Community – Gerhard Brueckl on BI & Data

Release of Fabric Studio v1.0

Posted on 2024-12-09 by Gerhard Brueckl — 1 Comment ↓

I am very proud to announce the first public release of Fabric Studio v1.0 – a VSCode extension that allows you to manage and develop your Fabric workspace(s). Similar to Power BI Studio, it seamlessly integrates into VSCode for increased productivity for professional developers and admins alike.

It includes a lot of different features of which the most notable are probably these:

a generic workspace browser supporting all Fabric item types and their most common API actions
a custom file system provider allowing you to modify Fabric items as if they were local
a dedicated deployment pipeline manager
an integration of the Fabric Git into VSCode source control
a VSCode Fabric notebook to run arbitrary API calls
…

Workspace Browser

The workspace browser gives you an overview of all items that currently exist in your workspaces. This includes all items that currently exist and automatically extends to new items that might get added in the future. For selected items specific entries in the context menu were added e.g. Copy SQL ConnectionString, Run Notebook, …

There is also a common set of actions that exist for every item like opening the selected item directly in the Fabric Service via your browser or copy its ID or Name.

At the top you will find icons that allow you to filter the list of workspaces, refresh the current item, edit the items (e.g. semantic models, pipelines, … see below) or open a notebook that allows you to run arbitrary calls against the Fabric REST API.

Edit Fabric Items from VSCode

Using the context menu in the Workspace Browser you can select Edit Items which will open the definition of the selected item in your VSCode Solution Explorer as a new folder. You can either do this on the workspace level, a specific item type folder (Pipelines, Notebooks, …) or on an individual item. As of now, not all items are supported – here is a list of items that are supported as of now:

Semantic Models using TMDL (.tmdl)
Reports using PBIR (.json)
Data Pipelines using JSON (.json)
Notebooks using Python (.py) or Jupyter Notebooks (.ipynb)
Spark Job Definitions using JSON (.json)
Mirrored Databases using JSON (.json)
…

This feature is implemented using VSCode Custom File System providers which makes it behave as if it were a local file system. This means you can also copy&paste or drag&drop between Fabric and your local file system – in both directions! The use-cases are unlimited here:

easily copy a semantic model or report from one workspace to another
upload the report of a local PBI Project (.pbip) to Fabric without having to also publish and overwrite the dataset
do bulk-edits on your notebooks or pipelines
…

Once you are done with your changes, you can use “Publish to Fabric” to upload them back to Fabric and make the new version available to your users.

Deployment Pipelines

Selectively deploy individual items or whole item types (multi-select!)into the next stage directly from VSCode.

Fabric Git Integration

If your Fabric workspace is linked to GIT, you can now mange it from VSCode as if it were a local repository. Stage/Unstage/Discard changes or pull the latest changes from the underlying GIT repository.

Fabric API Notebooks

As Fabric Studio is solely based on the REST APIs provided by Fabric, I also wanted to offer a way to make running arbitrary API calls as easy as possible. The main problem when it comes to REST APIs is always authentication. As the API is already authenticated in the background, we can use the same mechanisms to also run any other API calls as well. Notebooks in VSCode offer an intuitive way to to do this. Another reason for this generic way of doing API calls is that not all endpoints will be covered by the UI so it just made sense to offer this option as well.

There would be a lot more features worth being mentioned here but instead I will create short demo videos and publish them via my social media channels (Bluesky, X/Twitter, LinkedIn). So to stay up-to-date with the most recent developments, make sure to also follow me there!

The last thing I want to mention is that the whole project is 100% open source and can be used under the MIT license. The repository is currently hosted in my GitHub account: https://github.com/gbrueckl/FabricStudio. If you are interested in the project and maybe want to contribute to it, please reach out to me!

If you like Fabric Studio but are working mainly with Power BI, make sure to also check out Power BI Studio – another extension developed by me, specifically tailored towards Power BI developers and admins!

Announcing the MS Fabric Users Slack Channel

Posted on 2024-03-27 by Gerhard Brueckl — 5 Comments ↓

Are you a Microsoft Fabric user looking to supercharge your collaboration and networking? I am excited to announce the new Slack channel MS Fabric Users which I just created, tailor-made for people who want to engage with a dynamic and supportive community around Microsoft Fabric. With this channel, I want to create a space that’s built for speed, ease, and connectivity.

