Power BI offers the data tools that transform the data sets into comprehensible visuals that even a newbie with no knowledge of IT operations or programming can access. So, anyone who wants to build a promising career in data analytics can learn Power BI. To help you get your Power BI job, we prepared these Power BI Interview questions, which include questions for beginners, intermediate-level, and experienced.
Power BI is one of the fast-growing business analytics services from Microsoft. This self-service business intelligence tool is a new flash in the data-driven industry. It simplified the workaround of getting data from multiple sources and collating them into one tool for proper management.
Many top organizations today rely on Microsoft Power BI to get better business insights. Also, Microsoft Power BI has made its place in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant as a leading analytics and business intelligence platform for the fourteenth consecutive year. As far as the scope is concerned, Power BI will continue to be a top player in the coming years. If you like to work with data, visualizations, discovering insights, etc., then getting a Power BI certification can help you to stand out in the job market
And if you’ve started to prepare for PowerBI roles in the IT industry, make sure you go through these frequently asked Power BI Interview Questions and Answers. These are compiled by our trainers from basic to advanced levels to help you get started with Power BI easily. If you want to enhance your Power BI basics, you can take a look at this Power BI Tutorial blog.
So, here are the top Power BI Questions that you might face in a Power BI job interview:
Let's start with some commonly asked Power BI interview questions and answers for beginners.
Power BI is a Business Analytics solution by Microsoft used to visualize business data from hundreds of data sources and share insights across your organization. It is a cloud-based Self-Service BI tool that collects applications, connectors, and software services used to organize raw data into informative content.
The most prominent uses of Power BI are:
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Managed Enterprise BI | Self-Service BI |
Here, data flows from many sources, and there is no order for companies to ingest and manage data sources. | Enables companies to ingest data seamlessly from any data source. |
There are time constraints and a lack of proper information when it comes to analyzing data. | Analyzing data is easy. |
Complex programming skills are required to generate reports. | Users could generate actionable and intuitive dashboards almost instantaneously without executing complex programming codes. |
Companies are unable to run business operations effectively, as they cannot report and analyze data and collaborate valuable insights from it. | With data ingestion falling into order, companies can process data and conduct business operations with ease. |
The primary purpose of Power BI is to scale business growth by putting information together in a more efficient way. It brings your company data forward in a seamless, comprehensive interface. Employees and team members come forward in a streamlined fashion with access to identical information that has been translated into simplified reports, charts, diagrams, and more. Power BI Works more efficiently by improving your operational efficiency.
The building blocks of Power BI are:
These are various Power BI components.
When users in Power BI click on the icon “Get Data”, a drop-down menu displays all data sources from which data can be ingested. Data can directly get ingests from sources such as Excel, XML, PDF, JSON, CSV, and SharePoint folder databases and formats such as SQL, SQL Server Analysis Services, IBM, Access, Oracle, MySQL, and much more.
As the name suggests, relationships in Power BI are used to define connections or the relation between two or more tables. To perform analysis on multiple tables, relationships are used.
To create and manage relationships in Power BI Desktop:
Parameter | Power BI | Excel |
Tabular reports | Power BI is not so handy for tabular style reports | Excel is better at handling tabular-style reports. |
Duplicate Table | Cannot display duplicated tables | Allows to display duplicated tables |
Reports | Offers beautiful, personalized, and interactive reports | Doesn’t offer advanced cross-filtering between charts. |
Cross filtering | Offers advanced features in cross-filtering between charts. | Doesn’t offer advanced cross-filtering between charts. |
Analytics | Offers simple analytics | Offers high-level analytics |
Applications | Ideal for dashboards, KPIs, alerts, and visualizations, including analysing your data visually. | Excel does have some new charts now, and they can’t connect to the data model. |
Power View can be used to download data to Excel as well as make nice transformations.
Example: Filter, merge multiple sources, calculate, etc.
Power View enables you to present the data in reports
Power BI Personal Gateway is used for reports that are deployed in Powerbi.com. On the other hand, data management is an app that installs the gateway on source data machines to deploy reports on Sharepoint and schedule to refresh automatically.
DAX stands for Data Analysis Expressions. It is a collection of operators, functions, and constants used to calculate formulas and return values. In other words, it helps you create new info from data you already have.
The sum function (Sum()) takes the data columns and aggregates them totally but the SumX function (SumX()) lets you filter the data which you are adding.
SUMX(Table, Expression), where the table contains the rows for calculation. Expression is a calculation that will be evaluated on each row of the table.
