Integrating Energy BI with Azure DevOps (Git), half 2: Native Machine Integration

That is the second a part of the sequence of weblog posts exhibiting how one can combine Energy BI with Azure DevOps, a cloud platform for software program growth. The earlier publish gave a short historical past of supply management techniques, which assist builders handle code adjustments. It additionally defined what Git is, a quick and versatile distributed supply management system, and why it’s helpful. It launched the preliminary configurations required in Azure DevOps and defined how one can combine Energy BI (Cloth) Service with Azure DevOps.

This weblog publish explains how one can synchronise an Azure DevOps repository together with your native machine to combine your Energy BI Initiatives with Azure DevOps. Earlier than we begin, we have to know what a Energy BI Undertaking is and the way we will create it.

Energy BI Undertaking (*.PBIP) is a brand new file format for Energy BI Desktop that was introduced in Might 2023 and made obtainable for public preview in June 2023. It permits us to save lots of our work as a challenge, which consists of a folder construction containing particular person textual content information that outline the report and dataset artefacts. This allows us to make use of supply management techniques, resembling Git, to trace adjustments, evaluate revisions, resolve conflicts, and evaluate adjustments. It additionally allows us to make use of textual content editors, resembling Visible Studio Code, to edit the artefact definitions extra productively and programmatically. Moreover, it helps CI/CD (steady integration and steady supply), the place we submit adjustments to a sequence of high quality gates earlier than making use of them to the manufacturing system.

PBIP information differ from the common Energy BI Desktop information (PBIX), which retailer the report and dataset artefacts as a single binary file. This made integrating with supply management techniques, textual content editors, and CI/CD techniques tough. PBIP goals to beat these limitations and supply a extra developer-friendly expertise for Energy BI Desktop customers.

Since this characteristic remains to be in public preview when scripting this weblog publish, we now have to allow it from the Energy BI Desktop Choices and Settings.

Allow Energy BI Undertaking (Developer Mode) (Presently in Preview)

As talked about, we first must allow the Energy BI Undertaking (Developer Mode) characteristic, launched for public preview within the June 2023 launch of Energy BI Desktop. Energy BI Undertaking information enable us to save lots of our Energy BI information as *.PBIP information deconstruct the legacy Energy BI report information (*.PBIX) into well-organised folders and information.
With this characteristic, we will:

• Edit particular person elements of our Energy BI file, resembling information sources, queries, information mannequin, visuals, and many others.
• Use any textual content editor or IDE to edit our Energy BI file
• Evaluate and merge adjustments
• Collaborate with different builders on the identical Energy BI file

To allow Energy BI Undertaking (Developer Mode), comply with these steps in Energy BI Desktop:

1. Go to File
2. Click on Choices and settings
3. Click on Choices

4. Within the Choices dialog field, go to Preview options
5. Examine the field subsequent to Energy BI Undertaking information
6. Click on OK

After making use of the adjustments, we have to restart the Energy BI Desktop.

The first publish of this sequence defined how one can create a brand new Organisation, Undertaking, and Repo in Azure DevOps. So, we don’t repeat these steps right here. As a substitute, this part explains how one can clone our Git repository created on Azure DevOps on the native machine. Cloning is the method of copying a distant repository to an area machine in order that we will work on the challenge offline.

To clone a Git repo on an area machine, we require both to put in Visible Studio or Visible Studio Code (VS Code) on the native machine. We are able to additionally use Git Command Line for cloning. The latter is out of the scope of this weblog, so we give attention to utilizing the VS Code strategies.

Observe

Whatever the desired cloning methodology, we now have to put in Git on the native machine.

Observe these steps to shut Azure DevOps Repos with VS Code:

1. In your internet browser, navigate to your Azure DevOps Group utilizing this sample: https://dev.azure.com/{your_organization_name}
2. Click on the specified Undertaking

3. Click on Repos
4. Click on the Clone button
5. From the Clone Repository pane, click on the Clone in VS Code button
6. Click on the Open button

7. Now you get a message on VS Code to Permit an extension to open this URL; click on the Open button

8. Choose a Folder to clone information
9. Click on the Choose as Repository Vacation spot button

10. Go your credentials on the Git Credential Supervisor and click on the Check in button

We’re accomplished now. You possibly can click on both the Open button to navigate to the chosen cloned repo throughout the VS Code or click on the Open in New Window button to open a brand new occasion of VS Code and navigate to the cloned repo.

