What's New: Power BI and Reporting for Developers (2023 release wave 2)

Overview

The session covers how Business Central reporting splits into three kinds of reports and what analytics different roles need. It then walks through new options for AL developers to embed Power BI content, with a live demo of expanded mode, report page control and visual embedding.

It also shows the analysis UI on queries, Excel layouts with multiple data sheets for Power Pivot, and teaching tips and context-sensitive help on queries and reports. It closes with learning resources and advice to understand customers’ analytical requirements before choosing a technology.

Key points

• An AL action can open a Power BI report in expanded mode so the user gets the full screen area.
• Developers can lock the selected report in a context and control, with flags, whether users can change the report page or switch to another report.
• The PowerBI Display Element record is used to configure what is embedded: element type, report ID and embed URL taken from the Power BI REST APIs.
• Single report visuals can be embedded by giving the page ID and visual ID from the Power BI report, so a chart can be shown instead of the whole report.
• Power BI scorecards can be embedded as reports, and need a scorecard key and an invite URL; end users can also set up scorecards without code if the KPIs are already defined in Power BI.
• Queries get an analysis toggle button, so they can be used as actions on pages for slice-and-dice, grouping and pivoting, not only for performance tuning.
• Report objects get a property for Excel layouts with multiple data sheets, giving each data item its own worksheet for Power Query and Power Pivot relationships.

Features

AL objects mentioned

As heard in the captions. A name that matches one object page by exact type and name links to it; the others stay as named.

• table “PowerBI Display Element” at 7:50
• page 16 “Chart of Accounts” at 9:31
• query “item hero query” at 19:18
• query “analyze item Ledger” at 19:59

Not found in BC28-30: table “PowerBI Display Element”, query “item hero query”, query “analyze item Ledger”.

Quotes

• 1:31 “reporting in business Central means actually traditionally three things analytical reports processing only reports where you just use the request page as something to”
• 4:07 “we need or we want Core Business scenarios for business Central to have outof thee boox reporting analytics Simply Built in so no need”
• 4:27 “most analytics um users need can be covered with no code or low code Solutions”
• 5:39 “you can open a report in expanded mode directly using an Al action for example so the user can use all the real estate”
• 6:19 “prior to this power be beted was maybe more thought of as an end use experience where end users would embed their things but”
• 8:31 “you can have the show pains in expanded mode and show pains in normal mode Flags these are controlling whether the user can change”
• 11:20 “this enables you as a partner to prevent the user from Ming up with the powerbi setup”
• 13:59 “that is available from the current wave so instead you can have a report visual”
• 15:19 “full flexibility into that hierarchy of visuals now available for for developers”
• 16:41 “powerbi recognizes scorecards as reports so you have to set it as report and then you need the scorecard key and the invite URL”
• 18:38 “there’s now a new this new analysis toggle uh button on uh on on a query and uh we also added support for run”
• 23:09 “on the report object as a developer you now have a new property called Excel layout multiple data sheets”
• 25:57 “teaching tips is now available on queries and on reports”
• 26:38 “if you click show help you would get the same information in the help pane and the context sensitive help page will now”
• 26:58 “a new kit on the Block usage category for for queries if you set this to reports and Analysis”
• 27:32 “the code that I showed you earlier is for the major part available on the BCT Tech Reaper which you can find at aka.”
• 31:27 “understand the customers analytical requirements stop just developing blindly reports start supporting their analytical needs”
• 31:47 “powerbi is the Microsoft tool of choice for business analysis and in particular for business Central data”
• 32:08 “queries are not just for performance analysis anymore it’s a powerful tool where you can mash up data give it to the customers they”
• 33:09 “instead of build me a report maybe the customer is just asking build me a report data set and when you do that”

Disclaimers in the video

• 1:00 preview: a new feature that is even not yet in the release notes
• 26:58 subject-to-change: in 23 um version 23.1 it will also show up in uh in help me in in sorry in tell me help and in report Explorer

Presenters (as heard): Kenny Ponan, Riku, Ken, Ero, Enrio.