Category: Report

Data Model, Development Tips, Excel, How To, PowerPivot, Report

Extend the Data Model using calculated columns

Ashwini Tripathi

Recall from my previous post Add a relationship using Diagram View in Power Pivot

Which I have left with below note. I will be continuing from where I left my previous post.

It’s nice when the data in your Data Model has all the fields necessary to create relationships, and mash up data to visualize in Power View or PivotTables. But tables aren’t always so cooperative, so in today’s post will describe how to create a new column, using DAX that can be used to create a relationship between tables.

Open the Olympics Excel sheet which we used in our previous post.

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Delete the column EditionID from sheet Medals & Hosts Table/Sheet.
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After deleting the Column EditionID from Table/Sheet Select Update All in Ribbon from PowerPivot Tab. This will update the column in Data Model.

Since we are going to learn creating relationship on calculated fields.

In Hosts, we can create a unique calculated column by combining the Edition field (the year of the Olympics event) and the Season field (Summer or Winter). In the Medals table there is also an Edition field and a Season field, so if we create a calculated column in each of those tables that combines the Edition and Season fields, we can establish a relationship between Hosts and Medals. The following screen shows the Hosts table, with its Edition and Season fields selected
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Select the Hosts table in Power Pivot. Adjacent to the existing columns is an empty column titled Add Column. Power Pivot provides that column as a placeholder. There are many ways to add a new column to a table in Power Pivot, one of which is to simply select the empty column that has the title Add Column.

In the formula bar, type the following DAX formula. The CONCATENATE function combines two or more fields into one. As you type, AutoComplete helps you type the fully qualified names of columns and tables, and lists the functions that are available. Use tab to select AutoComplete suggestions. You can also just click the column while typing your formula, and Power Pivot inserts the column name into your formula.

=CONCATENATE([Edition],[Season])

When you finish building the formula, press Enter to accept it.

Values are populated for all the rows in the calculated column. If you scroll down through the table, you see that each row is unique – so we’ve successfully created a field that uniquely identifies each row in the Hosts table. Such fields are called a primary key.

Let’s rename the calculated column to EditionID. You can rename any column by double-clicking it, or by right-clicking the column and choosing Rename Column. When completed, the Hosts table in Power Pivot looks like the following screen.
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Next let’s create a calculated column in Medals that matches the format of the EditionID column we created in Hosts, so we can create a relationship between them.

When you created a new column, Power Pivot added another placeholder column called Add Column. Next we want to create the EditionID calculated column, so select Add Column. In the formula bar, type the following DAX formula and press Enter.

=CONCATENATE([Year],[Season])

Rename the column by double-clicking CalculatedColumn1 and typing EditionID.
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Next let’s use the calculated columns we created to establish a relationship between Hosts and Medals.

In the Power Pivot window, select Home > View > Diagram View from the ribbon.

Drag the EditionID column in Medals to the EditionID column in Hosts. Power Pivot creates a relationship between the tables based on the EditionID column, and draws a line between the two columns, indicating the relationship.
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Now you can see the relationship between Host & Medal table is established on calculated field EditionID in both the tables.

Stay tuned for more details on this topic. I will come up with next step in this series in my upcoming post.

Till then keep learning & practicing.

Data Model, Development Tips, Excel, How To, PowerPivot, Report

Add a relationship using Diagram View in Power Pivot

Ashwini Tripathi

Open the Workbook which we prepared in the last exercise in our previous post.

Add Excel Sheet/Table to the PowerPivot Data Model

  • In the Power Pivot window, in the View section, click Diagram View.
  • Use the slide bar to resize the diagram so that you can see all objects in the diagram. Rearrange the tables by dragging their title bar, so they’re visible and positioned next to one another. Notice that all tables are unrelated to each other, we will create relationship among these tables.

After adding relationship the Diagram will Look as below.

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  • Let start creating the relationship.
  • Sports->SportID click and drag to Disciplines->SportID and release. You will see the relation is built between these two tables on SportID.

Similarly follow to create other relations too as shown in below image.
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You notice that both the Medals table and the Events table have a field called DisciplineEvent. Upon further inspection, you determine that the DisciplineEvent field in the Events table consists of unique, non-repeated values.