Power BI is a business intelligence and Analytics tool for non-technical and technical users to manage, analyze, visualize and share data with others. One of its key features is visualization - that is, presenting data and insights using appealing visuals. Among the visuals available in power BI are maps.
There are 4 types of core or built-in map visuals:
Power BI utilizes two built-in map charts map and a filled map. A filled map shows data points with geospatial areas rather than points on a map. Areas can be continent, country, state, city. Working with a filled map, however, is not as easy and convenient as the map chart is
The Power BI data sources are extensive, which are divided as follows:
Files: Data can be imported from Power BI Desktop files (.pbix), Excel (.xlsx, xlxm), and Comma Separated Value (.csv).
Content Packs: It refers to the collection of related files or documents that are stored as a group. There are two types of content packs in Power BI: those from service providers including Google Analytics, Salesforce, or Marketo, and those created and shared by other users in the organization.
Connectors: To connect databases and other datasets, including Database, Azure SQL, and SQL Server Analysis Services tabular data, etc.
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Power BI Desktop is a free desktop application that can be installed on your computer. It cohesively works with the Power BI service by providing advanced data modeling, shaping, exploration, and creating reports with highly interactive visualizations. It enables users to save the work to a file or publish their reports and data right to your Power BI site to share with others.
Below are the distinct Excel BI add-ons.
Power BI is available in two versions: Power BI Free and Power BI Pro.
Users can use Power BI for free. However, the Power BI Pro subscription avails more from Microsoft Store. The subscription offers an enhanced version of various features available with the free Power BI account. Most business users use the subscribed account as it provides more data refreshers per day and other features than the free version.
Power Query is available in Power BI Desktop through the power query editor. To open the power query editor, select Edit Queries from the Power BI Desktop home tab.
The ribbon in Power Query Editor consists of five tabs - home, transform, add column, view, and help.
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Power BI stores data in a few different locations. All the data stays secure through measures such as encryption and password protection. It mainly depends on the channel that you used to import the data. Data is stored in a few places, but it all boils down to one of the main two locations: the cloud and your desktop.
To perform grouping in power bi, please select the fields you want to group, and right-click on it will open the context menu. Please select the Group option from the menu.
Once you click on the group option, Power BI will automatically group those items, as shown below. That's it; we did the grouping. If you observe closely, the legend section is replaced by group, and colour is placed in the details section.
Power BI Desktop is supported on Windows 8 or newer versions of Windows. Download the Power BI Desktop version that matches the architecture (x86 or x64) of your Windows OS.
M is a query formula language used in Power BI Query Editor to prepare data before loading in the Power BI model.
Power Query works with Excel, Analysis Services, and Power BI workbooks. Its core functionality is to filter and combine, i.e., to mash up data from one or more rich collections of supported data sources. Any such data mashup is expressed using Power Query M Formula Language.
Power Query is available through getting & Transform in Excel 2016 or Power Pivot.
In Power BI, we have the following views:
Also Read: Power BI Gateway |
Row-level security restricts the data that users view and access based on filters. To configure row-level security, users can define rules and roles within Power BI Desktop and publish them to Power BI Service. Also, the username() function can restrict data in the table to the current user.
However, to enable row-level security, a Power BI Pro subscription account is essential, and Excel sheets can be used when converted to the .pbix file format.
Following are the ways to implement Row Level Security in Power BI:
One of the most important features of Power BI is Bidirectional cross-filtering. This feature allows you to apply filters on both sides of a table relationship, using right-to-left and left-to-right options for their calculations. Through this, modelers can know how exactly particular relationships can work in multiple contexts.
Power BI Query Editor transforms or edits data files before they are loaded. The Query Editor is an intermediate data container where you can transform data by selecting rows and columns, splitting rows and columns, pivoting and unpivoting columns, etc. Power BI Query Editor includes four tabs, they are:
The above image shows a blank Power BI Query Editor, which is ready for data loading, extraction, and transformation.
Power BI is a stand-alone application to make Power BI reports and upload them to Powerbi.com; it does not require excel. It is the combination of Power Pivot, Power View, and Power Query.
The Gateway acts as an extension between azure cloud administration and on-premise data sources. There are three major types of Gateways listed as follows:
Yes, Power BI can display geographical visualizations. That’s why some kind of location data is needed.
For example, state, country, or latitude and longitude.
