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How to view the SQL query for a series of transforms in Query Editor
Posted by Andy Brown on 02 July 2019
Did you know that you can view the SQL for a query in Power BI's Query Editor? Me neither!
This short blog gives a quick Windows short-cut key to insert emojis into text
Posted by Andy Brown on 17 June 2019
If you want to spice up your emails or reports, use this Windows shortcut to insert emojis.
A different owl's take on the five biggest ooh! moment tips in Excel
Posted by Andy Brown on 17 June 2019
This month it's Shaun's turn to nominate the five best short-cut tips in Excel.
Wise Owl will be at the Public Sector Solutions Expo 2019 in the ExCel centre
Posted by Andy Brown on 17 June 2019
For the first time we will have a stand at the PSS Expo on 25-26th June in London. Come along and say hello!
A quick way to copy the path and name of a file in Windows Explorer
Posted by Andy Brown on 17 June 2019
This short blog highlights a quick way to copy the full path (including the file name) of a file in Windows Explorer.
Problems with the Application.ScreenUpdating = False command in VBA
Posted by Andy Brown on 17 June 2019
Some people are experiencing problems when trying to suppress screen updates while macros are running in Excel VBA, under Windows 10. This blog gives one possible solution.
A short-cut key to bring up the arguments of user-defined functions
Posted by Andy Brown on 17 June 2019
When you discover a new short-cut key, should you share it? This blog shows a way to bring up Intellisense for the arguments to user-defined functions in Excel VBA.
Changes introduced in the June 2019 Power BI update
Posted by Andy Brown on 14 June 2019
Although there aren't many changes this month, the ones that there are of unusually high quality. The new look to Power BI is welcome (even if it does mean we have to rewrite all of our courseware), and we're looking forward to using the new conditional formatting options and visual header tooltips.
Why the Excel range name conflict dialog box appears, and how to avoid looping
Posted by Andy Brown on 14 June 2019
When you're copying worksheets containing range names, Excel can detect conflicts and take you into a seemingly endless loop of Yes/No dialog boxes. This blog explains why this happens, and how to get out of the loop!
A table-valued function in SQL to split a comma-delimited list
Posted by Andy Brown on 11 June 2019
If you're creating Reporting Services reports using multivalue parameters and stored procedures, you'll find this function to split a list of values into a single-table column useful.
New features introduced in the May 2019 update of Power BI
Posted by Andy Brown on 20 May 2019
There's not much new in this month's update. The Performance Analyzer is a great idea, for working out which bits of your report are running slowly, but all of the other changes are minor (as you'll see if you read this blog!).
Creating complex custom date periods in calendar tables using calculated columns
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 17 May 2019
This blog shows how to create custom date periods within a date table for 28 day cycles, but the principles shown could be applied to create any custom date periods.
Creating a calendar or date table in Power BI using built-in calendar functions
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 17 May 2019
Learn how to create a basic date table in Power BI, using either the CALENDAR or CALENDARAUTO functions, and also learn how to then add custom columns of your own.
Modelling a fixed or variable custom financial year in Power BI
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 17 May 2019
Whether your financial year ends on a fixed date every year or on the first Monday in June, this blog will show you how to incorporate it into your calendar table.
Wise Owl have found one SQL structure which slows down code more than any other
Posted by Andy Brown on 13 May 2019
If your stored procedures or SQL queries are running slowly, don't bother looking at correlated subqueries, cursors, functions or any of the other usual culprits. There's one SQL syntax which Wise Owl have found to be an order of magnitude worse than any other, as this blog shows.
Changes made to the main Office applications from Office 2016 up to May 2019
Posted by Andy Brown on 10 May 2019
To prepare the way for the start of a monthly Office update on this website, this long blog lists the changes made to Access, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word between the release of Office 2016 and May 2019.
A new booking system for Wise Owl public courses!
Posted by Andy Brown on 09 May 2019
We've introduced a new online booking system for our public course places, although only 50% of people (chosen at random) will see it. This blog explains the reasoning behind the new system, and the benefits it offers.
Andy B's five biggest OOH! moments on an Excel training course.
Posted by Andy Brown on 09 May 2019
All trainers live for that moment when someone's face lights up, as they learn something new which will change their working life for the better. This blog lists my 5 biggest such OOH moments from our Excel training courses. How many of these tips do you know?
A summary of the main new features in Visual Studio 2019 for BI developers
Posted by Andy Brown on 08 May 2019
Visual Studio 2019 has a different look (particularly for creating new projects), but Wise Owl can't see any compelling reason to upgrade.
Changes that BI developers can expect from SQL Server 2019
Posted by Andy Brown on 08 May 2019
SQL Server 2019 is not out yet (it's scheduled for release in the second half of 2019), but this blog shows what changes you can expect to see.