Filters applied to your data.
• Visualizations Panel (there are 2 hidden beneath icons)
• Choose which visualizations to use and customize them.
• Data Panel
• The data associated with this particular report.
  

Copilot, the Artificial Idiot

I remain unconvinced of the usefulness of AI at this time.  It is the equivalent of attempting to hike with a car.  While it may work, it is a bit of overkill.

Multiple model collapse situations reinforced this belief. Building a little app in Power Platform, I asked Copilot to import all rows from my spreadsheet.  It imported 20 and not the 78 requested.  I asked that it import the remainder of the rows, so it made stuff up, 5 at a time.  Then, when asked to list the rows for me to review, Copilot insisted that it had, when it had not.  

This is not the first time either.  

I should not have to argue with the Artificial Idiot.

"We're in the midst of the AI Slop, where the internet feeds itself."  

What happened to the Mall?

What exactly happened here?  The shopping mall has become a zombie artifact from the 1980s.  What was once a thriving shopping community is no longer.  A recent visit to the East Hills Mall in St. Joseph found a space mostly devoid of life.  There were three or four shops open.  Everything else stood shuttered.  Contrast that with the photo below, which is of another photo of the mall, taken at the mall, displaying thriving storefronts.

According to one source at the mall, "everyone wants to go to the strip mall down the street," with storefronts stretching across a mile of open air.  Shoppers buzz in and out of these stores, as they once did in the climate controlled mall.  The difference now is they can drive right to the store they want and ignore all the others.  They do have to trudge through the heat, snow, and whatever other elements accost them, should they decide to visit more than one store.   It is all very ironic, really.

The question remains though, what happened here?  Was it the mall rats or was it that stores no longer wanted to share space.  I have a hard time believing Midwesterners would rather shop outside.  There are only a handful of months in the year that are good for that.

What will become of East Hills, a mall that still proudly displays its 60+ year history in a diorama for all to see that the end began with acquisition by the Craig Realty Group in 2014.  Ten years later, their quest to dismantle the property is nearly complete.

. . .

further reading

East Hills Mall
St Joseph, MO

East Hills Mall
Craig Realty Group

Teams Storyline

image borrowed form Thurrott.com

A few weeks ago, Microsoft introduced a cool new feature to Teams called "Storyline."  

It looks as though it could be quite a little game changer for keeping up with colleagues, customers, and friends, as well as enabling them to keep up with what is going on in your world.

Microsoft explains it as "a feature that enhances team communication by allowing users to share updates, experiences, and milestones in a social media-like format within Teams and Viva Engage."

This feature has always been over on Engage and is now integrated with Teams!

So how did I get there?!?!

1. Go to Teams
2. Go to Chat
3. Choose yourself, as if you might chat with yourself!

At the top, you will see ...

• Your Name (You)
• Chat
• Yes, you can actually talk to yourself here, if you are so inclined
• ... or just make notes to yourself for later.
• Shared
• Send a file or link to yourself in Chat and it will show up here.
• Viewing someone else, these are files and links you shared with them.
• Storyline
• This is what I am talking about ... click it!

That's neat.  So how do I follow people?

If you are using the latest version of Teams, you kind of already are.  All you have to do is click their name from chat, like you did in the previous steps, and go to their Storyline.

If you want to be updated when someone adds something to their Storyline, simply click the "Follow Storyline" button, when you are viewing their Storyline.

Note:  That will activate notifications for their Storyline.   To adjust the how and when ...

1. Go to your Storyline
2. Choose Following
3. Choose an Individual
4. Look for the little bell next to "Following" and Click It!

. . .

Read all about it this new feature here, from Microsoft.

Power BI Side Bar - Snack 3

Today's snack is brought to you by the Side Bar (boxed in a red rectangle in the screenshot).  No, it is not cocktail hour.  I am talking about the navigation options available to you in the ever-present left side bar.  Let's take a look.

Home - This goes without saying, "There's no place like home."  The button will always take you back to the main Power BI screen.

Create - Go here to begin your journey in creating a new report, semantic model aka data model, and other options available with your current subscription.

Browse - This is where you can look at all of reports you have created, your favorite reports from others, and all of the other reports that have been shared with you.

OneLake - View and manage all of your data models, access to your data, as well as its integration with other semantic models

Apps - All of the apps that have been installed for you, that you have access to, or that you have created.

Metrics - A superfabulous feature enabling you to build, manage and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) that you define.  This is better than the spreadsheet you are using because you can connect it directly to your reports in Power BI and the data comes in automagically.   I did already do a little demo on this last fall, if you want to jump in now.