Z-order is a design strategy used to arrange visuals over shapes. It can also be defined as a method applied to implement when reports consist of multiple elements. Moreover, this can also be used to refresh the display when items in a report are changed.
In Power BI, the primary requirement for the table is that it contains unique rows. It must also contain location data, which can be in a Latitude/Longitude pair.
You can use address fields instead, such as street, city, etc., which Bing can geolocate.
Power BI | Power Query | Power Pivot |
Business Intelligence tool | Import and shape data | Data modeling and calculations |
M and DAX languages supported | M language supported | DAX language supported |
Incredible visualization options | Easy to use interface | Handles millions of rows of data. |
Simple built-in interactive options | Powerful tools to import and clean data | Modeling tools for efficient data storage and analysis |
Powerful DAX calculations | All Excel users can benefit from this tool | Powerful DAX calculations going beyond standard Excel |
Of course, Power Bi reports can be refreshed with Data Management Gateway and Power BI Personal Gateway.
In Power BI, content packs are used to share objects, such as reports, dashboards, or datasets with individuals within your organization. The sharing takes place over the Power BI website and can be shared with multiple users. No one can change the original content in the content pack. Also, users have “read-only” access to the Power BI content shared with them.
Many-to-many relationships involve a bridge or junction table that reflects the combinations of two dimensions. Either all possible combinations or those combinations that have occurred.
A relationship with many-to-many cardinality in Power BI is composed of three features:
Dataset | Report | Dashboard |
A series of Power Query queries that have been shaped in a DAX model. | A series of visualizations, filters, and static elements on a canvas. | A way of pulling visualizations together from several reports. |
A Power BI dataset can have many data sources. | Each report can have multiple sheets. | A Power BI dashboard is a single page, often called a canvas, that uses visualizations to tell a story. |
A data set can have one report, and a report can have one data set. | The data set and your report are going to have a one-to-one relationship. | A dashboard is a tool for pinning visuals from different reports and other sources of data. |
Following are the ways to integrate SSRS with Power BI:
It is a function that allows manipulating data using periods.
Mindmajix instructor-led training completely prepares you for the certification. We provide two industry-specific projects in the course, which helps you have hands-on experience on all possible scenarios that are part of certification.
Five major reasons why Power BI will create a good career path for you:
Variety of job roles available:
Microsoft Self-Service BI has two parts:
Power BI offers distinct kinds of features to help you get started in searching for data in a completely new way. Power BI Pro, on the other hand, caters to some additional features like scheduling data, live data sources, storage capacity, complete interactivity, and much more.
Excel BI Toolkit allows users for creating an interactive report by importing data from a distinct range of sources and model data according to requirements.
Both Power BI Desktop and Power BI are free of cost. For Power BI Pro, users have to pay $9.99 per month after a 60-day free trial.
To use Power BI, you need to have a web browser and a work email address.
work email addresses finishing in .mil and .gov are not supported currently.
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Power BI does not have email addresses provided by telecommunications providers and consumer email services, thus there is a need of signing up with work email.
Work email addresses that are finished with .org and .edu are currently supported.
Yes, Power BI supports mobile devices. It consists of apps for iOS devices, Windows 10 devices, and Android smartphones. You can install Power BI apps from the below app stores:
Visualization is a process to represent data in pictorial form like tables, graphs, or charts based on the specific requirement.
The report is a Power BI feature that is a result of visualized data from a single data set. A report can have multiple pages of visualization.
Power Pivot is an in-memory component that enables storing compressed data. It is used to build data models, and relationships, create formulas, and calculate columns from different resources.
Filters are applicable in:
The following data sources that support DirectQuery in Power BI are as follows:
You can take data and create reports at the click of a button. You can take data and create reports with a button click. It helps in attracting new customers to service and monitor existing customers. You can keep track of information and set your goals accordingly. In general, building an ETL solution (Extraction, Transformation, and Loading) ultimately helps to make better decisions. The ROI is very high Helps to make unwanted data into progressive information.
Datasets are the data sources that are uploaded or connected to databases. These sources include Excel workbooks and Power BI Desktop files. The following are also included in your data capacity. Reporting Services on-premises visualizations are pinned to a Power BI dashboard.
To use the Power BI service for free, you need a work email and a web browser. With this, you can explore data as well as create reports in Power BI Desktop. The mobile app can be downloaded from the following stores:
Google Play, App Store, and Windows Store.
