SQLBits 2023
Power BI Meets Programmability – TOM, XMLA, and C#
Come and learn how to leverage C# to programmatically create and manage columns, measures, hierarchies, and translations within existing data models in Power BI using the XMLA endpoint. Happy coding!
It is rare to find a Power BI developer who has a background in C#, but C# and other programming languages offer a lot of automation and scalability that is lacking in Power BI. XMLA is a powerful tool available in the online Power BI service that allows report developers to connect to their data model and adjust a variety of entities outside the Power BI Desktop application. For example, the XMLA endpoints can be used within a pipeline triggered by an application to update a Power BI model schema. This allows end users to create custom UDFs (user defined fields) on the fly and delete them. Similarly, developers can create and use translations for customer specific column renames without worrying about breaking visuals and complicated data models.