Microsoft Power BI reports

Known issue: Power BI reports that use CSV files retrieved through an ODBC data source may not be portable because the queries contain fixed navigation references. As a result, a report may fail to refresh or load data when opened in a different environment.

When a Power BI report is connected to local files, Power BI may store the full file path used by the report creator, such as a location within their Windows user profile. For example:

C:\Users\Dominic\AppData\Local\KESoftware\Reports\ecatalogue\Data.xlsx

Known Issue

If another user opens the report and the same path does not exist on their computer, the report may be unable to locate the source data and therefore cannot refresh successfully.

If a report cannot be shared or refreshed correctly by other users, review the Source for any CSV files retrieved through the ODBC data source (under Query Settings on the right side of the Power BI window). For each CSV query, edit the Source step so that it uses a query-based reference instead of a fixed navigation path, e.g.:

= Odbc.Query("dsn=EMu Catalogue x64","SELECT * FROM CreatorD.csv")

Known Issue

= Odbc.Query("dsn=EMu Catalogue x64","SELECT * FROM ecatalog.csv")

Known Issue

Then remove the Navigation step. To do so, hover over the step in the Applied Steps pane and click the X that appears. Repeat this process for each CSV file included in the report.

From EMu 10 onwards it is possible to create and run reports in EMu using Microsoft Power BI. While explaining how to design reports in Power BI is beyond the scope of this documentation, we do describe initial steps here:

  1. Create a report as usual in EMu (search for or retrieve a group of records in a module), and select Microsoft PowerBI Report from the report Type drop list (details here).

  2. When the report is run for the first time (Step 7), the Power BI application will open:

  3. Select Get data form other sources and enter ODBC in the Get Data search box:

  4. Select the data source applicable to the EMu module in which you began creating the report, for example EMu Catalogue x64:

  5. Select all of the listed CSV files and then select Load:

    Power BI

  6. The data is loaded and you are then able to build the report:

    Power BI

  7. When the report is completed save it to the EMu server.

Important

As Power BI stores report data in the report itself, it is necessary to refresh the data with each subsequent run of the report. When the report opens, select the Data option under the Refresh menu and the latest data will be imported into the report:

Refresh data