There are some resources to get assistance and get started with Power BI. They are as follows:
SSBI stands for Self-Service Business Intelligence. It can also be termed as accessing data analytics to empower business users to divide, clean, and interpret data. SSBI has made it easy for end-users to access their data and create various kinds of visuals to acquire useful business insights. Anyone who has basic data knowledge can build reports for creating spontaneous and shareable dashboards.
The dashboard is used to visualize the strategic data of one or multiple reports at a glance.
CORR is a correlation function that provides a correlation between two distinct variables ranging from -1 to 1.
Here are the main advantages of Power BI
There are two destinations for output we get from power query:
1. SQL Server Import: SQL Server Import is the default and most general connectivity type utilized in Power BI. It enables you to use all of its capabilities.
2. Direct Query: The Direct Query Connection is available when we connect to particular data sources. In this type of Connectivity, Power BI will only save the metadata of inherent and actual data.
3. Live Connection: This type of Connectivity does not store the data in the Power BI model. All interactions with the report through the live connection query the available analysis service model.
A data source filter is a parameter of data filtering before loading into machines.
Below are different Power BI services/products:
Power View is a data visualization technology, which lets you create interactive graphs, charts, maps, and other visuals to bring life to your data. It is available in Excel, SQL Server, SharePoint, and Power BI.
A new programming language is used in a power query called M-Code. It is easy to use and similar to other languages. M-code is a case-sensitive language.
Go to getting data Sources and click on your required sources (Excel, SQL, CSV) then Load it. Click on the Data view to view that data.
To choose the table click on the fields and you can pick a visualization to generate a report.
Streaming datasets (we need to have data that is cached in memory before we use streaming data sets)
Hybrid Datasets
Dynamic Filtering in Power BI is done by the following steps:
Power BI license can be purchased at powerbi.com. However, you can also get assistance from Microsoft partners to aid using Power BI implementation.
The user cannot avail of the service as an internal or private cloud service. However, with Power BI and Power BI Desktop, the user can connect to their on-premise data sources securely.
Data Analysis Expression (DAX) is used to calculate column fields in Power Pivot.
It is a model that is made up of data types, tables, columns, and table relations. The data tables are generally constructed to hold data for a business entity.
Power Query is an ETL tool to clean, shape, and transform data without any code using intuitive interfaces. With this:
M-code which is a new programming language is used in Power Query. This language is easy to use and is quite similar to other languages. Also, it is case-sensitive.
Two destinations are there for the output we receive from the power query. They are:
Power BI Designer, a standalone app that is used to create reports in Power BI and to upload them to Powerbi.com. It is a combination of Power View, Power Pivot, and Power Query.
The split function is used for splitting the string database on the given delimiter.
Power BI app is available for:
There is a new design tool that is used in the new Power BI called Power BI Desktop. It is a standalone designer, including Power Pivot, Power View, and Power Query in the back end. Whereas, Older Power BI consists of excel add-ins. In the newer Power BI version, there are several graphs available including treemap, line area chart, waterfall, combo chart, etc.
No, it is not possible. There cannot be more than one active relationship in the power pivot data model between two tables. It is possible to have only one active and many inactive relationships.
The common data shaping techniques are:
KPIs are Key Performance Indicators, which evaluate the organization’s performance in distinct areas by evaluating measurable goals and values. A KPI has a measure or base value that is evaluated against target values. It includes a comparison of the performance with the target. The KPI also helps you evaluate the analysis performances with their graphical representation. Thus, KPIs will show whether your goals have been met or not.
We can use both Distinct() and Values() functions to return the values into a column or cell on the worksheet. The difference between them is that the Values() function returns blank values along with unique values, whereas the Distinct() function returns only unique values.
The advantages of the Direct query method are listed as follows:
Users can build huge data sets of data visualizations using the Direct Query Method, but the Power BI desktop supports data visualizations on smaller sets alone. There is no limit to the dataset for the direct query method and a 1GB dataset limit is not applicable in this method.
If you want to put a scenario and based on that if you want to see the visuals, the best is the What-if parameter. It helps you to forecast data and perform advanced analytics. For example, if you have set up the product discount from the what-if parameter from 1 to 10. And users can change the values and see the changes in profit, sales, revenue, margin, etc. that help in detailed analysis.
Incremental refresh is used to refresh the newly added data to avoid truncating and loading data.
The major tabs in the Reports development Window are as follows:
Around 26 Views
Using Normal filters users were not allowed to interact with dashboards or reports, but using slicers we can interact with dashboards and reports.
