Measures PowerBI

[GeroNikles]

Hello,

i am right now building a power BI Report by using data of a cube. Problem there is you cant "add" Data to it. That means it not possible to to calculations.

So i imported the data into an Excel to calculate a few things.

And then i use the Excel as a data source for my Report .

My Questioan here is. Is it possible and also the better way maybe, to do the calculations with the help of measures in Power BI instead of Excel?

Thanks 🙂

[v-jianpeng-msft]

Your solution is great anmolmalviya05

Hi, @GeroNikles 

As anmolmalviya05 said, you can work with your data like creating calculated columns, metrics, etc. in Power BI desktop. You mentioned that you have some structured tables and are using SQL server, you can choose import connection mode which will allow you to use all the features of Power BI.
Why? The features that Power BI can support differ in different connection modes. For example, as you mentioned, you have a multidimensional model, and since the multidimensional model does not import data into Power BI, and all calculations are done in your multidimensional model's data source, you will encounter the problem of not being able to add some columns of calculations and use some other features in a report that is connected to the multidimensional model. For more information about the different connection models, you can refer to the following connections:

Semantic model modes in the Power BI service - Power BI | Microsoft Learn 

What's the difference between live connections and DirectQuery? - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Chris Webb's BI Blog: What Is The Difference Between A Live Connection And DirectQuery Mode In Power...

Power BI Connection Types: DirectQuery, Live, or Import? Tough Decision! - RADACAD

There is also a difference in the DAX functions supported by Power BI desktop when creating metrics in different connection modes. For example, in the multidimensional model, if we create a new metric we can't use some of the table generator functions, the main reason for this problem is that in the multidimensional model, our data table structure is in your data source and not in the semantic model of Power BI desktop.
You can choose one of the different connection models according to your needs after understanding them. For example, if you want to use all the DAX functions in Power BI desktop and all the functionality provided by Desktop, you should use the Import mode.

Best Regards

Jianpeng Li

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[GeroNikles]

Yeah its possible to connect the cube to power BI, we have a few reports with that structure. Its an SQL Datasource.

So basically i dont ahve to do the extra step with the excel right?
@anmolmalviya05 

[anmolmalviya05 · Accepted solution]

Yes , You don't have to use excel, you can directly connect the data to power BI.
If you want to apply any transformation then you can use in-built power query editor, and then for any type of calculation you can use DAX functions (250+ dax functions available) to create measures or calculated columns.

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@GeroNikles

[anmolmalviya05]

Hi , Hope you are doing good!

Can you please share some more detail about the original data source (link of platform), so that we can check if the connector is available for it in power BI,

Else, As you have already imported the data into excel file, you can connect that excel file to power BI and then use DAX to perform calculation and aggregation.

Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution! Appreciate your Kudos !!

Let's Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anmol-malviya/?originalSubdomain=in

@GeroNikles