Is there a quick way to find out where a dataset is used in a report?

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone

I wonder if there is a quick way to determine which dataset fields are being used on which visuals in a report? I am looking to redevelop and simplify an older report that has grown organically over time and has become difficult to maintain and to use. It has 19 pages and 34 datasets! And no, of course the report isn't documented.... 🙄

Without having to go through every report page and click on every visual to see what is being used and what isn't I wondered if there's a quicker way to do this? What I'd like to do is to right-click on a dataset and select "where used", which would present a list of all the visuals connected to the dataset, and show which fields from it are being used.

Obviosly that right-click functionality doesn't exist but is there something like it, or do I have to do this the hard way and manually document every single visual object in the report?

Thanks in advance

Julian

[mwegener]

Hi @Anonymous ,

Reza Rad's Power BI Helper should be able to do that.

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/How-to-know-where-field-from-query-is-used/m-p/337962/highlight/true#M151218

[Anonymous]

Another great suggestion for a tool, thank you so much. I'll check this out too.

[BA_Pete]

Hi @Anonymous ,

Not exactly a quick way, but the best way to solve your immediate problem and create very efficient models in the future:

First, get yourself DAX Studio. This is an awesome tool to learn/use in its own right, but is also required to enable the following:

Get yourself Imke Feldmann's PBI Cleaner Tool. Just follow the instructions and voila, a sparkly-clean model.

DAX Studio is very commonly used by the PBI community, the cleaner tool is probably less-used, but takes your model efficiency to pro-level.

Pete

[Anonymous]

Hi Pete, thank you very much for your reply, I'll check those tools out. For the future I am hoping our model will be far simpler and better organised, in the meantime I just have to unpick what we currently have!

Julian