Wise Owl blogs written in 2017 (page 1 of 3)

How to use a $ symbol to introduce a string expression, and fill in the blanks

Posted by Andy Brown on 22 December 2017

Introduced in Visual Studio, string interpolation allows you to linking different C# expressions contained in curly parentheses, with everything preceded by a dollar sign. This blog explains how to use this handy new short-cut.

A personal take on the best dozen Times crossword clues from the last 5 years

Posted by Andy Brown on 11 December 2017

In addition to computer training, Andy Brown is also an addict of the Times Crossword. In this blog Andy takes a break from blogging on software to list his 12 favourites clues from the last 5 years of puzzles.

How to write an M formula to convert Julian dates using Power Query

Posted by Andy Brown on 08 December 2017

This short blog explains how to convert Julian dates to "normal" ones, and how the formula used actually works!

How to create multiple worksheets based on pivot table report filter values

Posted by Andy Brown on 08 December 2017

Did you know that you can automatically generate multiple versions of a pivot table, with each one configured to filter by a different item? We didn't - this blog is an attempt to apologise for our oversight!

How to reuse a query created in Query Editor or Power Query

Posted by Andy Brown on 29 November 2017

This short blog explains how you can copy and paste the steps of a query that you've created in Power Query (within Power BI Desktop). The steps also work for queries created in Power Query within Excel.

Create your own snippets of SQL code, and insert them into your queries

Posted by Andy Brown on 23 November 2017

With SQL Server 2012 came the power not just to use pre-defined code snippets, but also to create your own - this blog explains how.

A summary of the new features of Power BI Desktop introduced in November 2017

Posted by Andy Brown on 15 November 2017

There's not too much to whet the appetite here: most of the changes are extensions to existing features, such as conditional formatting and column-by-example.

Skills assessment tests are now incorporated within the main Wise Owl website

Posted by Andy Brown on 10 November 2017

You can now test your knowledge of software without leaving our website. The new site is nicer-looking, quicker and more secure, and above all gives much better reports (and makes them easier to save and share).

New features in the October 2017 update of Power BI Desktop

Posted by Andy Brown on 09 October 2017

On the minus side, the changes introduced in this update (mainly a selection pane and spotlight facility) are tiny, but on the plus side there is a huge new feature (bookmarks) waiting in the wings in preview mode.

A summary of the changes for the September 2017 update to Power BI Desktop

Posted by Andy Brown on 12 September 2017

The September 2017 Power BI Desktop update introduces ribbon charts, a feature to explain the increase or decrease for any chart point and a drill-through feature allowing you to temporarily switch to a summary page.

Changes to the Wise Owl website account log-on features

Posted by Andy Brown on 01 September 2017

There's now much more point in creating an account on our website, as it enables you not only to post to our forums, but also to get a monthly newsletter. This blog explains what the new options are, and how to get at them.

Adding Wise Owl training certificates to LinkedIn

Posted by Andy Brown on 25 August 2017

Step-by-step instructions for how to show on your LinkedIn profile proof of the Wise Owl courses that you've attended.

Loading live web data into Excel without writing VBA code to scrape HTML

Posted by Andy Brown on 21 August 2017

Need to get tables of data into Excel from a website? There's no need to write lots of VBA code to scrape the site - just use Power Query to create a live link to the relevant page(s).

Changes made in August 2017 to Power BI Desktop

Posted by Andy Brown on 14 August 2017

A quiet month, after the frenetic activity of the July update, sees lots of small changes to matrices, tables and charts, but no single big update.

The July 2017 Power BI Desktop updates, including new table and matrix visuals

Posted by Andy Brown on 13 July 2017

This is a bigger update than usual, with the highlight undoubtedly being the official roll-out of the much-trailed new table and matrix visuals.

Adding row-level security to Power BI reports

Posted by Andy Brown on 08 July 2017

To prevent the wrong people seeing the wrong data in your reports, you can create row-level security (for example, so only the London regional manager can see London data). This blog explains how!

What Power BI gives you for free, and when and how to pay for extra services

Posted by Andy Brown on 08 July 2017

You can create and publish reports using Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service, both of which are free, but to share them you'll need to pay either for Power BI Pro or Power BI Premium. This blog explains when you'll need to start spending money, and what your options are.

How to share dashboards and reports in Power BI Service

Posted by Andy Brown on 04 July 2017

There are a fair few ways to let others see your masterworks: you can create an app, share a dashboard or create and share a report URL. This blog explains all of the ways that you can choose to share your Power BI reports and/or dashboards.

Creating app workspaces to share content with others in Power BI

Posted by Andy Brown on 03 July 2017

You can package reports, datasets and dashboards into app workspaces, and share these with other people in your organisation and beyond (these used to be called content packs). This blog explains how to do this, and why you'll need Power BI Pro to do so.

Creating gateways and refreshing reports in Power BI Service

Posted by Andy Brown on 03 July 2017

Naturally you want the reports that you publish to Power BI Service to be up to date, but the rules are fiendishly complex. This blog explains when and how to create the two types of gateway, and how to ensure your reports refresh.