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Arklur
Resolver II
Resolver II

Check whether a table/column is used on a report page/in a report file?

Currently I have many tables with a good amount of columns, but I would like to clear my model to have only the tables/columns I really need. Is there a simple way to check this? Sure, I can delete a table and see if a visialization failed, but it's not really an option for columns.

 

Would be nice if I could just tick an option in the desktop so it marks the table/columns which are used or not used.

11 REPLIES 11
Askrr
New Member

I've recently ran into this same issue (400+ reports and 300+ tables in my workspace) and couldn't find a simple solution to find which reports are utilizing which tables. I wrote a simple Python script to help with this. I posted it on my GitHub and hope that someone else that searches these forums finds it useful. I have directions for it in the README. 

https://github.com/Askrr/PBI_tableLookUp/tree/main

 

@fom365 I think this was something like what you were looking for. Hope it helps!

Mycall65
Frequent Visitor

Unfortunately the above RADACAD tool is no longer available. Would anyone know about another tool?

Anonymous
Not applicable

Anonymous
Not applicable

Did you end up posting this idea? I really like it and I'd like to vote for it - if you posted it, please let us know!

Don't know, it was a long time ago, but likely no (stupid past-Ark).

 

I wrote a python script thought that can change the .pbix extension to .zip and access the layout file, which is actually a JSON so it's pretty easy to work with it. With that, I can easily check what columns/measures are used in a report, or it can even work with multiple reports. Pretty handy.

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi @Arklur 

 

Are you able to advise which areas within the JSON file are needed to identify which columns are being used in visuals or measures? Or can you point me in the direction of any documentation you have used to write your Python script.

 

Thanks

 

Jo

Just seeking this feature.

 

@Arklur  - Would you be willing to share the python script?

Sorry, but it's really not "ready" to share, it's for personal use. I constantly making changes here-and-there. Maybe one day I'll share it thorugh github, but only if it's ready for general use, but currently there isn't really a plan for making it.

No problem.

In the meantime, have come across the http://radacad.com  PowerBI helper tool which works for my purpose.

Might help others

v-piga-msft
Resident Rockstar
Resident Rockstar

Hi @Arklur

 

From my experience, the best way I know of doing that is by going through your pages and clicking on each visual to see if the column is being used. 

 

What you want to tick an option in the desktop to show the used table/columns which is the feature has not been supported in Power BI currently, you could post a new idea here.

 

Best Regards,

Cherry  

Community Support Team _ Cherry Gao
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

I hope you know that is a ridiculous suggestion.

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