Why Did I Choose Slack For Communication:

I am already using different Slack channels for other technologies I use on my daily basis (Delta Lake, Databricks Users, VSCode Development, …) and when it comes to interactive collaboration, I think Slack is much more efficient in getting answers to your immediate questions than traditional forums etc. Here are some other reasons why I think that’s the case:

1. Real-Time Communication:

Slack’s instant messaging platform means you can get answers to your questions and feedback on your projects without waiting for forum replies. Connect with peers in seconds, not minutes or hours.

2. Better Organization with Channels:

Create and participate in topic-specific channels that keep discussions focused and relevant. Whether you’re interested in theming, components, or best practices, channels make it easy to find and partake in conversations that matter to you.

3. Enhanced Collaboration:

With Slack, collaboration is not just about talking – it’s about doing. Share code snippets, files, and resources effortlessly with the drag-and-drop interface. Pair that with integrations like GitHub and Trello, and you’ve got a powerful toolkit right at your fingertips.

4. Accessibility On-the-Go:

Stay connected with the community wherever you are. The Slack mobile app provides a seamless experience, ensuring you never miss out on important discussions no matter where you work from.

5. Advanced Search Capabilities:

Slack’s powerful search function makes it easy to find relevant conversations, shared files, and announcements. No more sifting through pages of forum posts to find the information you need.

Join the Fabric Slack Community:

I believe community is key to learning and growing as a developer. By using Slack, you can enhance the way you connect, engage, and support each other as Microsoft Fabric users.

To get started, join the Slack channel today! Simply visit MS Fabric Users to sign up and dive into the conversations happening right now!

Upcoming Conferences – Fall and Winter 2016

Posted on 2016-09-08 by Gerhard Brueckl — No Comments ↓

The next months are going to be quite busy for me. There will be a lot conferences and events which I will attend and where I am also speaking. I am always happy to attend those events as it is a great place to interact with other community members and learn new stuff about the latest and coolest new tools. So lets get started:

The first conference is the SQL Saturday #546 in Oporto (Portugal) on the 1st of October where I will be speaking about “What’s new in Analysis Services 2016”.

It is the first time for me to speak in Porto but from what I heard from other people it is said to be a really great event so I am really looking forward to it!

The week after – on the 6th of October – I will be speaking at the “Virtuelle SQL Server 2016 Konferenz” (German only) where I will be doing a session on SQL Server Polybase. As the name implies, it is virtual and you can attend from wherever you are at the time. Another important thing is that it is for free! You just need to register and you’ll get two full days of sessions around SQL Server and the Microsoft Data Platform.

In the same week, the SQL Saturday #555 in Munich (Germany) is taking place.

Another free event for all community members. Again, just make sure you register in time to get a ticket! I will do a more advanced session on Polybase there with a more technical focus. So even if you attended the virtual event before, this might still be of great value for you!

Later in October, the world’s biggest conference about the Microsoft Data Platform and all other related technologies – the PASS Summit – will be in Seattle again, attracting 4,000+ attendees every year.

It’s probably a bit late but you can still register for this great event. Unfortunately, I forgot to submit some sessions for this conference so I won’t be there this year. (Note to myself: submit sessions for 2017!) Having been there already several times, I can only recommend this conference to anyone who is into Microsoft, it’s Data Platform and everything around it.

For January 2017, I am very happy to announce that our SQL Saturday #579 in Vienna (Austria) is taking place the 4th year in a row now.

We had 250+ attendees last year and we are definitely aiming to hit the 300 mark this year! Again, it is free and you just need to register as soon as possible. (In case you cannot make it later on, please unregister as early as possible as otherwise you take away the slot of someone else). The Call for Papers is still open so if you want to speak at the event, simply submit your session details there.

Last but not least, the SQL Server Konferenz 2017 will be back in Darmstadt as in the previous years.

