Tuesday, August 23, 2022

PowerBi - Datasets - Create a report from a template

Have you wondered how to use the "Create a report" >> "From a template" option from a dataset in PowerBi Service?


If you look at the documentation: Dataset details page - Power BI | Microsoft Docs, it is rather unhelpful: 

It turns out that, there is some additional information a little earlier in that page: Dataset details page - Power BI | Microsoft Docs


So it turns out that if you create a report from your dataset and post fix the report name as "(template)", it will use that report as the template for the new report. This is extremely helpful, as you can now create a report with instructions and some sample pages that can help users get started. I LOVE THIS FEATURE!

Note: (2022-8-23): Unfortunately, this does not seem to work when you try and create a report directly (from outside the dataset details page).

The "Auto-create report" option does not work! I really wish this did as currently we provide access to our datasets via PowerBi apps and so users dont have access to the dataset details page. Ideally, when the pick the "auto-create report" option with a dataset, it should use the template associated with the dataset.