Using view object as data source

[aminaKh]

Hello,

I'm very new to Power BI ^^" and i need your advice,

One of my clients requests to create Power BI reports but wants us to only use a view that will contain all of the data that we will use in the report. He strictly doesn't want to use the tables directly and make the connections (in a star) in power bi. Do you think this is judicious? Why are people talking about using models in Power BI (exp: star o) if we can just create one view that contains all data ?

Thank u,

[v-yingjl]

Hi @aminaKh ,

I think this is judicious and we recomend to create star scema model in power bi desktop.

Do not bring everything into one large table with hundreds of columns:

1. Maintenance of such a big table would be always a challenge. Every time you bring a new set of fields, you have to combine them into this table.
2. The level of details stored in this table is dependent on the fields in it. If you bring new fields, you need to store more details! This is also a maintenance problem.

Star schema is a mature modeling approach widely adopted by relational data warehouses. It is the best way of designing a data model for reporting, You will get the best performance and also flexibility using such a model.

Also, the following articles may help you to understand greater:

1. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/star-schema
2. https://radacad.com/basics-of-modeling-in-power-bi-what-is-a-dimension-table-and-why-say-no-to-a-sin...
3. https://radacad.com/power-bi-basics-of-modeling-star-schema-and-how-to-build-it

Best Regards,
Yingjie Li

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

[aminaKh]

Hi @v-yingjl

Thank u for your reply, 

When I talk about view, its a view object on SQL server that we will bring on power BI, so basically we will not need to combine data on PBI, so in this case, the star schema can be more performance? 

Thanks 

[v-yingjl · Accepted solution]

Hi @aminaKh ,

In my opinion, the star schema model still has highly performance in this case as you said even it comes from SQL server. If we just use only one table, when we need to create some measures or use formulas, it could be complicated. In stead of star schema model, the relationship between tables are clearly so that we can transfer them easily.

Best Regards,
Yingjie Li

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

[amitchandak]

You can use a single table/view. But for many formula's star schemas is ideal and recommended

Refer recommendations from Microsoft

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/