This means 3-4 full days of sessions and trainings around the Microsoft Data Platform. Overall an awesome event organized by PASS Germany. It is also the 5th time in a row this year and believe me, they have organized and optimized everything down to the tiniest detail making it one of the best and biggest conferences in whole Europe!
I already submitted some sessions and I am hoping to be selected to speak there.

As you can see, a lot of things are ahead but I am really looking forward to all of them!

I just received my first Microsoft MVP Award!

Posted on 2016-07-08 by Gerhard Brueckl — 8 Comments ↓

Almost exactly 10 years ago I started my career in the field of Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence using the Microsoft Data Platform. Every since I have been active in the community, sharing my experiences and engaged with other people in various forums.
I have to admit that most of the things that I know today I originally learned from my strong interaction with the community and by solving (or trying to solve) problems of other community members that I came across when browsing e.g. the MSDN forums. This exchange is always a win-win situation for both sides as you grow with every challenge you master and that’s what the community is all about – having someone to discuss your issues with and solve them together!

Therefore I am very proud that I got awarded with the Microsoft MVP Award for my work in the community which includes blogging, answering forum questions, speaking at conferences and supporting local Microsoft events – or, to say it in a more general way, my engagement in the community!

Thanks to everyone who I ever worked with, letting me learn on their problems, inspiring me to start my blog and keep being active in the community over the last years! Thank You!

Upcoming Events I am speaking at in June 2015

Posted on 2015-05-18 by Gerhard Brueckl — 1 Comment ↓

I am very glad that I got selected as a speaker for two upcoming SQL Saturdays in June. First there is the SQL Saturday #409 in Rheinland, Germany on June 13 and the week after the SQL Saturday #419 in Bratislava, Slovakia on June 20.

For those of you who are new to the concept of PASS SQL Saturdays, this is a series of free-of-charge events all around the globe where experienced speakers talk about all topics around the Microsoft SQL Server platform and beyond. As I said, its free, you just need to register in time in order to get a ticked so better be fast before all slots are taken!

I will do a session together with my colleague Markus Begerow (b, t) on “Power BI on SAP HANA” – two technologies I got to work a lot with recently. We are going to share our experience on how to use Power BI to extract data from SAP HANA, the different interfaces you can use and the advantages and drawbacks of each. Even tough it is considered a general sessions, we will also do a lot of hands on and elaborate on some of the technical details you need to be aware of, for both, the Power BI side and also for SAP HANA.

In Bratislava I will speak about Lessons Learned: SSAS Tabular in the real world where I will present the technical and non-technical findings I made in the past when implementing SSAS Tabular models at larger scales for various customers. I will cover the whole process from choosing SSAS Tabular as your engine (or not choosing it), things to consider during implementation and also shed some light on the administrative challenges once the solution is in production.

I think both are really interesting sessions and I would be happy to see a lot of you there and have some interesting discussions!

Happy New Year! – How about some Conferences?

Posted on 2015-01-09 by Gerhard Brueckl — 2 Comments ↓

2015 just started – and it is a quickstart in terms of SQL Server conferences! There is quite a lot of upcoming conferences and I am happy that most of them are in Europe.

Below you can find a short overview followed by some more details:

What?	When?	Where?	Am I there?
German SQL Server Conference	February 3-5th	Darmstadt, Germany	Yes, I am speaking!
SQL Saturday Vienna	February 27-28th	Vienna, Austria	Maybe, but not speaking
SQLRally Nordic Copenhagen	March 2-4th	Copenhagen, Denmark	Yes, I am speaking!
SQLBits XIV Superheroes	March 4-7th	London, UK	Yes, I am speaking!

UPDATE 2014-01-13:
I just received a confirmation that my session “Power BI on SAP HANA” was accepted for SQL Bits XIV!
It’s also the first time that I will do a session together with a Co-Speaker, my colleague Markus Begerow (b)

It starts with the German SQL Server Conference 2015 on February 3-5th

I am also very happy that my session “Load testing Analysis Services” was selected and I will be speaking the second time in a row at this awesome conference which is also the biggest German SQL Server Conference out there. And now worries, there are also a lot of English session in case you do not speak German Winking smile

Up next is a true marathon of conferences starting with the SQL Saturday #374 in Vienna on 28th of February.