To date, we now have cloned an Azure DevOps repo with VS Code. The following step is to create a Energy BI Undertaking.

Create a Energy BI Undertaking

The following step is to create a Energy BI Undertaking utilizing Energy BI Desktop. You possibly can both create a brand new challenge from scratch or convert an present PBIX file right into a Energy BI Undertaking file (PBIP). On this weblog publish, I create a brand new file from scratch.

To create a Energy BI Undertaking file, comply with these steps:

1. Open a brand new occasion of Energy BI Desktop, then click on the File menu
2. Click on the Save as choice
3. Click on the Browse this machine

Observe

You could wish to save the challenge in your OneDrive. In that case choose the OneDrive choice on the Save as menu.

4. Within the Save As dialog field, select the situation of the cloned Azure DevOps repo
5. Sort in a reputation in your file
6. Within the Save as kind drop-down listing, choose the Energy BI Undertaking information (*.pbip) choice
7. Click on Save

Once we navigate to the situation the place we saved the challenge, we are going to see that the folder accommodates the next:

• The PBIP From Scratch.pbip file
• A PBIP From Scratch.Dataset folder
• A PBIP From Scratch.Report folder

You possibly can discover and edit these folders and information utilizing Energy BI Desktop or another device of your alternative resembling Tabular Editor or perhaps a notepad editor resembling Notepad++.

Now that we created the Energy BI challenge, let’s keep on and create a easy information mannequin and report.
Since that is only a easy check, we will hook up with any information supply of alternative, I exploit Microsoft’s SQL Server pattern database: AdventureWorks2022DW.
In my pattern, I get information from the next tables:

• DimDate
• DimProduct
• FactInternetSales

I additionally created a brand new measure as under:

Gross sales = SUM(FactInternetSales[SalesAmount])

Then I created a easy report with a slicer and a line chart as follows, and I saved the adjustments regionally on my machine:

Now on VS Code:

1. The Supply Management pane detected a few adjustments
2. To commit the adjustments we enter a remark that explains what we now have accomplished
3. Click on the Commit button to commit the adjustments to Azure DevOps Repo

Relying in your VS Code settings, it’s possible you’ll get the next message on VS Code saying “There are not any staged adjustments to commit. Would you prefer to stage all of your adjustments and commit them instantly?” as proven within the following picture. This query asks you if you need to Stage all adjustments first, after which Commit them regionally. Be taught extra about Staging adjustments and Committing right here.

I choose All the time as I don’t need VS Code to ask the identical query once more sooner or later.

To date, we dedicated adjustments to our native machine, we now wish to publish the adjustments to Azure DevOps.

4. Sort in a remark
5. Click on the Publish Department button

Now, we efficiently Pushed all adjustments to the Azure DevOps repo. The following step is to verify the DevOps repo. Checking if the adjustments have gone by way of on Azure DevOps is straightforward. We simply must navigate to the specified Undertaking on Azure DevOps.

Log into Cloth and navigate to the specified Workspace. If you happen to appropriately configured Git Integration from the Workspace Settings, you need to see that the Workspace contents synchronised with the Azure DevOps repo.

As you see, in my case, the synchronisation was profitable. Now, let’s open the report and see whether it is truly working.

As you may see, the report is empty. It is because the Git integration in Cloth solely synchronises the dataset and report definitions, not the info. Subsequently, we now have to both refresh the dataset or Publish the report back to Cloth from Energy BI Desktop.

Observe

Since we work on a Energy BI Undertaking, for those who use older variations of Energy BI Desktop than the Aug 2023 launch, the Publish button is disabled.

That is it for this weblog publish.
Within the subsequent weblog, we take a look at some real-world working eventualities and focus on present limitations and concerns.
So keep tuned for that.

As at all times, I might like to know your opinion and ideas. So please share with us what you suppose within the feedback part under.