Monitor - Mostly for us Admins, so we can keep track of data refreshes, performance, and other key metrics related to reports and datasets.

Learn - You can actually go wandering off on your own and learn all about everything Power BI in a more Microsoft-structured format.

Real-Time - Used to manage and visualize real-time data streams through APIs and other Fabric integrated data sources.

Workloads - This is for managing and configuration of various workloads such as AI, Dataflows, and Paginated Reports within the Power BI Premium licensing capacity.

Workspaces - These are the workspace options available to you, where reports live that you have created or that have been created with you. "My Workspace" will always appear here.  It is yours and only accessible to you, unless you share something from there to someone else.  They will still only have access to what you have shared with them though.

More aka ". . ." - More options are available through here, such as Deployment Piplelines and the Functions Hub.  These options are really only available with a higher-level Premium subscription

. . .

Below these tiles, items that you open will appear for you to quickly access again, if you should jump over to another report, and want to quickly jump back to the one you were just in.

At the very bottom, is the Power BI logo. Clicking that offers access to a relatively new view, which is only relevant to those with a Fabric subscription, or Premium users.  We are still just Pro here, so you can pretty much disregard this button.

Our Future President

This is likely the funniest thing I have read in awhile.  It is from Volume 1 of the Autobiography of Mark Twain, related to him speaking about General Grant in 1881.

"I had been picturing the America of fifty years hence, with a population of two hundred million souls, and was saying that the future President, Admirals and so forth of that great coming time were now lying in their various cradles, scattered abroad over the vast expanse of this country, and then said 'And now in his cradle somewhere under the flag the future illustrious Commander-in-Chief of the American armies is so little burdened with his approaching grandeur and responsibilities as to be giving his whole strategic mind at this moment to trying to find out some way to get his big toe into his mouth  - something, meaning no disrespect to the illustrious guest of this evening, which he turned his entire attention to some fifty-six years ago.'"

Tao Verse 6

 

Tao is limitless, unborn, eternal —

Power BI Terms - Snack 2

Did you get your homework done?  When you accessed Power BI last time, I asked you to poke around.  Did you discover anything interesting?

Before we really dive in, there are a couple of high-level terms you should be familiar with, as they relate to Power BI.

Report - An interactive collection of visualizations enabling analysis and insights, based on a Semantic Model.

Dashboard - A single-page, interactive canvas enabling a high-level overview of your data through single visualizations that live in a Report, or even an entire Report page.

App - A collection of dashboards, reports, datasets, and other Power BI content created and shared through a single access point.

Semantic Model - the logical layer that represents the structure and meaning of the data within a specific context. It captures the relationships, transformations, and calculations needed to create reports and dashboards. 

Workspace - A collaborative space where a group of folks can work together on dashboards, reports, datasets, and other content.

Essentially, a Semantic Model defines a Report, whose visualizations may live in a Dashboard, a collection of all may reside within an App.  These reports and models may also live in a collaborative workspace or only in your own individual workspace.

Your homework.  Remember this forever.

Celery Salad Base

Found this base somewhere and modified it slightly.  Turned out rather nicely.

1/4 Cup of Sweet Onion

1/8 Cup of Lemon Juice

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1/3 cup of shredded Parmesan

A bunch of celery

1. Mince the onion.  
2. Slice celery 1/4 inch.
3. Except for the celery, mix it all together.  
4. Toss the celery in the mixture.

Add other veggies for fun.  This time, I added a small zucchini.

Bad Luck Hills Fort

Among the more remarkable snapshots-in-time sits high on a bluff along the Missouri River on the eastern outskirts of Kansas City in the small town of Sibley.  A good portion of the backstory associated with this site is familiar to nearly everyone, while other parts of its history remain obscured.

These "Bad Luck Hills," as they were once known, look out across the Missouri River valley just above the confluence of Beasley Creek and the Missouri River.  It is a uniquely defensible, yet accessible position offering opportunities in overland and water-born trade from a secure location.

One of the leading explorers associated with The Corps of Volunteers for Northwestern Discovery, otherwise known as the  Lewis & Clark Expedition, landed upon this spot in June of 1804.  William Clark and the band of explorers spent the weekend here plagued by gnats, ticks and mosquitos, as well as being mired in mud a good portion of that time.  It is surprising he held any inclination to return.

