Track Data Changes

[aashton]

Hello,

My PowerBI report is pulling from a database that has a table with two numerical values, # of Docs and # of Nurses.  This value is updated from a front-end software, it would just be overwritten when updated.  I need to track when either of these numbers changes drastically.  If my powerBI report refreshes every day, is there any kind of tool in PowerBI I could use to keep prior days values, or even weekly or monthly, so I can be alerted when these numbers change?

[v-jingzhang]

Hi @aashton 

Power BI is not able to store previous data or historical data for you. When Power BI refreshes data, it imports all existing data from data sources into your model again. Since the data in your database is overwritten when updated, historical data is removed so Power BI couldn't get them. 

I recommend that you store historical data in your database. Instead of overwrite a table, you can append new rows to an existing table in your database. Or if you don't want to modify the current table, you can create a new table which appends new data from the updated table every time.

You can then connect your Power BI report to this new table to get both historical data and updated data. Build some measures and use some visuals to get the number change difference. 

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Jing
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[ALLUREAN]

Hi, @aashton 

Maybe you can check this:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/service-set-data-alerts

This is valid only if you have a dashboard

[ALLUREAN]

Hi, @aashton 

Maybe you can check this:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/service-set-data-alerts