Forum Discussion
Memorable MemberIs there any PBIP or TMDL for Excel Power Pivot (Data Model)?
Is there any plan to bring the concepts of pbip (projects) or TMDL (markup) to Power Pivot in Excel?
I'd love to be able to have a text-based way to move some of my models and queries into Excel, and host the data in RAM on a personal workstation.
I understand that BI in Excel isn't a top-priority of Microsoft anymore, and that Excel has long ago lost a little of its luster. It seems to have taken the backseat to Power BI and Fabric. However it is still an extremely powerful and important tool for exploring data and integrating it with other data. I really wish Microsoft would bring it back into focus again, and start making some commonsense improvements to the data models in Excel.
Please don't propose I make data connections to a remote models (living in the cloud/service). I realize that is possible. But in many cases, I prefer my models to be integrated in Excel (for simplicity and centralization). Working with big data can be a complex thing, but doesn't always have to be. Many personal workstations these days have at least eight cores and 32 GB RAM. It is sufficient for a wide range of data analysis workloads.
2 Replies
- rajendraongole1
Super User
Hi dbeavon3 - Currently, there are no announced plans to integrate Power BI project concepts (PBIP) or TMDL (Tabular Model Definition Language) into Power Pivot in Excel. Power BI Desktop is increasingly focused on advanced modeling capabilities, including text-based, source-control-friendly file formats like TMDL, which are intended to improve collaboration and version control. These features align with Power BI's broader shift toward enterprise-grade, cloud-first data solutions.
While Power Pivot remains a powerful tool within Excel for personal and localized data modeling, its development has not received the same focus or pace of innovation as Power BI in recent years. Microsoft appears to be prioritizing Power BI and its ecosystem, as seen with tools like Fabric and its integration with TMDL and PBIP formats. These innovations are designed for larger, collaborative data projects rather than personal or localized workstations.
TMDL in Power BI Desktop developer mode (Preview) | Microsoft Power BI Blog | Microsoft Power BI
Tabular Model Definition Language (TMDL) | Microsoft Learn
dbeavon3Hi rajendraongole1
Thanks for the response.
Personally I don't think text-based markups are too much to ask for out of Microsoft - whether in Excel or Power BI desktop. It enables basic functionality like copy/paste, and change-tracking over time. It is pretty astonishing that Microsoft has been able to disregard these basic user requirements for over a decade.
...Barring these obvious features, perhaps it might be acceptable to support an "import/export" workflow for moving models and queries back and forth. That might allow us to build sophisticated models in another tool, while still deploying them back to users by way of Excel workbooks.
Both of these things seem pretty low-effort, especially after Microsoft has done similar things elsewhere. If the product team choose NOT to make future investments into their Excel models , then it will give the appearance of a deprecated platform.
Do you have any recommendations to move a model into an Excel workbook from PBI? I noticed that the xlsx files can be renamed as a zip archive, and the data model (base 64 encoded content) can be found within. Have you heard of anyone swapping out the data model, or moving models from one xlsx to another by way of the internal zip contents?