A Parameter in Power BI is a dynamic filter that is used in the calculation fields. It is based on the parameter value result that can vary.
A new column is an area in Power Bi where the physical data is stored when logic is applied, whereas, the measure is where the calculations are performed on the fly based on dimensions. Measure, unlike Column, won't store any physical data.
There is an option in the Power BI service, which publishes to the web to generate a link address for the Power BI report and can be shared across clients.
In the menu bar, choose the Selection pane and hide/unhide the report and the action to pass to the bookmark.
A gauge chart is used to compare two different measures where the Target and Actuals are inferred.
There are two destinations for output we get from power query:
Yes, you can refresh the data reports which are uploaded to the cloud. Power BI personal gateway and Data management gateway helps you acquire the same.
To understand the difference between Power BI Dashboard and Report, let’s run through some quick points.
Capability | Report | Dashboard |
Pages | Can be of one or more pages. | Consists of one page only |
Data sources | It has a single dataset per report. | Can have data tiles from one or more datasets or reports. |
Filtering | Can perform slicing, filtering, and highlighting. | Cannot filter or slice reports. |
Set alerts | No option for setting alerts. | Enable setting email alerts |
Featured reports | No option for creating a featured dashboard. | Enables to set only one dashboard as a featured dashboard. |
Accessing tables and fields in datasets | Provides options to view dataset tables, values, and fields. | Cannot view or access underlying datasets tables and fields. |
Toggling is an action that is achieved in Power BI reports when there exist two or more dimensions. With “Enlighten Slicer”, you can show this in Power BI and can be imported from Marketplace.
Rank() calculates regular competition rank thus returning identical values. You can ask for ascending or descending values in the second argument accordingly.
The main aspect to learn before attending any PowerBi interview is “how the data representation and general business intelligence is going to work!”
One of the great reasons for choosing a career in BI is the on-demand outlook. According to a report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for expert BI managers and analysts is expected to soar to 14% by 2026, with the overall need for data professionals to climb to 28% by 2020.
Both Tableau and Power BI allow the user to connect to distinct data sources. However, Tableau provides better support to connect to a different data warehouse, and Power BI is heavily integrated with Microsoft’s portfolio like the Azure cloud platform.
Any data analyst can quickly connect with any data source, summarizing the findings into simple reports without any programming experience. With Power Pivot built into the Power BI, analytics measures were developed using DAX query language from Microsoft.
Power BI doesn’t require users to write SQL code like BI tools but requires MS Excel knowledge.
Data is useless without proper analytics. Any professional with analytical skills can easily master the ocean of Big Data and become a crucial asset to the organization, boosting the business as well as career. There are several on-demand job opportunities in Big Data management and Analytics and are constantly growing.
Power BI is mainly used by:
Power BI is a more powerful tool compared to Microsoft Excel. Power BI is easy to use and is much more flexible while Microsoft Excel is not so handy to use. Power BI is mostly used for data visualization and dashboard sharing to a large number of users while Microsoft Excel is mostly used for in-depth driver analysis.
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In Power BI, a user can export any dashboard or visual. To export your data, choose the ellipses (3 dots) on the top-right side of any visualization and choose the icon: Export data. Your data is exported as an a.CSV file. You can even save and open the file in Excel.
Follow these steps to manage a role in Power BI
These can be answered in four simple steps as follows:
Here are key differences between Power BI vs Tableau
Feature | Power BI | Tableau |
Data visualization | Focuses only on modeling and reporting | Best tool |
Cost | Less expensive | Very expensive since it uses data warehousing |
Machine Learning | It is associated with Microsoft Azure. | It has python Machine learning. |
User Interface | Simple and easy to use | Use a customized dashboard |
Data handling | It drags down slow when handling huge data | Handles bulk data |
Power BI Service is a cloud-based analytics solution that helps you to create dashboards and publish, design reports, collaborate and share the reports with internal and external stakeholders.
Summarize is a DAX function that gives an aggregated result from a table.
This is how you can use summarize function:
Yes, you can export a Power BI report data to another file format, such as PowerPoint, PDF, Image, Microsoft Word, or Microsoft Excel, or export the report by generating an Atom service document, listing the Atom-compliant data feeds available from the report.
The difference is the context of evaluation. A measure is evaluated in the context of the cell evaluated in a report or in a DAX query. While the calculated column is computed at the row level within the table it belongs to.
This is one of the important Power BI questions. As a developer, while developing projects, you may face one or two performance issues based on the type of data you use. Explain how you overcome those issues.