Clark held onto memory of the distinctly favorable location more so than the aggravations encountered there, returned to the site with other government appointees, and set about establishing Fort Osage in 1808.  The military garrison and successful government factory served the region for another 20 years before private fur traders finally demanded closure of this competition.

Local settlers salvaged lumber and other parts from the shuttered fort to develop the surrounding community, nearly erasing it from history. Oral tradition, research, and persistent documentation kept the memory alive though, and the 1940's brought it back to life through a massive restoration effort.  

The sixties opened the door to a more detailed history of the area that included recognition of those that had come before.  Excavations uncovered evidence of human habitation by the Osage tribe, as well as the Hopewell culture that populated the region from around 200 BCE to 500 CE.

As more is learned about the site, it continues to demonstrate an interesting display of relatively consistent land use in one location, though by distinctly different cultures.  Thoughtfully arranged specimens and memoirs on display lead one through the time before man into that of the "Sky People," through westward expansion, and into the modern day.  It is a undoubtedly a unique National Historic Landmark worthy of an afternoon of exploration.

...

further reading

Day by Day - June 23, 1804

Discover Lewis & Clark

Fort Osage
National Park Service

Fort Osage National Historic Landmark

National Landmark Site

Fort Osage

Historic Sibley, MO

Starting off with Power BI Online - Snack 1

If access is enabled to Power BI, you have a relatively simple and powerful data tool at your disposal.  

Indeed personally, I have found it to be more intuitive and flexible than Excel, enabling a variety of automation possibilities, pairing of data, as well as distribution of data and reports from the simplest variety to the most complex.

Over the course of however long it takes, I hope to offer up some snack-size pieces that walk through getting started in Power BI.  This will be within the scope of using the Power BI service, also known as Power BI Online.

A license is needed, or access through a trial version, which costs nothing to sign up.  It will likely prove insufficient for this series though.  Lacking that essential piece, the free desktop version is available, to which these instructions can easily be adapted.

Today's snack-size piece is simply about the platform we will use for this.

1. Visit the following link and login > https://app.powerbi.com
1. It should look similar to the screenshot below.
1. Not exactly.
1. Similar.  Microsoft changes things all the time, but the general screen layout has not change significantly in the last couple of years.
2. Poke around in there.  
3. See what there is to see. 
1. You cannot break anything.  
1. Do not be afraid to push buttons.  It is, after all, kind of what Power BI reports are all about, bringing a level of interactivity to otherwise boring, two-dimensional reports, enabling consumers to more quickly understand their data.

That is all I have for now; we can connect again later.  Go play! See if you can break it!

Lake Morning Platte Hikes

Enjoyed an opportunity to escape the drudgery for a couple of hours this morning and take a look at a couple of trails that I had not yet seen.  A beautiful sunny and crisp 15° C morning found the first, Green Hills of Platte Wildlife Preserve, generally okay. Half of the trail was mostly a wide gravel path, with the second half of the trail winding through a dense forest and a collection of poison ivy and ticks, within earshot of passing traffic.  I emerged unscathed and will probably have another look here once everything dies again.

The second trail was one that I had driven by several times, though had not had a chance to stop, being urgently on my way to another destination.  Charlotte Sawyers Nature Area offered a better opportunity to get away from civilization.  Voices from a neighboring farm could be heard along with random air traffic and that was about it.  It was little more than a mowed path around an overgrown field but served the purpose.  It offered space for quiet contemplation.

Second Grade Zoo Field Trip

 

An invitation to join in a field trip to the zoo, only charged with leading a couple around the massive complete, led to capturing a few new aspects of this particular location. The new aquarium is an intriguing new addition and left my second-grade troupe amazed.  It was definitely their top pick for the day.

Mother's Day Unity

 

Prior to other festivities planned for the afternoon, we made a brief journey out to the garden at Unity Village for Mother's Day.  There is some intriguing architecture loitering about the place, and quite an array of fountains and roses.  We may need to make another trip go get a closer look at other aspects of this location.

Tao Verse 5

Heaven and Earth have no preference.

My Easter Prayer

 

Whatever else is going on in the universe, this, right here, is good.

That is all that I offered, which is 1000% more than I usually do.  That part is always left to someone else.  I am not sure how many heard or even understood, since  a couple were busy interrupting and clowning.  It is what it is.

Whatever else is going on in the universe, this, right here, is good.

Dog Wheat Play Box

 

Originally constructed to host a small patch of herbs, it turned playpen, with the acquisition of a new puppy.  I planted wheat in the box last fall, and this spring she has snacks.  When it turns, it will become a play area again.

