Forum Discussion
Using Power Apps to append data into Power BI
darentengmfs - this really isn't a Power BI question. Power BI will read data from many sources, as you know.
You are taking it to the next level with using Power Apps to record your data, vs someone doing it in Excel or with another app.
As DataZoe there are ways to add data without Power Apps, like using the default Forms in SharePoint lists.
I love using Power Apps though to do what you want to do, but if you have no experience with it, then I cannot recommend the App in a Day course highly enough! It is free, and here.
Once you get that done, you just create your Power BI report and set the refresh schedule. You can also trigger a refresh from the Power Apps app via Power Automate, but you are limited to 8 refreshes a day with a Power BI Pro license. Power Automate refreshes and Scheduled Refreshes add up. Once you've done 8 refreshes, no more will happen until the next day. If you have Premium capacity, it is 48 per day.If you get bold, then the Direct Query route DataZoe mentioned can be refreshed unlimited times, but this has drawbacks:
- Direct Query requires a real server - SQL Server, Azure SQL, etc.
- You have to have an Enterprise Gateway. Personal will not work with Power Apps/Automate.
- Connecting to such a server requires a Power Apps license that is either $7 per mo for one app, or $40/mo for unlimited apps. SQL Server is a premium connector for Power Apps.
- Direct Query reports in Power BI are much more limited than Import apps. Your transformations are limited, as are some DAX functions and visuals.
Once you get your head around what you want to do and have done the App in A Day course, the Power Apps community can jump in and assist with building the app.
My personal advise - go slow. Use SharePoint Lists as your data source for the app. Don't jump in too deep and get frustrated with gateway configs, proper indexes and whatnot in a SQL Table. Power Apps requirements for SQL Server are higher than Power BI. Both can read any SQL table. But to write, Power Apps needs a unique index field that is hopefully generated by the server on the fly, or you get into creating GUIDs or your own incrementing logic.
darentengmfs There are some licensing considerations for embedding Power Apps into Power BI. But, it is doable, and there is a short video here https://youtu.be/us0hPFwQ4Zs (Guy in the Cube ~10 mins) that shows one way.
Another options would be:
1. to have it as a sharepoint list as the data source of the table in Power BI, so you could enter the new row for each day there, then Power BI picks it up on a scheduled refresh or manual refresh after it's been added.
2. create a table in Azure SQL Database and connect it to Power BI Desktop as direct query. You can update the table directly, or set up a Power Automate (Previously known as Flow) to update it from another source on edit (excel file, sharepoint list, whatever).