The DisciplineEvent field represents a unique combination of each Discipline and Event. In the Medals table, however, the DisciplineEvent field repeats many times. That makes sense, because each Discipline+Event combination results in three awarded medals (gold, silver, bronze), which are awarded for each Olympics Edition the Event is held. So the relationship between those tables is one (one unique Discipline+Event entry in the Disciplines table) to many (multiple entries for each Discipline+Event value).

  • Create a relationship between the Medals table and the Events table. While in Diagram View, drag the DisciplineEvent field from the Events table to the DisciplineEvent field in Medals. A line appears between them, indicating a relationship has been established.
  • Click the line that connects Events and Medals. The highlighted fields define the relationship, as shown in the above screen.
  • To connect Hosts to the Data Model, we need a field with values that uniquely identify each row in the Hosts table. Then we can search our Data Model to see if that same data exists in another table. Looking in Diagram View doesn’t allow us to do this. With Hosts selected, switch back to Data View.
  • After examining the columns, we realize that Hosts doesn’t have a column of unique values. (Assume EditionID Field is not available in the Host & Medal Table, in my case I have already added this Field in my workbook I shared). In such case we’ll have to create it using a calculated column, and Data Analysis Expressions (DAX).

It’s nice when the data in your Data Model has all the fields necessary to create relationships, and mash up data to visualize in Power View or PivotTables. But tables aren’t always so cooperative, so the next post will describe how to create a new column, using DAX that can be used to create a relationship between tables.

We will see how to work with calculated fields in our next upcoming post.

Data Model, Development Tips, Excel, How To, PowerPivot, Report

Add Excel Sheet/Table to the PowerPivot Data Model

Ashwini Tripathi

Download the Excel file from the link provided in previous post.

Import data using copy and paste from Excel sheet or other source for PowerPivot Data Model.

Open the Workbook:

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Select sheet one by one and Add to Data model of PowerPivot.

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Make sure all Table/Sheet is added to Data Model of PowerPivot.

I have create a sample Excel File for you which you can down load from the Shared Path using link: http://1drv.ms/1GpZFd4

This file have couple of sheets having data related to Olympics which I have compiled from MS Office support site.

You can find the link on the Menu of my blogsite too to access the shared files.

I will be using this file for couple of walkthrough in my upcoming posts.

Development Tips, Excel, How To, Power View, PowerPivot, Report

Power View in Excel 2013

Ashwini Tripathi

Power View is an interactive data exploration, visualization, and presentation experience that encourages intuitive ad-hoc reporting.

Power View is a feature of Microsoft Excel 2013, and of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and 2013 as part of the SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Server Enterprise Edition.

Power View has these features, as part of Power BI for Office 365:

  • Create Power View sheets in Excel and then view them in the Power BI Windows Store app.
  • View Power View in Excel sheets in your browser, without installing Silverlight.

Data sources for Power View

In Excel 2013, you can use data right in Excel as the basis for Power View in Excel and SharePoint.

When you add tables and create relationships between them, Excel is creating a Data Model behind the scenes.

A data model is a collection of tables and their relationships reflecting the real-world relationships between business functions and processes—for example, how Products relates to Inventory and Sales.

You can continue modifying and enhancing that same data model in Power Pivot in Excel, to make a more sophisticated data model for Power View reports.

With Power View you can interact with data:

  • In the same Excel workbook as the Power View sheet.
  • In data models in Excel workbooks published in a Power Pivot Gallery.
  • In tabular models deployed to SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services (SSAS) instances.
  • In multidimensional models on an SSAS server (if you’re using Power View in SharePoint Server).

Recall from my previous post Creating My First Report using PowerPivot, I will be using same Data Model to demonstrate the feature of Power View, also same report in different format.

Let’s design Customer wise Sales Report using Power View.
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I am using the same Workbook which we used for PowerPivot creating Matrix report for Item Vs Customer Sales.

From Insert Tab choose Power View Reports in ribbon.

Remember this workbook already having Data Model with tables Customer, Item, Cust. Ledger Entry & Item Ledger Entry. One which we created during our previous exercise during walkthrough of PowerPivot.

