1. Power BI Desktop User Interface: Ribbon, Panels, and Views

Ribbon

• The Ribbon is located at the top of the Power BI Desktop window and contains a variety of tabs that offer functionality for different tasks.
  • Home Tab: Includes essential options for importing data, transforming data, managing relationships, and refreshing datasets.
  • Insert Tab: Provides options for inserting new visuals, text boxes, and shapes into reports.
  • Model Tab: Used for working with the data model, creating relationships, and managing tables.
  • View Tab: Allows users to change the report view mode, such as enabling the performance analyzer or changing the report layout.

Panels

Power BI Desktop consists of three primary panes (panels) that offer essential tools for creating and customizing reports:

• Fields Pane: Located on the right side, this pane lists all available tables, columns, and measures. It allows users to drag-and-drop fields to create visuals and reports.
• Visualizations Pane: This pane provides different types of visualizations (charts, tables, maps, etc.) and customization options for them. Users can select a visual type and drag it onto the report canvas to begin visualization.
• Filters Pane: This is where users can add filters to their reports, applying filters at the visual, page, or report level. Filters help users narrow down the data displayed in their visuals.

Views in Power BI Desktop

• Report View: The default view where users can design and build interactive reports. It is represented by a white canvas where users create and arrange visuals.
• Data View: Allows users to see the underlying data (tables) behind the visualizations. This view enables users to inspect the data before building visual reports.
• Model View: Displays the relationships between tables in the data model. It’s used for managing and defining relationships between different data sources, organizing tables, and establishing data models.

2. Data Model & Report View

• Data Model View: The Data Model View enables users to visualize and manage how different tables and data sources are related. It supports creating relationships between tables, which is essential for creating complex data models.

  • Relationships: Users can define relationships between tables by dragging and connecting fields between different tables. These relationships ensure that data from different sources can be combined correctly in visuals.
  • Cardinality: You can define the cardinality of relationships (e.g., one-to-many, many-to-one), which determines how Power BI handles the connections between tables.

• Report View: The Report View is where users create interactive reports by adding visuals to the canvas. This is where the majority of the report design takes place, and it allows users to combine different types of visualizations into a single report.

  • Visualizations: Includes bar charts, line charts, tables, maps, and more.
  • Slicers: Interactive elements that allow report consumers to filter data directly within the report.