2001 Kawasaki Vulcan for Sale

 

If you are seeing this post, it is still for sale.

2001 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 ... 14,500+ miles and in generally good condition, regular riding and maintenance.  Tires have only a couple thousand on them.  Clear title. No major defects.  Just a little dusty.  One Owner.  Leave a message below to get in touch.  Serious offers only.

https://bigbikereviews.com/kawasaki-vulcan-750/

Strong Strawberry Bloom

 

Strong blooms this year on the strawberry patch.  This photo is but of a 1'x1' area, but it all looks this good today.  It should be quite a little harvest.

Ragged Old Patio Table

 

Rehabilitated an old iron table that someone threw out last year.   It is not the best.  The one corner in the foreground ended up a mess, but it is close enough for a ragged old table for the patio.  The top was particle board surrounding the glass.  It was broken and did not fair very well.  A 2x4 of treated wood and we were on our way.

The Great Ocean of Truth

Occasionally, we stumble upon quotes that resonates.  I ran across this one today, so snatched it up and planted it on top of one my own photos taken on the shores of Lake Superior.  

Fruit Tree Bloom 2025

Cherry and peach trees are blooming in unison this year and looking really good.  The peach tree is just finishing up, the Bing is in full bloom, and Montmerency just beginning to light up. This is year 5 for all of them, so we should see some sort of harvest.

Tao Verse 4

Tao is empty yet it fills every vessel with endless supply.

March Lightning

 A couple of shots taken out over the field, while the storm moved in.

Scenic Overlook for Sale

South Mountain Scenic Overlook turned up for sale on the trip homeward.  It was a bit shocking actually, to find this little strip of land up for grabs, perched upon a bluff just off US-65.  There really is not much there.  However, the bonus lies in what is below the Devil's Backbone.   Hopefully, the stop off is preserved.  It was good to find out that Rock-n-Java will remain, either way.  The trip home was uneventful, barring a brief detour across Cove Creek, for no other reason than for a different perspective.

 

Wet Hiking, Dry Racing

The last day lingering about north central Arkansas stood out as mostly overcast, with temperatures generally in the low 20s °C.  A visit to the familiar Woolly Hollow seemed the best course of action for the late morning.  It was not supposed to rain.  However, the weather can often have a mind of its own.   5 km along an 8 km hike it decided to dump its load of cold and windy on the vicinity.  Without a canopy, there was nowhere to turn. The whole instance only lasted about 10 minutes, just sufficient to soak all the way through and make the remainder of the journey rather squishy.

Prior to the deluge, there were multiple opportunities to enjoy solitude among the forest, contemplating things larger than life itself.

The rain turned out as a mostly isolated incident too, having no impact on plans for the evening.  The skies cleared up again, temperatures returned to a relatively normal state, and the Spring Nationals at Batesville Motor Speedway went off exactly as planned. 

...  Further Reading ... 

Woolly Hollow State Park

Arkansas State Parks

Batesville Motor Speedway

Locust Grove, AR

Mossy Bluff to Locust Grove

As is the usual habit, a visit to the Mossy Bluff set the day in perspective and offered up a little time for reflection.  The sky and colors all seemed exaggerated, from the tiniest bug to the tallest tree.  It was a beautiful day to just linger about the forest, under mostly clear skies, with temperatures hovering in the mid-teens Celsius.

The cascade was percolating along too.  It ensured a long visit just doing nothing but listening to the sound of the water passing along, making its way down to the Little Red River.  It whispered the necessity of not forgetting my friend the Sugar Loaf, and so a jog down that trail followed shortly after.

After making the rounds visiting these two friends, our party convened for a trip up to Batesville to enjoy some over-cooked steak and salmon from Colton's.  We did not realize until it was too late, that the last time we were there, they got it wrong then too.  They did fix it, but the experience is one that likely will not be forgotten.  How any cook in his right mind can try and pass off a well-done steak as medium rare remains a point of confusion.  Nobody died, so there is that.

Returning back along our charted course, we returned to Batesville Motor Speedway, which is actually in Locust Grove, for a sneak peek at events to come in the following evening.  It was not really planned that way, it just worked out as much.  The flyer was not very specific, suggested that racing would be happening all three nights.  At the last minute, we discovered on the old interwebs that Thursday was actually "Open Practice."  Entry turned out to be completely free, so the mistake cost nothing more than having to return the following evening for the real deal.

... Further Reading ...

Along the Mossy Bluff

jusTodd on Medium

Colton's Steak House

Batesville Motor Speedway

Paige and the Hammerschmidt

While the endless distractions available in Branson no doubt hold their own special level of intrigue, more interesting things lay ahead for the second half of this road adventure.  In very little time, two lanes unfolded to a calmer, quieter and inarguably, more scenic view from the road.

The western portion of the Buffalo National River complex hosts more waterfalls and cascades you can shake a stick at.  Most are generally inaccessible without some measure, often considerable, effort towards bushwhacking.  Those located within Broadwater Hollow demand very little beyond traversing 3 km of occasionally rough gravel and dirt road, and less than a half kilometer hike along a well-traveled path.  Paige Falls kick off this sequence of cascades, of which a detailed investigation could easily consume an entire day. That will need to wait for a more dedicated inquiry though.  Mid-afternoon was not the time. Covering a half kilometer or so of the situation and taking some out time to chat with other visitors, the mission quickly turned back to the next planned objective.

Skirting along the edge of Ponca Wilderness enabled opportunity to make a deal at the JB Trading Post, exchange paper for ice cream and gatorade, then pausing again for a quick inquiry towards the status of the elk at the Ponca Nature Center.  None were readily available for viewing, so we pushed on, arriving at the trailhead for Hammerschmidt falls in no time.  Almost no time.  It took a moment, and a detour down into Dewey Cove, to figure out that the trailhead was actually just across the street from "parking."  Once that became apparent, the half-kilometer trail flowed easily through more of the most beautiful spring scenery in the country and other junk.

These waterfalls likely offer quite a spectacular plunge 13 meters over the edge of the rock cliff, in wetter times.  The flow proved mostly insignificant on this date.  While those in Broadwater Hollow seemed to flow easily enough with ample hydration, continuing dry times across much of the northern tier of the Ozark plateau has forced many waterfalls to simply cut back or completely turn off the tap.

... Further Reading ...

Buffalo National River

National Park Service

JB Trading Company

  

Ponca Nature Center

Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

Drought conditions in Missouri

National Integrated Drought Information System - NOAA

Branson Butterflies

A lack of plans for the day left things to occur as random as they possibly could have been, and improvisation, the call of the day.

Somehow or another, the decision was made to investigate the Butterfly Palace.  While this was definitely not the usual effort, my comrade simply adores the lepidopterans.  The irony of this particular reverence is that most other six-legged critters in the same class are held in utter contempt.

Butterflies were not the only point of interest at this location though.  A carefully manicured collection of a few of their natural enemies also lived in the palace.  However, they were neatly segregated to the lower floor of the establishment.

Prior to engaging with the ruling species, we were offered a brief documentary enlightening us on the life cycle of their Monarch.  Attendance was not required but seemed a reasonable request, and we learned a little from that 3D adventure.  After, we were immediately ushered into presence chamber area.  It was quite balmy, though the air seemed not quite as saturated with moisture as winged metamorphic beasts flitting in every direction.  Special lures were provided to attract them, though it hardly seemed necessary.  It proved nearly impossible to avoid them.

Reflecting on the excursion later, it stood as one of the more enjoyable moments of the journey in the last few days.  The cost seemed a little excessive, though that is the general standard for all attractions in the world of Branson.  If one were not overcharged, they might feel compelled to protest.  The troops would be called in, and things might get ugly.

... Further Reading ...

The Butterfly Palace and Rainforest Adventure

Veteran's Memorial Garden

Branson Hillbilly Conservation

Lacking any sort of plan for the morning and looking to get out in the sunshine a little, a trip out of the melee known as Branson led to a trip across a nearby glade.

It had been noted the previous day, having stopped at the overlook for a moment, to gaze out across this 1,534-acre establishment of oak and hickory.  Further research uncovered a few trails of interest, in particular a 3 km jaunt across associated glades, down into the dry bed of Roark Creek and back again.

The hike across the glade is relatively easy but could become quite hot in the summer months, with little cover beyond that offered down in the creek bed.  This spring morning it warmed up considerably, even though temperatures were only around 15 °C.  A return trip later in the evening found similar temperatures along a paved path leading to the lookout. 

The glades and other features within the Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area are forever preserved in literature through the Harold Wright book, "Shepherd of the Hills."  However, American TV producer and screenwriter Paul Henning and his wife Ruth took things a step further, ensuring preservation for all those that came after, establishing this conservation area just on the outskirts of Branson.  His creation, the Beverly Hillbillies, and associated work on Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction likely inspired the effort too.

... Further Reading ...

Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area

Missouri Department of Conservation