We already have Relationship defined between Customer & Item Ledger Entry (No. -> Source No.), also Item & Item Ledger Entry (No. -> Item No.).
PowerView-2

You can View the Relationship using Relationship from Ribbon Power View Tab.

Once the Power View Sheet is inserted the Power View Tab will be Visible.

This will list the two relations which we created earlier in previous exercise post.

However we will be requiring one more relationship for this report. Add using New button on Manage Relationship window.

Enter the Relation for Customer & Cust. Ledger Entry (No. -> Customer No.).

You can see all the 4 tables are listed in Field List Pane.
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Arrange the Fields from respective tables as shown in above screenshot.
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Arrange the fields as shown in above screenshot.

Design of your report should be similar to one shown in below screenshot.
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Resize the Table area to fit the area and the way you want to represent the data.

When a Customer is selected in Title Area, below two tables show the Item Sales Quantity & Total Value for the selected Customer.

You can add fields in the Filter Pane to slice the data accordingly.

I will come up with more details in my upcoming posts.

Till then stay tuned and keep practicing.

Development Tips, Excel, How To, PowerPivot, Report

Add Slicers to PivotTables in PowerPivot

Ashwini Tripathi

Recall from my earlier post Creating My First Report using PowerPivot in which we created a Items Vs Customer Sales matrix report.

I am going to use same report to demonstrate how we can add slicer to this report.

Slicers are one-click filtering controls that narrow the portion of a data set shown in PivotTables and PivotCharts. Slicers can be used in both Microsoft Excel workbooks and PowerPivot workbooks, to interactively filter and analyze data.
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Open the report we created in our previous post.

From Insert Tab select Slicer in the ribbon.
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Choose the source Connection/Data model and respond Open.

Select the Customer Table.

Select the Country/Region Code field and OK.
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A Slicer will be added to the sheet.

Re-size to fit and drag the Slicer to position at desired location on sheet.

You can give desired Caption to your Slicer by editing the Slicer Caption.

Most important is to select the pivot table on which this Slicer will operate.

Select Report Connection, and from preceding window select the PivotTable.
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Above is the screenshot with applied filter on Country/Region Code = DE.

Stay tuned to know more options, I will come up with more details in my upcoming posts.

Till then keep practicing.

Development Tips, Excel, How To, Office Integration, PowerPivot, Report

Creating My First Report using PowerPivot

Ashwini Tripathi

In my earlier posts we have created the Data model for Analysis.

If you missed them you can follow below links to refresh all information.

PowerPivot for Excel

PowerPivot Creating a Data Model in Excel 2013

Adding more tables to the Data Model using Existing Connection – In PowerPivot

Add relationships to Data Model in PowerPivot

How to add Filter for data retrieval in PowerPivot Data model.

Create a calculated column in PowerPivot

We have learned basic actions, let’s create our first Report.

I will be creating Pivot Matrix Customer Vs Item Sales.

Open the Excel in which we created our Data model and imported our table data.
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Select PivotTable From Ribbon under Home Tab.
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Select New Worksheet or Existing Worksheet as per the case.
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You will see a Pivot is inserted, in right side you will find all the tables available in the Data model of this Worksheet.
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Design the Pivot as above screenshot.
The output of this report will be as below if executed without Date Filter.
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I will come up with more details and features of PowerPivot in my upcoming posts. Till then keep practicing and stay tuned for more details on this topic.

Development Tips, Excel, How To, Office Integration, PowerPivot, Report

Create a calculated column in PowerPivot

Ashwini Tripathi

If you have missed earlier post, please walkthrough them for better understanding from below links:

PowerPivot for Excel

PowerPivot Creating a Data Model in Excel 2013

Adding more tables to the Data Model using Existing Connection – In PowerPivot

Add relationships to Data Model in PowerPivot

How to add Filter for data retrieval in PowerPivot Data model.

In Power Pivot, you can use Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) to add calculations. In this task, I will add simple Excel Formula =ABS (Quantity) in Item Ledger Entry Sheet. You can add formulas either simple calculation from two fields or referencing from other tables and sheet. I will come with more details on this in separate post.

  • In the Power Pivot window, switch to Data View.
  • Select the Item Ledger Entry table/ sheet.
  • Click Design > Add.

