Model data with Power BI

Beginner
Data Analyst
Power BI

Learn what a Power BI semantic model is, which data loading approach to use, and how to build out your semantic model to get the insights you need.

This learning path can help you prepare for the Microsoft Certified: Data Analyst Associate certification.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this learning path.

Modules in this learning path

In this module, you'll learn about the Power BI Desktop model structure, star schema design basics, analytics queries, and report visual configuration. This module provides a strong foundation on which you can learn to optimize model designs and add model calculations.

Describe model frameworks, their benefits and limitations, and features to help optimize your Power BI data models.

The process of creating a complicated semantic model in Power BI is straightforward. If your data is coming in from more than one transactional system, before you know it, you can have dozens of tables that you have to work with. Building a great semantic model is about simplifying the disarray. A star schema is one way to simplify a semantic model, and you learn about the terminology and implementation of them in this module. You will also learn about why choosing the correct data granularity is important for performance and usability of your Power BI reports. Finally, you learn about improving performance with your Power BI semantic models.

In this module, you'll learn how to write DAX formulas to create calculated tables, calculated columns, and measures, which are different types of model calculations. Additionally, you'll learn how to write and format DAX formulas, which consist of expressions that use functions, operators, references to model objects, constants, and variables.

In this module, you'll learn how to work with implicit and explicit measures. You'll start by creating simple measures, which summarize a single column or table. Then, you'll create more complex measures based on other measures in the model. Additionally, you'll learn about the similarities of, and differences between, a calculated column and a measure.

By the end of this module, you'll be able to add calculated tables and calculated columns to your semantic model. You'll also be able to describe row context, which is used to evaluated calculated column formulas. Because it's possible to add columns to a table using Power Query, you'll also learn when it's best to create calculated columns instead of Power Query custom columns.

By the end of this module, you'll learn the meaning of time intelligence and how to add time intelligence DAX calculations to your model.

Performance optimization, also known as performance tuning, involves making changes to the current state of the semantic model so that it runs more efficiently. Essentially, when your semantic model is optimized, it performs better.

Enforce model security in Power BI using row-level security and object-level security.