This year also featuring Pre-Cons on 27th of February!
Reza Rad (t, b) and Leila Etaati (t, b) will be speaking on “Power BI from Rookie to Rockstar” and Dejan Sarka (t, b) on “Advanced Data Modeling”
Last year it was fully booked pretty soon and we had a long waiting list so better do your reservation now!
The schedule can be found here and features 20 sessions of well-know SQL Server professionals.

Directly after the SQL Saturday in Vienna the PASS SQLRally Nordic opens its doors in Copenhagen again on March 2-4.

The official schedule was just released today and can be found here (full PDF)!
I will deliver my session “Deep-Dive to Analysis Services Security” on Wednesday 4th.

Last but definitely not least is SQLBits Conferences, Europe’s biggest SQL Server conference, which is taking place the 13st time now on March 4-7 in London. (don’t get confused just because its SQL Bits XIV, Microsoft also skipped Windows 9 Open-mouthed smile ). This year its all about Superheroes and a lot of SQL Server Superheroes will be there!

A schedule is not available yet but will be made public within the next days I guess so stay tuned!

UPDATE 2014-01-13:
The official schedule will soon be available here. Our Session is very likely to be on Friday.

Hope to see you there!

Upcoming Conferences and Events in Q1 2013

Posted on 2014-01-13 by Gerhard Brueckl — No Comments ↓

After PASS SQL Rally Nordic in Stockholm last year I am very happy to announce that I am going to speak at two more events in the first quarter of 2013.

I will do a session at the “Deutsche SQL Server Konferenz 2014” (=”German SQL Server Conference 2014″) on “Big Data Scenario mit Power BI vs. SAP HANA“. It is basically an advanced version of my blog post on SAP HANAs Big Data Scenario with Power BI with much more insights details on both technologies. The conference itself is a 3 day conference from 10th to 12th of February where day 1 is reserved for pre-conference sessions. It also features a lot of international speakers and of course also a good amount of English sessions (mine will be in German though). Also my colleague Marcel Franke will do a session about PDW and R which you also do not want to miss if you are into Big Data and predictive analytics!
Check out the agenda and make sure you register in time!

Later on the 6th of March I will speak at the SQLSaturday #280 in Vienna on “Scaling Analysis Services in the Cloud“. (This is not a typo, its really on 6th of March which is actually a Thursday!) The session focuses on how to get the best performance out of multidimensional Analysis Services solutions when they are moved to the Windows Azure cloud. In the end I will come up with some best practices and guide lines for this and similar scenarios.
Just make sure that you register beforehand to enjoy this full day of free sessions and trainings!

Hope to see you there!

Call for Speakers: SQLSaturday#280 Vienna

Posted on 2013-11-22 by Gerhard Brueckl — No Comments ↓

The SQL PASS Austria chapter is organizing a SQL Saturday in Vienna. It will be held on the March 6th 2014. (For those of you how are checking their calendars right now – yes it is actually a Thursday!) So register and be part of the first SQLSaturday that is held on a Thursday Smile !!!

Also the Call for Speakers is opened until January 5th, so make sure to submit your sessions by then.

Hope to see you there!

Back to Business – now as SSAS Maestro!

Posted on 2012-12-13 by Gerhard Brueckl — 6 Comments ↓

If you followed my blog in the past you have probably realized that there was no new post since mid of July. Well, there is a good reason for this – I was on vacation for the past 5 months 🙂 . At this point I want to thank my company pmOne for giving me the opportunity to do this!

I used the time to travel around in South East Asia visiting Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam and had an really awesome time and made a lot of good experiences.
During that time I also got the official confirmation that I passed the SSAS Maestro 1.2 certification that I did back in 2011 and that I am now a member of to the small circle of SSAS Maestros – what awesome news during my trip!

Now that I am back again having reloaded all my batteries, I have to catch up what I missed during that time – which is quite a lot (Office 2013, PowerView, DAX on MOLAP, …) – and pick up my old working life again.
These new technologies and tools also offer a lot of potential for future posts – so stay tuned!

Below are also some pictures of my travel, which are, by no means, supposed to make anyone jealous who is still sitting in the office reading this post 😉

Fabric API Notebooks

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: