Create an alias for columns that will be usable by all users.

[julsr]

Hello everyone,

I'm connected to my Database, but the names of each column are not user-friendly and can't be modified from the Database. Is it possible to assign an alias inside PowerBI and then create a Template or Data Source (based on the Original Database) that all the other users can re-use?

So, for example, I have a field called money_income_sas_software_mx, and I want to rename it as income_sas and make this change available to all business users (without sharing the PBIX file).

Thanks!

[parry2k · Accepted solution]

@julsr well you need to ask yourself first - do you want users to give access to the database or you want to create a Power BI model and then they use that.

If it is first one then use SQL views as per my previous reply.

If 2nd option then it is easy, create a data model in Power BI, rename columns, and then publish the dataset to the service and let users connect to that dataset and use the columns from already renamed columns.  For this, you have to think thru who owns the model, who will do these modifications to the model, what if users want to use the data which is not part of the dataset. So many things to plan and work thru with option but it is feasible.

It is not an easy question to answer without knowing how you are implementing the BI solution.

[julsr]

Thanks! That makes sense; I'll check for the best solution in our case.

[parry2k]

@julsr First it is not a Power BI question, but to answer your question I would recommend creating a seperate schema for Power BI and add SQL views with business-friendly column names. Give permission to the users on this schema so that they can use these views to keep it separate from the rest of the tables/views in the database.

[julsr]

Yes, I know that it's not a PowerBI question; what you mentioned is something that I was thinking of doing, but I'm asking if it is possible to solve it using PowerBI (maybe a PowerBI feature or to upload the dataset into PowerBI and then modify it directly using PBI desktop...)

Thanks

[parry2k]

@julsr yes you can rename the columns in the PQ, this is a best practice.

[julsr]

Hello, Parry; thank you for your response. I understand I can use Power Query to rename columns in my PBIX file. However, I want to rename the columns or set an alias and make these changes visible to everyone else who has access to the Database (not the PBIX). Is this possible?

Thanks