PowerBi Extra is a tool or feature designed to enhance the data visualization capabilities in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central software environment. Its primary function is to enable users to access and display a comprehensive set of data visualizations, often comprising various charts, graphs, and reports, all from within the Business Central platform.
This enhancement is particularly valuable because it simplifies accessing and analyzing data. Instead of switching between different applications or tools to view multiple visualizations, users can remain within the familiar Business Central interface. By providing a full display of these visualizations, PowerBi Extra offers a more holistic and efficient way for users to gain insights from their data.
In practical terms, this means that users can quickly access and interact with diverse data representations, aiding in decision-making, trend analysis, and data-driven actions directly within the Business Central environment. This streamlines workflows saves time, and enhances the user experience for those working with complex data sets or business intelligence needs.
PowerBI Extra is currently available on Cloud, Software As A Service (SAAS) only.
Availability of PowerBi Extra Functionality
PowerBi Extra can be found on many pages (as listed in the below screenshots). It can be seen on List Pages and even Card Pages. The availability of this add-on is seen within the Factbox Pane, Details section.
It is important that the user acquires the PowerBi Licence to have this functionality available for use, otherwise, the above section will not appear within the fact box area.
By analysing and retrieving data from Business Central pages, the add-on transforms it into an easy-to-understand graph. Whether the add-on is available on sales orders, bank accounts, assets and item pages users can spot trends, patterns, and anomalies that might go unnoticed when viewing the entire page. Therefore it gives the user a quick overview of the page in a very concise manner.
Below are the pages where the PowerBi Extra add-on is available when enabled:
Adding a PowerBi Report
Users can add a new report by clicking on the ‘Select reports’ hyperlink. This in turn directs the user to a modal to choose the desired PowerBi Report.
From here the user chooses the report and the add-on immediately sets up the graph or other graphical data to the corresponding page.
In this case according to the Bank Account the user is on the appropriate information is shown.
If then the user enters the Bank Account Card, different data is visible.
Copying Image
When hovering over the PowerBi add-on the user can copy the image with the caption included by clicking on the below icon:
Filtering Data
The user can also filter the visible data by clicking on the below icon:
Focus Mode
The user also has the ability to focus on the entire graph by clicking on the below icon
To go back to the original data representation the ‘Back to report’ button must be clicked.
Choosing another Report
If for some reason the user previously chose an incorrect report to display on screen, it can be changed by clicking on the PowerBi heading, which will show multiple options. Then the first option 'Select Report’ must be chosen and the same process as mentioned before must be followed.
Expanding the Report
If the user wishes to further expand and and view the graph of relevant information at a bigger scale, the user must once more click on the PowerBi heading and choose ‘Expand Report’ option.
The user can wish to scroll left and right to view other parts of the data shown. Filtering is also possible in this view.
Choosing the Previous Report
In the case of having multiple reports for the same list or card page, the user can skip to the previous report by clicking on the ‘Previous Report’ button. Once clicking on this button the add-on will automatically display the previous report on screen.
Choosing the Next Report
Similar to choosing the previous report, the user can also choose next report in queue by clicking on the ‘Next Report’ option within the drop-down menu. Once again the next report will automatically show.
Managing a Report
If the user needs to edit something within the report visualization itself it can be done by choosing the ‘Manage Report’ option from the drop-down.
Once this option is chosen, the user will be directed to a more detailed aspect and view of the report itself. The user will be set inside the ‘Edit Mode’ panel at first as seen below.
From here the user has the ability of either saving the report or saving a copy of the report by clicking the File drop-down button from the editing ribbon, and choosing one of the two options:
Save (which saves the modifications that were done to the report layout and applies the changes immediately)
Save as (which saves a copy of the report changes that have been done).
Once the Save button is chosen the user no longer has the ability to edit the Power BI report for a few seconds because the editing area is disabled. Then the user can edit as much as they desire, because the editing area is enabled for editing again.
If the Save as button is chosen the user will be prompted with a small modal in the middle of the screen, requesting a name for the new report copy.
If the user is satisfied with the changes applied, they must choose to save the report after giving a name within the available text area by clicking the Save button.
If there were some mistakes, the user can also choose to cancel the saving process by clicking the Cancel button.
From the same editing ribbon the user has the View drop-down menu.
Fit to page:
The Fit to page option displays the report as is in the Editing Panel.
Fit to width:
The Fit to width option stretches the report layout to the full width of the editing area.
Then to view parts of the report the scroll bars on the side and at the bottom must be used.