There is a limitation to export data for large data sets in Power BI
DATEDADD is the most versatile function used for time intelligence. However, pretty much of the time intelligence can be recreated with DATEDADD.
Following the tidy data philosophy, column usage should be limited. Also utilizing the star schema to limit joins will also improve the model.
Disabling unused tables from loading also helps. Also using lookups can also improve overall functionality.
You can dynamically change and switch functions to show multiple measures using harvesting measures.
Dashboards, datasets, and reports are the heart of Power BI, and they enable users to create personalized dashboards combining cloud-born and on-premises data in a single view. It allows monitoring the most important data enterprise-wide and from all their business apps.
139. What are the differences between MSBI and Power BI?
MSBI | Power BI |
In MSBI, SSRS is utilized for accessing and integrating the process components and programming the interfaces for testing and and sharing the reports on several devices. | Power BI is a collection of BI tools and techniques used for creating the reports and dashboards by transforming the raw data into customised charts, maps, and graphs. |
We cannot access the data from the cloud storage. | We can access the data from both cloud and on-site. |
MSBI can manage massive datasets without stressing on computer systems. | Power BI will manage the datasets with a maximum of 33,000 rows or 10MB. If the data exceeds this limit, the user must execute the queries. |
In MSBI, SSRS can only be used for creating the reports and visualizations. | Power BI is used for creating the models, dashboards, and reports that can be accessed and shared through the web browsers and Power BI Apps |
139. Differentiate Tableau and Power BI
Tableau | Power BI |
Tableau can manage massive data sets without impacting system performance | Power BI can manage a huge volume of data sets. |
Experienced professionals can use Tableau for data analytics purposes. | Power BI, with its user-friendly interface, is a versatile tool that caters to both beginners and experienced users, providing reassurance about its adaptability. |
Tableau Interface is developed to understand the non-technical user. | Power BI includes an easy-to-learn interface that lets users visualize the data and create reports. |
Embedding Reports in Tableau is a real-world challenge. | Power BI simplifies the process of embedding reports, making it a user-friendly feature that puts the audience at ease with its functionality. |
Tableau utilizes the Multidimensional Expressions(MDX) to create complex calculations and measure dimensions and columns. | Power BI utilizes Data Analysis Expression(DAX) to build expressions and formulas to measure the columns. |
140. What are the different kinds of Visualizations in Power BI?
Following are the different kinds of visualizations in Power BI:
1) Bar and Column Charts: We can utilize these visualizations to look at a particular value throughout several categories.
The above bar chart shows the sales happened in the four quarters
2) Area Charts: Area Charts will help you visualize the extent of change over time.
3) Doughnut and Pie Charts: These charts will allow you to visualize the relationship between whole parts.
4) Cards: Cards will display the aggregate value of a specific data point.
5) Slicers: A slicer can be used for filtering the other visuals on the page.
6) Maps: Maps will display categorical and quantitative data with dimensional locations.
7) Matrix: Matrix is a kind of table that allows you to see the aggregate data easily.
141. What are the different kinds of Filters in Power BI Reports?
Following are the different types of Filters:
142. Differentiate Calculated Columns, Calculated Tables, and Measures
Calculated Columns | Calculated Tables | Measures |
Calculated Columns are included in the tables by applying the DAX formula to the existing data. | Calculated tables are created using the DAX formulas to define the values. | Measures will utilize DAX functions to create difficult calculations. |
DAX formula specifies values in the new columns instead of querying the data sources. | Calculated Tables are created in both Report and Data views | Measures can be utilized to highlight the running totals, compare the sales, forecast sales, and other purposes. |
Calculated Columns are helpful when the data sources do not include the data displayed in the required format. | Calculated tables are suitable for intermediate calculations, and the data users need to store it in the data model. | Measures are generated in both Data Views and Reports. |
143. Explain Query Folding.
Query Folding relates to processes in the power query where the specified steps are converted into SQL and implemented by the source database rather than the client machine. This practice is substantial with respect to performance optimization and assuring scalability in data processing.
144. What is Self-Service in Power BI?
Self-Service BI, or Self-Service Business Intelligence, is an approach to data analytics, visualization, and reporting that allows users to create easy-to-understand, actionable, and intuitive dashboards almost immediately.