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Alternatively you can Add by selecting Column, Right Click and choose Insert Column as you do in Excel.

New Column Will be Added.

  • In the formula bar above the table, type the following formula. AutoComplete helps you type the fully qualified names of columns and tables, and lists the functions that are available. You can also just click the column and Power Pivot adds the column name to the formula.

In my case it is =abs([Quantity])

  • When you have finished building the formula, press Enter to accept the formula.

Values are populated for all the rows in the calculated column. If you scroll down through the table, you will see that rows can have different values for this column, based on the data that is in each row.

Rename the column by right-clicking and selecting Rename Column.
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  • Type Sales Quantity, and then press Enter.

Below is the Screen after populating the value post formula application to Calculated Column.
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I will come up with more details in my upcoming post, Till then keep practicing and stay tuned for more details and updates on this topic.

Development Tips, Excel, How To, Office Integration, PowerPivot, Report

How to add Filter for data retrieval in PowerPivot Data model.

Ashwini Tripathi

Recall from previous posts we have added Item Ledger Entry Table to our Data Model of PowerPivot.

Adding more tables to the Data Model using Existing Connection – In PowerPivot

Add relationships to Data Model in PowerPivot

My requirement is to retrieve only records related to Sales.

We will apply filter on Entry Type field to value [1]-[Sales] this way Item Leger Entry Sheet will have only Sales Data.

To do this we will add this filter to the query used for data retrieval.
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Select the Sheet for table – Item Ledger Entry from bottom.

Click on Design Tab on Top.

Now From Ribbon choose Table Properties.

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Select Query Editor from Switch to.

Add the Filter to your query.

Save your Query.

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From Home Tab, Select Refresh from Ribbon.

On Success completion Close the window.

Now your Item Ledger Entry is populated with Fresh data as per the modified Query.

I.e: All Entries which have Entry Type = 1 [Sales].

I will come up with more details in my upcoming post, till then keep practicing and stay tuned for future updates & posts on this topic.

Development Tips, Excel, How To, Office Integration, Report

Add relationships to Data Model in PowerPivot

Ashwini Tripathi

You can systematically create table relationships for all new tables that you import. If you’re sharing the workbook with colleagues, having predefined relationships will be appreciated if they don’t know the data as well as you do.

When creating relationships manually, you will work with two tables at a time.

For each table, you’ll choose columns that tell Excel how to look up/ join related rows in another table.

Recall from my previous posts I will be continuing the example from using same Data Model

PowerPivot Creating a Data Model in Excel 2013

Adding more tables to the Data Model using Existing Connection – In PowerPivot

With your Data model sheet opened
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Click on Diagram View in Upper Right Side as highlighted in above screenshot.

Window will switch to Diagram View as shown in above screenshot, showing all the tables available in the Data model.

Click No_ in Customer Table and Drag to Item Ledger Entry Table and release the mouse button pointing to Source No_ field, you will see the Link is Established between these two tables showing the Link via Arrow line.

Repeat above step again between Item->No_ and Item Ledger Entry -> Item No_ fields.

Now we have Established connection between these three tables Customer, Item & Item Ledger Entry.

I will come up with more option on this topic in my next post, till then start practicing and stay tuned.

Development Tips, Excel, How To, Office Integration, PowerPivot, Report

Adding more tables to the Data Model using Existing Connection – In PowerPivot

Ashwini Tripathi

For Introduction please see PowerPivot for Excel

Recall from my earlier post we have created a connection to SQL Navision Database in my previous post.

PowerPivot Creating a Data Model in Excel 2013

I will be modifying same connection to include more tables to the Data model.
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Click on PowerPivot-> Manage.

From the PowerPivot Sheet click on Existing Connections.

This will open Connection Window Listing all available connection to PowerPivot for this Sheet.

Double Click the Connection in my case Nav2015DB_SQL_Connection.
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Select first option as we used in previous post and then Next for next Step.
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Select Item & Item Ledger Entry Tables and then Finish to import Data to the Sheet.
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On Success Click Close to return to Data Model Sheets.
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You will find two new sheets have been added to PowerPivot Sheet.

I will come up with more option on this topic in my next post, till then start practicing and stay tuned for more details & Updates on this topic.