Sam Lester - SQL Server & BI Premier Field Engineer
Microsoft Flow – Copy files from SharePoint to a local PC
Microsoft Flow – Copy files from SharePoint Online to a local PC I recently assisted a customer with...
Date: 10/14/2018
Power BI Troubleshooting Checklist
If you have ever started a sentence with “I’m seeing a strange issue in my Power BI Desktop report”...
Date: 03/15/2018
Importing a .dbf (dBase) file into Power BI
How can I import data from a .dbf (dBase) file into Power BI? Today’s Power BI Mailbag Question...
Date: 02/23/2018
Understanding the differences between “Power BI Desktop” and “Power BI Desktop Optimized for Power BI Report Server”
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been spending a lot of time discussing Power BI Report Server with my...
Date: 02/19/2018
Help! I can’t close the Power BI Desktop Splash Screen!
Today’s blog entry is a quick tip to get around what appears to be a Power BI Desktop splash screen...
Date: 02/16/2018
Troubleshooting a Power BI Dataset Refresh Error
Troubleshooting a Power BI Dataset Refresh Error I investigated a Power BI Dataset Refresh issue...
Date: 02/07/2018
Exploring Big Data: Course 10 – Microsoft Professional Capstone: Big Data
(This is course #10 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #10 of 10...
Date: 01/01/2018
SQL Server DBA Morning Health Checks
Introduction: As a Microsoft Premier Field Engineer, I get to work with amazing colleagues who...
Date: 12/29/2017
Exploring Big Data: Course 9 – Developing Big Data Solutions with Azure Machine Learning
(This is course #9 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #9 of 10 –...
Date: 12/19/2017
Exploring Big Data: Course 4 – Querying Data with Transact-SQL
(This is course #4 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #4 of 10 -...
Date: 12/08/2017
Exploring Big Data: Course 8 – Orchestrating Big Data with Azure Data Factory
(This is course #8 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #8 of 10 –...
Date: 11/29/2017
Exploring Big Data: Course 2 - Analyzing and Visualizing Data with Power BI
(This is course #2 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #2 of 10 -...
Date: 11/21/2017
Exploring Big Data: Course 7 – Implementing Real-Time Analytics with Azure HDInsight
(This is course #7 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #7 of 10 –...
Date: 11/19/2017
Exploring Big Data: Course 6 – Processing Big Data with Azure Data Lake Analytics
(This is course #6 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #6 of 10 –...
Date: 11/15/2017
Exploring Big Data: Course 5 – Delivering a Data Warehouse in the Cloud
(This is course #5 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #5 of 10 –...
Date: 11/12/2017
Exploring Big Data: Course 3 – Introduction to NoSQL Data Solutions
(This is course #3 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #3 of 10 –...
Date: 11/12/2017
Exploring Big Data: Course 1 – Microsoft Professional Orientation: Big Data
(This is part 1 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #1 of 10 -...
Date: 10/11/2017
My Journey into the Microsoft Professional Program (MPP) in Big Data
Exploring Big Data with the Microsoft Professional Program (MPP) After the introduction of a very...
Date: 10/11/2017
Compiling a XAML-based project fails in Visual Studio with FIPS enabled
Compiling a XAML-based project fails in Visual Studio in a FIPS-enabled environment with an error...
Date: 09/20/2017
Power BI Desktop and "The Case of the Missing Taskbar Icon"
Power BI Desktop and "The Case of the Missing Taskbar Icon" For the past two years, I’ve installed...
Date: 08/28/2017
Troubleshooting SCCM Database Replication Service (DRS)
Problem: SCCM Database Replication Service is not working Solution: Service Broker had been disabled...
Date: 07/02/2017
Tracking LinkedIn and Twitter social media shares in Power BI
How to: Retrieve Twitter & LinkedIn share totals for a list of URLs in Power BI / Power Query /...
Date: 04/25/2017
Power BI Desktop – Terms and Definitions
Power BI Desktop – Terms and Definitions The following list of Power BI Desktop terms and...
Date: 04/12/2017
Calculating the difference between two dates in YEARS, MONTHS, and DAYS in Power BI or Excel
How do I calculate an employee’s tenure given their start date? How can I determine a person’s age...
Date: 04/06/2017
Comparing Table Styles in Power BI
Tip: Use table styles to improve the look of your table data in Power BI As I continue to work with...
Date: 04/02/2017
Sorting by Month Names in Power BI
How do I sort by month number instead of alphabetically by month name in Power BI? As I continue to...
Date: 04/02/2017
Power BI - Using the Treemap Visual with KPI status colors (red, yellow, green)
Using the Treemap Visual with KPI status colors (red, yellow, green) "Is possible to modify the...
Date: 04/01/2017
Excel Add-In not displayed in ribbon due to Group Policy setting
Excel Add-In not displayed in ribbon due to Group Policy setting Problem: The Excel Solver Add-in is...
Date: 03/22/2017
What is the minimum number of AlwaysOn nodes required to obtain both HA and DR?
While recently answering questions in the MSDN SQL Server forums, I came across a great question...
Date: 03/14/2017
Creating a New Project in Visual Studio fails when FIPS is enabled
While testing application compatibility on Windows 10, one of my customers encountered an issue...
Date: 03/10/2017
SSRS Report Manager issues when using SSL
SSRS Report Manager issues when using SSL - The Report Manager menu was not seeming to honor the SSL...
Date: 02/10/2017
Connecting to SSRS through Management Studio throws "Invalid Namespace" Error
When connecting to a SQL Server Reporting Services instance through Management Studio, I encountered...
Date: 02/10/2017
SSRS Report Manager Configuration Wizard failed when Applying Connection Rights
The SQL Server 2012 SSRS Report Manager Configuration Wizard failed when Changing Database on step...
Date: 02/08/2017
Power BI Parameter Error - Invalid URI: The hostname could not be parsed
Today I encountered an issue in Power BI where a user was building a dashboard from a template I had...
Date: 01/12/2017
Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards - Day 11 - NFL Football Touchdown Dashboard
Day #11 - NFL Football Touchdown Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, I'm...
Date: 12/22/2016
Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards - Day 9 - Building your first SCCM Report in Power BI
Day #9 - Building your first SCCM ConfigMgr Report in Power BI As part of my Power BI 12 Days of...
Date: 12/20/2016
Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards - Day 8 - Fitbit Dashboard
Day #8 - Fitbit Activity Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, day #8...
Date: 12/19/2016
Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards – Day 7 – Disk Usage Dashboard
Day #7 - Disk Usage Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, day 7 brings you...
Date: 12/18/2016
Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards – Day 6 – Meetup.com Dashboard
Day #6 - Meetup.com Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, the 6th day of...
Date: 12/17/2016
Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards – Day 5 – Amazon.com Order History Dashboard
Day #5 - Amazon.com Order History Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, the...
Date: 12/16/2016
Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards – Day 3 - Create your own Pinterest Viewer
Day #3 - Pinterest Viewer As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, the 3rd day of...
Date: 12/14/2016
Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards – Day 2 – LinkedIn Connections
Day #2 - LinkedIn Connections Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, the 2nd...
Date: 12/13/2016
Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards - Day 1 - Goodreads Book Statistics
Day #1 - Goodreads Book Statistics As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, the 1st day...
Date: 12/12/2016