August 2024: Top Power BI Updates with Soheil, Microsoft MVP

Interestingly, my top picks from this month's Power BI updates have nothing to do with Copilot. Despite the much-anticipated "Ask Copilot questions against your semantic model (preview)" being announced again this month (it was already introduced in June 2024), I found myself drawn to features that bring immediate, practical value to business users.

Let's dive into my favourite features from the August 2024 update and explore how they can benefit business users.

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Visual Level Format Strings (Preview)

One of the standout features this month is the introduction of Visual Level Format Strings. This feature allows users to apply specific formatting to individual visuals, independent of the overall model settings.

This is particularly useful in saving a lot of development time when trying to define formats for different metrics. With Visual Level Format Strings, you can now tailor each visual to match the precise formatting needs, ensuring clarity and accuracy in presentations and reports. This includes Visual Calculations, a feature that everyone loves.

Prior to this release, we had to define the format in the calculation itself, which has caused a lot of issues as the numeric values turn into text. With this new feature, we do not need to be worried about formatting anymore.

Click the links to learn more about Custom Format Settings and Using Visual Calculations.

Watch this video to learn how to use this feature in 2 minutes:

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Data Limit

The new Data Limit feature is another game-changer for users who work with large datasets.  It enables you to set limits on the data retrieved by reports, helping you optimise performance and reduce unnecessary data processing.

It also allows you to focus on the most relevant data for your analysis, leading to quicker insights and more efficient resource use. In essence, it makes the reports more performant, which is always good news for business users.

If your organisation deals with massive amounts of data, this feature is invaluable

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DAX Query View in the Web

Finally, the DAX Query View in the Web is a feature that brings more transparency and control to business analysts. Previously, understanding and debugging DAX queries required using external tools or navigating away from the web interface. Now, with the DAX Query View available directly in the web, users can easily monitor and analyse their DAX queries in real time.

This feature is particularly beneficial for those who are comfortable with DAX but prefer to stay within the Power BI web environment. It simplifies the process of optimising queries and ensures that your reports are running as efficiently as possible.

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To wrap things up…

While Copilot continues to be a buzzword in the Power BI community, this month's update has shown that there are plenty of other features designed to enhance the daily workflow and improve the overall experience for business users. Whether it's through the precision formatting of Visual Level Format Strings, the efficiency gains from the Data Limit feature, or simplified DAX optimisation tasks with DAX Query View on the Web, these updates empower business users to get the most out of their data.