Read Multi CSV files and generate PBI reports

[Nav_14]

Hi There,

I have a multiple .csv files in FTP location, requirement is to have these .csv as input files and generate reports..

please advise the right procedure or steps.

Thanks in advance 

[MattAllington · Accepted solution]

I wrote an article on this

http://exceleratorbi.com.au/combine-csv-files-power-query/

The initial cnnection may be slightly different as you may be using a network folder. 

[Nav_14]

I have 200 .csv files, need to generate bar/scatter report for each csv file..

is ther any option to make it easy to generate these 200 reports

[v-sihou-msft]

@Nav_14

In this scenario, if these files and same structure and you want to retrieve the data into one dataset, you should try "import from folder" option as @MattAllington suggested.

But if you want to create one report for each csv file( generate one dataset for each csv file and create separated .pbix file) in batch for all 200 csv files, it's not possible in Power BI Desktop. You can submit a feature reuqest on Idea: https://ideas.powerbi.com/forums/265200-power-bi

Regards,

[Anonymous]

@Nav_14,

ftp support in Power BI is a bit limited right now.

'Import from folder' as @MattAllington suggests would be ideal, but will fail on an FTP source with "The folder path must be a valid absolute file path"

While a browser such as Chrome or IE will render an FTP index as HTML (e.g. ftp://ftp.bom.gov.au/anon2/home/ncc/metadata/lists_by_element/numeric), importing this from Power BI as a Web Page will fail. So you likely can't parse the index page for changing files

You CAN import a file from an ftp site via a Web Page import IF you have the full path (e.g. ftp://ftp.bom.gov.au/anon2/home/ncc/metadata/lists_by_element/numeric/numANT_11.txt)  If your 200 files were always the same names and locations, you could write a function to loop through and import them all.

Also, there may be issues refreshing files from an ftp site - see https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/exchange/en-US/ceb2eb1d-83a4-4aad-b42d-5bd7e18228e8/how-...

To improve this area, you can vote for or create an Idea: see https://ideas.powerbi.com/search?filter=merged&query=ftp

[Nav_14]

Also have files in local folder.. please suggest the option/steps to generate these reports(200 .csv files)

[Anonymous]

@Nav_14,

If you have the files in a local folder, Matt's guide should work for you, to import all 200 files into one table if they are the same structure.