Setting the default value for parameters like today’s date & current month is great because that way consumer do not need to manually input the parameter value. I was working on a requirement to pass previous day to the date parameter.
So here’s the quick tip to set the default value of the date parameter to previous day.
[code type=”sql” gutter=”false”]
=Dateadd("d",-1,Now())
[/code]
Screenshot:
Online @ http://BAVC.sqlpass.org
12:00 – 13:00 (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
OnlineMeetingURL: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7675239130599046913
Date: Thursday, February 20
Abstract:
In this webcast, I’ll present 13 tips for designing and creating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) using the Microsoft SQL BI Tools. I’ll cover a bit of practical theory on KPIs and balanced scorecards, and then dive into some specific examples of basic KPIs, trend-based KPIs, data-driven KPIs from actual applications. I’ll also cover some recommended practices for creating KPIs. Along the way, I’ll use SSAS OLAP, SSAS Tabular, Reporting Services, Excel, and PerformancePoint Services to demonstrate the creation and surfacing of KPIs.
About Kevin:
Kevin S. Goff (http://www.kevinsgoff.net) is a Microsoft SQL Server MVP Database architect/developer/speaker/author Regular columnist for CoDe Magazine on .NET, SQL Server, and Business Intelligence topics Frequent speaker at community events in the Mid-Atlantic region. Host of BDBI Radio (http://www.bdbiradio.com), a weekly webcast on SQL/BI topics
Q1: How Can I upgrade Power Pivot on my machine?
A1: Uninstall Existing version (Yes, it’s not intuitive, but you have to uninstall existing version). Download the version that you want to upgrade to. Install it.
Q2: I’ve SQL 2008 R2 on my machine. Can I install “Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 SP1 PowerPivot for Microsoft Excel® 2010”?
A2: Yes, go ahead! “SQL server 2012 sp1” in the name is confusing 🙂 It doesn’t matter which version of SQL server you’ve on your machine – In fact, Power Pivot does not need a SQL server to be installed on your machine.
Q3: How do I check Power Pivot version?
A3: Excel > Power Pivot > Settings > You’ll see version # on the top part of the screen.
I hope this helps!
Why do you want to do that?
One of the common tactic that you can consider to drive adoption of a Business Intelligence system is to integrate/embed the BI reports to the APPS/SITE that the users are already using. Don’t make your users come to you, go to them! As a part of that, I figured out a way to integrate/embed Power View in a Site that was used by existing user base.
You can integrate/embed Power View reports in SharePoint web Parts. Here’s How:
Image Credit & For step by step tutorial, please refer to: Integrate Power View with SharePoint using web parts
Note:
Environment: SQL Server 2012 in SharePoint Integrated mode w/ Power View Activated for the site. Also, SharePoint Enterprise 2010.
I passed couple of SQL Server 2012 business intelligence beta exams! The exams are:
71-463: Implementing a Data Warehouse with Microsoft SQL Server 2012
71-466: Implementing Data Models and Reports with Microsoft SQL Server 2012
Visualizing stuff is powerful – if you have visualized something then you can remember it for a longer period of time. So in this post, we will visualize what the Merge Transformation in SQL Server Integration services (SSIS) Does:
Note:
1) Do not Confuse it with Merge Join Tranformation. “Merge Join” is NOT same as “Merge”
2) Merge Transformation can accept only TWO (sorted) data sources. Whereas if you want to “combine” more than two data-sets, then go for Union ALL tranformation
My journal article titled “Building Ideal PowerPivot Model for Power View reports” got published in SolidQ Journal. In this article, I talk about reporting properties in PowerPivot Model that you can set which will enhance the Power View report creation experience of your end-users. Here are the five main topics discussed in the article:
– Hide from Client Tools
– ImageURL
– Default Field Set
– Table Behavior
– Calculate Columns and Calculate measures
In the Part 2 of this series, we will discuss the reporting properties in Tabular Model to help you build an ideal Model for Power View reports. I’ll let you know when that’s published Part 2 is Published: http://parasdoshi.com/2012/09/25/new-journal-article-published-title-building-an-ideal-tabular-model-for-power-view-reports/
I would also like to thank the SolidQ Journal Team and Ruben Lopez who was the Technical reviewer of the article.
And if you have any feedback, please drop a comment or contact me. Thank you
I have written about how to disable password expiration for Windows Server 2008 R2 if it is NOT a domain controller. You can Find that post here: http://parasdoshi.com/2012/04/19/how-to-disable-the-password-expiration-policy-in-windows-server-2008-r2-demo-machine/
Now, if you are looking to disable the password for the Windows Server 2008 R2 dev. machine which is also a Domain Controller then follow these steps:
1) If you go to “Local security policy- you’ll see the options but it is not going to allow you to change the setting even if you are logged in as domain administrator.
2. So we need an alternate path to edit the password expiration policy.
Go to Start > Administrative Tools > Group Policy Management
3. Here click on “edit” for the default domain policy for the domain of your choice:
4. Go To Policies > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Account Policies > Password Policy
5. Change the Password Policy!
Note that changing your password policy to disable password expiration is a security vulnerability. It’s applicable for your Demo Machine only. Or your Dev Machine. The reason I am documenting it that I do not want to change the password of Windows Server on which I have my Sharepoint BI dev environment Setup. It’s MY Dev Environment and I am NOT sharing it with other folks PLUS I do not anything sensitive on it, So I can afford disabling the password expiration policy.
That’s about it for this post. Happy Tweaking!
One of the task while building a PowerPivot Model is to create/Edit/Delete Relationships between tables. With SQL Server 2012 release of PowerPivot for Excel, we now have a Diagram view and this makes our task of defining relationships easier! Great addition. Any-who when you view your model in Diagram Model, This is how it looks:
To Edit a Relationship, You can click on the Relationship represented by the arrow and it would pop up an “Edit Relationship” Dialog Box.
But what if you wanted to Manage ALL relationships of this Model? You can do this!
GO TO Design Tab > Click On Manage Relationships.
Now here you can manage (create/edit/delete) relationships among tables. Very easy!
That’s about it for this post. Your feedback is welcome!
Here are screenshots of reports hosted on SQL Azure reporting preview accessed via Windows Phone, iPhone and Android Smartphone. I knew one can access reports using browser and so just wanted to test them on Windows Phone, iPhone and Android.
Note: Report is just for demo purpose. So I have kept it very simple.
Here are the screenshots:
1. Windows Phone:
2. iPhone:
3. Android Smartphone:
Note: I have not tested it but I have heard reports on SQL Azure reporting are accessible via iPad too.
Simran Jindal confirmed that It works great on iPad too!
Conclusion: These opens up a whole new world of possibilities for businesses. Business users would be able to get access to reports from anywhere in the world. Think of reports that are built on top of Data Marts hosted on cloud. They are kept in sync with Data that resides on-premise (locally). We have exciting times ahead!
Resource:
Getting Started Guide for Report Readers (SQL Azure Reporting)
Guidelines and Limitations for SQL Azure Reporting Preview