Power BI Developer Tools

Power BI offers a range of tools and APIs for developers to extend its functionality and create custom visuals.

Using Power BI REST API
Embedding Power BI in Custom Applications
Creating Custom Visuals with Developer Tools

Using Power BI REST API

The Power BI REST APIprovides a programmatic way to interact with Power BI. It is used to automate and manage Power BI resources such as dashboards, reports, datasets, and workspaces. Power BI REST API can be integrated with external applications.

Key Capabilities of Power BI REST API:

The important capabilities of Power BI REST API are:

Report & Dashboard Management,
Dataset Management,
Embedding & Sharing,
User & Workspace Administration.

Report & Dashboard Management involves Creating, updating and deleting reports or dashboards.

Dataset Management is to create, Refresh and update datasets dynamically.

Embedding & Sharing focus on Embedding Power BI content in applications and manage user permissions.

User & Workspace Administration handles managing users, groups, and workspaces programmatically.

Example: Retrieve Power BI Reports

To fetch reports using Power BI REST API, follow these steps:

1. Authenticate Using Azure AD: Power BI REST API requires authentication using Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). Register an app in Azure Portal and obtain the client ID, client secret, and tenant ID.
2. Make API Call to Fetch Reports:

GET https://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg/reports

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN

3. Parse the JSON Response: The response contains a list of reports with details like ID, name, and embed URL.

Common Power BI REST API Endpoints

API Function	Endpoint
Get Reports	/v1.0/myorg/reports
Get Dashboards	/v1.0/myorg/dashboards
Refresh Dataset	/v1.0/myorg/datasets/{datasetId}/refreshes
Embed Report	/v1.0/myorg/groups/{groupId}/reports/{reportId}

4. Embedding Power BI in Custom Applications

Power BI reports and dashboards can be embedded into custom applications using Power BI Embedded. It is useful for integrating Power BI analytics into web apps, SaaS solutions, or enterprise applications.

Steps to Embed Power BI in an Application:

To embed Power BI in an Application, Register your application in the Azure portal and generate an embed token. Use Power BI JavaScript SDK and customize the embedded report.

1. Register an Azure AD Application:

To register your application, Go to the Azure Portal. Assign necessary API permissions to access Power BI resources.

2. Obtain an Embed Token:

To generate an Embed Token, Use the Power BI REST API which grants access to reports.

POST https://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg/reports/{reportId}/GenerateToken

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN

Content-Type: application/json

3. Use Power BI JavaScript SDK to Embed the Report:

4. Customize the Embedded Report:

Using Power BI JavaScript SDK, customize embedded reports by controlling user interactions. Apply filters dynamically and capture user interactions by event listeners.

3. Creating Custom Visuals with Developer Tools

Power BI allows developers to create custom visuals using Power BI Developer Tools.

Steps to Create a Custom Power BI Visual:

1. Install Power BI Developer Tools:

Install Node.js and Power BI Visual Tools (pbiviz). To install Power BI Visual Tools, Run the following command,

npm install -g powerbi-visuals-tools

2. Create a New Custom Visual:

pbiviz new customVisualName

cd customVisualName

3. Modify the Code to Define Custom Visual Behavior:

Open the src/visual.ts fi and modify the code to define the rendering logic. Use D3.js or other libraries to create interactive visuals.

4. Test the Custom Visual in Power BI:

pbiviz start

This command will start a local server which allows you to test the visual in Power BI Desktop (Developer Mode).

5. Package and Deploy the Visual:

pbiviz package

This is used to generates a .pbiviz file that can be imported into Power BI.

Example: Simple Bar Chart Custom Visual

import * as d3 from “d3”; export class Visual implements IVisual { constructor(options: VisualConstructorOptions) { let svg = d3.select(options.element) .append(“svg”) .attr(“width”, 500) .attr(“height”, 300); svg.append(“rect”) .attr(“x”, 10) .attr(“y”, 10) .attr(“width”, 100) .attr(“height”, 50) .attr(“fill”, “blue”); } }

Publishing Custom Visuals

After developing, custom visuals can be:

Used privately within an organization.
Published to the Microsoft AppSource for public use.

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Power BI Developer Tools