I’m excited to announce that our superb group at Knowledge Vizioner has developed a light-weight and straightforward to make use of exterior device for Energy BI Desktop named Energy BI Exporter. The Energy BI Exporter is a free group device accessible for obtain right here. With Exterior Instruments Basic Availability, you may count on to see an increasing number of Exterior Instruments constructed by our superb group members. I personally surprised to see many superb concepts flip into helpful instruments. Be taught extra about Energy BI bulletins about Exterior Instruments GA right here. I’m humbled to be named within the announcement although. So thanks to Microsoft for that.
Let me begin with slightly background. Prior to now few years, I wrote a collection of weblog posts about exporting information from Energy BI Desktop and Energy BI Service. These posts are fairly standard. They’re within the prime 10 most visited posts on my web site, contributing to about 15% of my web site guests. Listed below are the earlier posts I wrote on this particular matter:
Other than my web site statistics displaying many individuals wish to export information from Energy BI Desktop, a few of my prospects requested the identical query. They wished to export the curated information from their information mannequin inside Energy BI Desktop to CSV format and make the curated information accessible for his or her different platforms. Whereas all of the strategies talked about in my earlier weblog posts are working, some customers nonetheless discover them advanced. So I believed, we are able to make it higher. We are able to make a simple device that exports the info with solely two clicks. So we began constructing the Energy BI Exporter as a micro-project. We added some extra concepts to the unique thought of solely exporting the info. We thought it’s good to export the info together with the desk names, column names and relationships. Having that info helpful, we are able to rapidly construct the identical information mannequin because the one we exported its information however utilizing the CSV information as the info sources. The opposite thought was to pack all the pieces in a ZIP file on the fly, so we’ve a single ZIP file, together with the tables, columns, and relationships. Because of this, the primary model of the Energy BI Exporter is born. On this submit I clarify the way it works.
Downloading and Putting in Energy BI Exported
You may obtain Energy BI Exporter from its official webpage from Knowledge Vizioner web site. You require to enter your electronic mail handle then click on the Obtain button as proven within the following picture:
Relying in your browser, the obtain course of could also be barely totally different, however it downloads the power-bi-exporter.msi file.
You may set up the file by double clicking it and following the directions inside the installer.
Utilizing Energy BI Exporter
As talked about earlier, the thought of making the Energy BI Exporter was to have a devoted device that exports information from Energy BI Desktop within the easiest attainable means. After you efficiently put in the Energy BI Exporter, comply with these steps:
- Click on the Exterior Instruments tab after opening the Energy BI Desktop (both the Retailer model or the common downloaded model)
- Click on the Energy BI Exporter
- Navigate to the specified location to retailer the ZIP file
- Enter the File identify
- Click on the Save button
- The Exporter begins exporting the info in a ZIP file within the location we chosen earlier. After the export course of is Carried out, you may shut the Energy BI Exporter window
All completed!
Testing the Outcomes
Now you can navigate to the placement and open the ZIP file. The ZIP file should comprise all information, tables, columns and relationships. The next picture exhibits the outcomes of exporting the info from my Energy BI information mannequin:
As you see within the above picture, the Energy BI Exporter efficiently exported 24 information tables plus three schema information together with Tables, Columns and Relationships. Let’s take a look at my information mannequin and see if all tables are exported. The next picture exhibits my information mannequin:
Because the previous picture illustrates, my mannequin is a Composite Mannequin containing tables with totally different Storage Modes together with:
- Import Knowledge
- DirectQuery
- Twin
The mannequin even have some hidden tables and calculated tables. As you see, the Energy BI Exporter efficiently exported all tables.
Let’s open the Tables.csv file and see if the file contains all these tables. The next picture exhibits the contents of my Tables.csv file:
I go away it to you examine the remainder of information exported.
Getting the Updates
Each time we launch a brand new model of the Energy BI Exporter, you can be notified through the device while you begin utilizing it. A notification message notifies you {that a} new model is offered to obtain. You may merely click on the notification to obtain the brand new model.
Concerns
Every bit of software program has some limitations, and Energy BI Exporter is just not an exception. Please maintain the next factors in thoughts earlier than utilizing the Energy BI Exporter:
- Energy BI Exporter won’t work in case you are linked to an occasion of Evaluation Companies (SSAS) or a Energy BI Dataset in Join Reside mode. In case you are not too certain what Join Reside means, I encourage you to take a look at this text
- If there’s an error in your DAX expressions creating calculated columns or calculated tables, Energy BI Exporter will elevate an error message when it makes an attempt to export the info from the problematic desk
- DAX errors in measures won’t have an effect on Energy BI Exporter
- Energy BI Exporter exports the info of all tables inside the information mannequin. If the desk has not been loaded into the info mannequin, Energy BI Exporter can not entry it
- Energy BI Exporter exports the tables accessible within the information mannequin no matter their underlying information supply. In case your mannequin incorporates tables in DirectQuery mode linked to giant tables, then Energy BI Exporter nonetheless works. Nevertheless it tries to export the entire information from the info supply which can take a very long time if the underlying information supply incorporates giant quantities of information
Conclusion
Energy BI Exporter is a device designed and carried out with simplicity in thoughts. Exporting information from Energy BI Desktop has by no means been as straightforward as it’s with Energy BI Exporter. Energy BI Exporter is a free device, however that doesn’t imply we won’t help it or replace it. So, as all the time, be happy to share your ideas and tell us what options you desire to us so as to add to the device. Hopefully, you discover the device useful.
