Forum Discussion
Repeating reports with refreshed csv files
Hi all,
I'm using PowerBI Desktop to create reports for a software platform that we sell. Reports are based on ~10 csv files that we export from the platform. I'm pretty new to PowerBI and looking for the best way to make this scalable, with as little manual work each time.
The report is great as a one off. But... we need to repeat the report each month, and for a growing number of customers, each time with a new set of csv files.
Currently I can refresh the report by changing the source for each csv, replacing them with new ones, and each time saving the report as a new .pbix file. I'm sure there's a more sensible way to be doing this.
Any suggestions would be gratefully received!
Jon
2 Replies
So, typically the way that you would do this would be to create 10 folders. Each type of CSV goes into its corresponding folder. You create a Folder query which essentially brings in all of the data in the CSV files (plural) in that folder. Then, you would have your reports created such that they always display the current month's data or have a slicer that allows the customer to select the desired month. Then, you basically never have to touch the reports again.
Now, in this model, you woudl have a directory for each customer with 10 folders underneath it. If you wanted to get really fancy, you would implement RLS and then have a single report for all customers that you never have to touch again unless you bring on more customers and then it is a matter of adding them to RLS settings only.
