Skip to main content

Power BI

Planned

Power BI Designer API

Vote (3102) Share
Marco Russo's profile image

Marco Russo on 27 Mar 2015 16:20:23

Power BI Designer saves a local PBIX file, which can be a file to export data and data model – in other words, it’s a format that contains a complete semantic model. All the applications that today export data in several formats (CSV, Excel, XML), might provide a richer semantic model exporting a PBIX file.

Many ISV/SI that have OLTP and other applications that stores data in some database, usually struggle to offer a compelling BI story to their customers. The smaller they are, the more they feel this pressure because probably the effort they can put in their custom software is minimal.

Today these ISV/SI integrate their solution with external vendor technologies (QlikView is a common choice here). However, the cost of such a solution for the end user is not always appealing, and for this reason the MS partner ecosystem always look for components (charts and pivot tables) to integrate in their solutions.

Providing them an easy and inexpensive way to produce PBIX files “ready to use” straight from their product/solution would provide several benefits:

- Customers would have something ready to be uploaded to Power BI service

- ISV/SI would be able to provide a BI solution integrated with MS ecosystem

- ISV/SI can implement solutions like “send a PBIX file via mail every week to all the agents including only the data of their prospects/customers” - Today they already do that using the .CUB format, which can be consumed by both Excel and custom applications

- Microsoft would increase the number of Power BI users very quickly - Small ISV/SI would be able to implement such integration very fast

What I propose to do is, in descending order of importance:

1) Support Power BI Designer as a local engine with an API that can be used by anyone and officially support local connections by other programs (starting from Excel)

- The API should provide the ability to create a data model and to populate it with data by just using API, without any manual interaction

- Providing the ability to connect from other clients (today it is possible but not officially supported) would increase the adoption.

2) Document and “open” the PBIX file, so that it can be generated by anyone

- I think that this is easy for the data model, but not for the data.

- But without the data, this model would be not so useful, requiring a manual refresh to be populated.

3) Open source the Power BI Designer

- Not really a priority in my opinion, but if the first two wouldn’t be possible, this one could be ok

Administrator on 21 Oct 2022 02:41:46

Update 10/17: This is now in our upcoming roadmap and we will share more details in the coming months. Mo (Note: this item is similar to the GIT item)

Hi everyone. There are some really interesting ideas in this thread, thanks for your vocal support about it! We'll consider it for the future along with other suggestions and plans. Thanks!

Comments (97)
Marco Russo's profile image Profile Picture

StaggeringScot on 05 Jul 2020 23:18:24

RE: Power BI Designer API

So PBIX is clearly some sort extension of Office file formats, it is surprising that it is not documented.

Marco Russo's profile image Profile Picture

Xuesong Gao on 05 Jul 2020 23:17:02

RE: Power BI Designer API

We need to convert hundreds (or thousands if counting multiple clients) of legacy BI reports into Power BI, but this looks impossible without designer API or make .pbix in XML format.

Marco Russo's profile image Profile Picture

TEEGEE on 05 Jul 2020 23:14:46

RE: Power BI Designer API

Don't think it was covered in the 3 items posted in this request, but I would love to have an API to create and modify dashboard reports, visuals, so I could have a base PBIX and then scripted modifications to add/remove elements before sending out to a customer.

Marco Russo's profile image Profile Picture

Mark Gelderblom on 05 Jul 2020 23:14:46

RE: Power BI Designer API

Come in, I want to be able to do my Prototyping in Power bi then move my Model to an enterprise Tabular Server. Why have you made Power bi sich a closed system?

Marco Russo's profile image Profile Picture

Márcio Luiz Rossato Gomes on 05 Jul 2020 23:12:54

RE: Power BI Designer API

2015 and still under review?

Marco Russo's profile image Profile Picture

Sagi Carni on 05 Jul 2020 23:08:55

RE: Power BI Designer API

Great idea.
When using the "Import" option, I would like to be able to publish the model to my on-prem SSAS Tabular Server while the metadata is being uploaded to the cloud.

Marco Russo's profile image Profile Picture

Binu Pararath on 05 Jul 2020 23:05:58

RE: Power BI Designer API

Waiting eagerly for this

Marco Russo's profile image Profile Picture

Scott A on 05 Jul 2020 23:04:49

RE: Power BI Designer API

We need to be able to automate report creation. Make this happen! :)

Marco Russo's profile image Profile Picture

Robert Erickson on 05 Jul 2020 23:03:42

RE: Power BI Designer API

We can surely benefit from this request

Marco Russo's profile image Profile Picture

Belinda Allen on 05 Jul 2020 23:01:35

RE: Power BI Designer API

This would be an amazing feature for partners and users alike. I'd be cool if it was the ability to import templates into the same pbix file, or actual pbix files.

Merged Idea (4)