Record data preparation steps
See this course’s project requirements
A locally saved interactive Power BI report with checked measures, site filters, source CSVs and a tested refresh handoff.
Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.
What to include
- Two typed source queries and baseline counts.
- Inspected one-to-many relationship.
- Three explicit checked measures.
- Site slicer, cards, verification table and dated chart.
- Local report, source files and refresh handoff.
Review and revise
Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.
- Rows and measures reconcile.
- Site filters affect the intended data.
- Visual labels and date ordering are clear.
- Refresh and local handoff are reproducible.
Want more background?
The idea in everyday life
Build a local interactive report for fictional workshop attendance and capacity.
Power Query records transformations so the same preparation can be replayed on refresh.
Record data preparation steps — guided practice
Set and verify types using a reproducible transformation sequence.
Use free Power BI Desktop on a supported 64-bit Windows computer; check the linked current system requirements and installation policy. No cloud sign-in, subscription or publishing is needed. Save sessions.csv and sites.csv in one stable practice folder. Sessions are S1 N Jan 15 8/10; S2 S Jan 15 6/10; S3 N Feb 15 7/10; S4 S Feb 15 5/10; S5 N Mar 15 4/10; S6 S Mar 15 9/10 (all dates 2026; values attended/capacity). Sites: N=North, S=South. Follow lessons cumulatively and save report.pbix locally. Menu/pane labels can vary slightly with monthly releases; use the named feature.
1. Set ID types
In Power Query select session_id/site_id in Sessions and site_id/site_name in Sites; set Text.
You should see: IDs remain identifiers rather than quantities.
Identifiers should not be accidentally summed or stripped of meaning.
2. Set value/date types
Set attended/capacity to Whole Number and session_date to Date.
You should see: Counts are integers and dates are recognized.
Types govern calculations and chronological display.
3. Inspect errors
Check previews for errors/nulls and compare all six rows with the fixture.
You should see: No rows are dropped; counts remain 8,6,7,5,4,9 with capacity 10 each.
A type change can expose invalid data rather than repair it automatically.
4. Apply and save
Read Applied Steps, then Close & Apply. Save locally as report.pbix.
You should see: The model receives six Sessions and two Sites rows.
Saved preparation steps make refresh reproducible.
What to finish
Typed queries, unchanged row counts and a saved local report.
Watch for this
Removing error rows without investigating how that changes the analysis.
How can I tell I understand it?
Complete the changed case, explain your result, and pass the three application checks.
Quick knowledge check
Answer all 3 questions. Get at least 2 right and the lesson completes automatically.
You’ll get an explanation for each answer. Signed in? Your results save to your account.
Pass the check. We’ll save the progress.
Answer all 3 questions above and get at least 2 right. You can review the explanations and try again.
Go to the knowledge checkOptional course overview video · same video as Lesson 1
How to use Microsoft Power BI - Tutorial for Beginners
From Kevin Stratvert. Watch here or open it on YouTube .
Optional course overview. Follow the written steps below at your own pace.Tools, templates, and lesson sources
Tools and templates
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Sources and further reading
Explore the references behind this lesson.
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12
Opened and inspected on 2026-09-12: Import, preparation and report building.
Access: Free public web page; no paid enrollment required.
Reuse: Public reference; link only. LifeStarter prose, exercises and files are independently authored.
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