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psikonetik's avatar
psikonetik
Icon for Helper I rankHelper I
9 years ago
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Data Blending in Power BI

Hi,

 

Is there a way to do data Blending in power BI in a similar way Tableau does? Lest say I have one table with multiple rows for each date and another one with the same situation. I want to put data from the tables in the same graph and I want the data to have dates on the x asis.

 

In tableau I would just do data blending with date and the graph will have the data from both tables grouped by date.

 

However to do this in Power BI I would need to create an auxiliary table with unique date values and relation that table with both tables as joinning in power bi always need on of the tables to have unique values.

 

This is really time and performance consuming and also adds a lot of complexity creating the tables so I was wondering if there is another way to do this.

 

Thanks.

Need Help
  • karaoan's avatar
    karaoan
    9 years ago

    Hi,

     

    I would also suggest the approach that Phil proposes: merging the tables with Power Query it's an "Append" operation likely pretty much the same as Tableau does it. I don't see why values would be duplicated? I assume if you have values for the same dates and attributes in the different tables they need to be aggregated in some way?

     

    Martin

     

    Take you Power BI project to the next level --> http://Powerbiexperts.com.au

6 Replies

  • Phil_Seamark's avatar
    Phil_Seamark
    Icon for Microsoft Employee rankMicrosoft Employee
    9 years ago
    You can Merge the tables together using the query editor to create single table which you can then plot. Do your days contain hours/minutes or are they just days?
  • ImkeF's avatar
    ImkeF
    Icon for Community Champion rankCommunity Champion
    9 years ago

    If my understanding is correct, PowerBI uses a different concept for this requirement:

    If you want to show data from 2 different (fact) tables on one chart with a joint attribute on the x-axis, you make sure that the field for the x-axis comes from a joint table.

    In this case: Have a calendar table in place which is connected to both of your fact tables and take the date-field from this table to your chart. Then you can use value fields/measures from both tables on the same chart.

  • psikonetik's avatar
    psikonetik
    Icon for Helper I rankHelper I
    9 years ago

     Hi!

     

    If I do what Phil says I will end having a table with duplicated values in the columns right? I dont want that.

     

    What Imkef says is the approach I stated in my first message. It would be ok if the complexity wouldn't be so high. Apart form making the join there is the point of generating this aux table.

     

    In this case is worse as the dates are updated each day so you would need to create a table from a complex formula so that you always have new days and so on. Not e avery quick/easy approach.

     

    Thanks,

     

    • karaoan's avatar
      karaoan
      Icon for Kudo Kingpin rankKudo Kingpin
      9 years ago

      Hi,

       

      I would also suggest the approach that Phil proposes: merging the tables with Power Query it's an "Append" operation likely pretty much the same as Tableau does it. I don't see why values would be duplicated? I assume if you have values for the same dates and attributes in the different tables they need to be aggregated in some way?

       

      Martin

       

      Take you Power BI project to the next level --> http://Powerbiexperts.com.au