Many times when Power BI developers start working on a new project, they start with one Power BI file where they create a semantic model and report visuals, all in the same file. This usually works well with Proof of Concept projects or when a small team is involved. Later on when the project progresses, when the team grows, or when developers learn about the benefits of working with separate report and model files, they wish they would have started that way.
The good news is that you can easily separate your report (visuals) and model (dataset) even after you have started with one file.
There are quite a few posts/videos on how/why to do this but I decided to add my own post in the form of a short animated video to show you how easy it is to do this.
If you are interested to know the benefits of working with separate report and model files, these are my top favorites:
- You do the modeling work once, define your data sources, relationships, calculations, and you reuse it many times in more than one report. One version of the truth, one time loading of data, saving time and resources.
- You can have one developer work on the model while another developer works on creating reports.
- If you have a formal project, you can point the reports to different versions of the datasets.
Mellissa Coats has a really nice summary here if you want to read more: 5 Tips for Separating Power BI Datasets and Reports — Coates Data Strategies
Here are some other good references on this topic:
Split up an existing Power BI report into a Golden Dataset and a thin report (thebiccountant.com)
Splitting a Power BI (PBIX) File into a Dataset and Lean Report File – YouTube by
Havens Consulting
Doing Power BI the Right Way: 7. Planning for separation – data models and reports | Paul Turley’s SQL Server BI Blog by Paul Turley
Hi! Excelent presentation! Thanks!