145. Explain in detail about Conditional Formatting.
Conditional FormattingFormatting is a feature that enables us to enforce different formatting styles on data elements according to their values and other conditions. We can apply conditional Formatting to several visual elements, like matrix cells, table cells, colour scales, and data bars. Some general use cases for conditional Formatting include emphasizing trends, highlighting outliers, and visualizing data quality issues.
146. How do we optimize the performance of the Power BI Reports?
Following are some techniques to optimize the Power BI Reports:
147. What is the difference between a Slicer and a Filter?
In PowerBI, a slicer is a visual element that enables us to filter the data in the report by choosing particular ranges and values. Slicers offer a more user-friendly and interactive way of filtering the data than conventional filters. Filters are applied directly to the individual visualizations and data model and are not visible to the end-user.
148. What is the difference between CALCULATETABLE and CALCULATE functions?
CALCULATETABLE and CALCULATE are the only functions that filter and modify the table. These can be added to existing queries or filters, remove the existing filter context from queries and override the filter context of queries.
149. Explain Custom Visuals in Power BI.
In Power BI, we can create visuals from the library of custom visualizations. We should create a development project and then test the visual in the Power BI Service. Whenever a custom visual is created, it is tested before posting. It is saved as the “.pbviz” file.
150. Why do we use the custom visual file?
We use custom visuals when the pre existing visuals do not suit the business requirements. Generally, Custom Visuals are created by the developers and can be utilized in a similar way as the prepackaged files.
151. What are the data sources of the Power Map?
The data sources can be external or Excel. While preparing the data, you have to ensure that all the data is in the format of an Excel table, in which every row represents a distinct record. The column and row headings should include text, not actual data. This is critical to ensure that Power Map interprets it properly while plotting the geographical coordinates.
152. Describe Query Parameters in Power BI.
Query parameters are used to give users the local Power BI Desktop report with a prompt. This helps us to specify the values they are interested in:
153. What are the different stages of working with Power BI?
Following are the different stages of Power BI
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Importing data into Power BI Desktop is an easy task. You can even create reports that share valuable insights without using DAX formulas in it. But if you want to analyze the growth percentage of different date ranges and across product categories or calculate year growth compared to market trends? DAX formulas support this capability. DAX stands for Data Analysis Expression language. Knowing how to use DAX formulas helps you to get the most out of your data. DAX works on operators, functions, and constants to further extend your model.
The three fundamental concepts of Power BI DAX are Syntax, Context, and Functions.
Syntax:
It comprises various components that make up the formula. To understand the DAX formula, let’s break down each of the elements into a language.
Total Sales = SUM(Sales[SalesAmount])
Context:
Functions:
Functions are structured, predefined, and ordered formulae. They complete calculations using arguments passed on to them.
A DAX function is a predefined formula that performs calculations on values provided to its arguments. The arguments in a function should be in a specific order and can be a column reference, text, numbers, constants, etc. Every function performs a particular operation on the values enclosed in an argument. There can be more than one argument in a DAX formula.
Some of the most commonly used DAX functions:
These functions carry out calculations on the date and time values.
Ex: DATE, CALENDER, HOUR, MINUTE
These functions are used to evaluate values over a fixed period.
Ex: DATESBETWEEN, ENDOFQUARTER, CLOSINGBALANCEMONTH
These functions provide particular information on the data values included in rows and columns. It checks the given condition in a function for the given value and returns TRUE or FALSE.
Ex: ISERROR, CUSTOMDATA, ISNONTEXT
These functions are used to evaluate an argument or expression logically.
Ex: AND, FALSE, IFERROR, IF
These functions are used to perform all sorts of mathematical functions on the reference values.
Ex: DIVIDE, FACT, ACOS
These functions carry out statistical and aggregation functions on data values in a DAX expression.
Ex: AVERAGE, COUNT, GENERATE
These are similar to the string functions of Excel.
Ex: FIND, LEFT, FIXED, FORMAT
These are used for data values that are a part of a parent-child hierarchy.
Ex: PATH, PATHITEM
In DAX formulas, these functions are used to apply operations and conditions on entire tables.
Ex: FILTER, VALUES, DISTINCT
There are a bunch of functions that do not fit in any particular category.
Ex: GROUPBY, EXCEPT, GENERATESERIES
DAX formulas can also be called DAX Calculations as they calculate an input value and return a resultant value. The calculations that you can perform using DAX in Power BI are Calculated Measures and Calculated Columns.
Calculated Measures: They create a field having aggregated values such as a sum, percentages, ratios, averages, etc.
