Use Microsoft Dataverse

Power Platform has a family of products that offer similar experiences when you get data in Power BI:

  • Dataflows
  • Microsoft Dataverse (formerly known as Common Data Service)

Both Dataflows and Microsoft Dataverse store data in tables, also known as entities. Dataverse also offers a set of standardized tables that you can map your data to, or you can create your own tables.

Connecting to Dataflows only requires you to sign in, and then you’ll see the dataflows and tables you have access to.

To connect to Microsoft Dataverse, you’ll need to know the server address, which usually has the following format: environment.crm.dynamics.com.

Need More Review? Finding Server Addresses

If you want to learn how to find the server name, see the step-by-step tutorial here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/data-platform/data-platformpowerbi-connector.

Additionally, you’ll need maker permissions to access the Power Apps portal and read permissions to access data within entities. Afterward, the connection experience is similar to connecting to a database.

Change the value in a parameter

Query parameters can simplify certain tasks, like changing a data source address or placing a filter in a query. Here are some examples of when you’d use parameters:

  • Switching between the development and production environments when getting data from a database
  • Configuring incremental refresh (outside of the scope of this book)
  • Creating custom functions by using the user interface
  • Using report templates

Need More Review? Templates In Power BI Desktop

Power BI report templates can be used as a starting point when you analyze data in Power BI. Power BI report templates are out of the scope of this book. More information on how you can create and use report templates is available at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/desktop-templates.