Calculated Columns: They create a new column in your existing table. The only thing is there should be at least one function in the calculated column. When you want to create a column with filtered or sorted information, calculated columns are used.
Calculate functions allow you to modify the filter context of tables or measures. You can perform the following:
Required Skills for Power BI Developer:
Power BI works with the advanced version of excel, so one needs to have an excellent knowledge of MS Excel and to build interactive dashboards to get hired.
Q&A in Power BI allows you to explore data using natural language capabilities and obtain answers in the form of graphs and charts. You'll find Q&A on dashboards in the Power BI service.
In our Power BI interview questions and answers blog, we have gathered interview questions from various MNCs around the globe and curated the best and frequently asked questions with answers. Power BI Interview questions of Wipro, Deloitte, Mindtree, Microsoft, Cognizant, TCS, Amazon are covered in the blog.
Here are a few tips for acing your Power BI interview:
Learn everything there is to know about the organization. Tailor your responses specific to the company's needs.
Look over the responsibilities of the role. Brainstorm at least one example from your previous experience that matches the requirements listed. When the interviewer asks a question about that criterion, you'll be prepared with an example.
You may be asked questions about business intelligence processes, methodologies, or best practices. Review your knowledge in essential areas, through books, videos, tutorials, and more.
While you can't predict what the company will ask, familiarizing yourself with common interview questions will help you prepare.
No coding is required to use Power BI. It’s a data visualization tool to create business intelligence dashboards. However, Power BI has formula languages like M and DAX that executes operations similar to programming languages.
Yes, Power BI has a great scope. It has numerous benefits for any organization, and even novices can get jobs as a Power BI Developer at the junior level. There are various analytics focussed companies that readily hire talented Power BI Freshers these days.
To become a Power BI Developer, you must have key data visualization skills and an ability to glean insights from large data sets. Companies across all industries have made huge investments in big data, building out their analytics departments in numerous industries, making Power BI a field ripe with opportunities. This trend is projected to continue in the foreseeable future.
Here, are the five steps to become a Power BI Developer:
Yes, Power BI is a very good career. Simply put, there has never been a more exciting time to work with data. Every day, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created, and the rate is only increasing. As organisations' data collecting develops in extent and sophistication, it's inevitable that they'll want to make use of it, and Power BI pros are at the forefront of this trend.
On-premises or in the cloud, Power BI provides a scalable and unified platform for data collection, refinement, analysis, and presentation. Through interactive dashboards and data-rich, easy-to-understand reporting, it provides organizations with a 360-degree view of their operations. It is a part of Microsoft Business Intelligence (MSBI) suite, and it includes a variety of services, products, and applications.
Power BI jobs will offer you handsome salaries and give you a chance to work with top MNCs. In the United States, the average annual pay for a power bi developer is $105,000, or $53.85 an hour. Entry-level jobs start at $92,625 per year, with the highest-paid individuals earning up to $135,000 per year.
Power BI Developers are already in great demand, and that demand is projected to rise even more in the near future. By 2026, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts a 27.9% growth in demand for data skills.
To break into the data field, formal education is mandatory. A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Administration, or a closely related field is necessary. Aside from academic qualifications, the position of a Power BI Developer demands a lot.
Some of the key skills are listed below:
A Power BI developer is responsible for the development and administration of BI tools, as well as a complete understanding of the BI system. The primary responsibility of a Power BI developer is to transform raw data into actionable insights through interactive and user-friendly dashboards and reports. A Power BI developer is crucial to the company because of their strategic, executive, and management tasks and responsibilities.
The specific responsibilities that a Power BI Developer performs vary widely based on the industry and the organization for which they work. A Power BI developer should expect to encounter some or all of the roles and responsibilities listed below:
There are a variety of job profiles available due to Power BI's popularity:
Because of Power BI's ubiquity, there are a plethora of resources for aspiring professionals to understand all aspects of the platform, from the basic information to advanced.
Here is a list of different ways you may use to learn Power BI, whether you're just getting started or want to brush up on your existing knowledge.
Power BI is the best business intelligence tool most enterprises use. With the rise in demand for Power BI, most enterprises are searching for the skilled professionals as their employees. Thus, we have curated this Power BI Interview Questions blog covering all the essential topics to help you crack the job interviews. If you have any queries, let us know by commenting below.
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Prasanthi is an expert writer in MongoDB, and has written for various reputable online and print publications. At present, she is working for MindMajix, and writes content not only on MongoDB, but also on Sharepoint, Uipath, and AWS.