Move from another BI tool

BI migration turns a report from another BI tool into a Fresco BI report. Today it reads .pbix report files. It moves the layout and the logic of the report, not the data: the data must already be in Fresco BI.

Before you start

• Load your data first. Every table the report uses is mapped 1-to-1 onto a Data Table that already holds data. Load those tables before you start: see Data Tables.
• The Data Tables must be in the workspace where you run the migration, and you need the Build permission on them.
• You need to be an organization Owner or Admin, or a workspace Admin or Editor. Workspace viewers do not see BI migration in the menu.
• Plan: BI migration works on every plan.
• The file: a .pbix file of up to 100 MB. .pbit and PBIP projects are listed as coming soon. A file that is protected (encrypted or with a sensitivity label) is refused: remove the protection and save it again. A file with macros or executable content is refused.
• Fresco BI reads the file and does not keep it. No query, connection or expression from the file runs during the migration.

The steps

1. In the left menu, open Advanced features › BI migration.
2. Under Pick the source tool, click the tool whose files end in .pbix. It is the only one that works today. The other tools show Soon.
3. Upload file. Drop the .pbix file on the box, or click it to choose the file. Fresco BI reads it.
4. Preview. Check what will move: pages, visuals, tables, measures, calculated columns, relationships and security roles. Open each list to see the details, then click Next.
5. Map Data Tables.
   1. Enter the Report name and the Data model name. Both start as the file name.
   2. Fresco BI suggests a Data Table for each table of the report, by table and column names. Check each one. Use the list on the right of the table to change it.
   3. Open a table to check its columns. Each column maps to a column of the same kind of data (number, date, text, true/false, time).
   4. Click Match again to redo the suggestions.
   5. Click Create report. The button stays off while a Required table or column is not mapped, a Data Table is picked twice, or a picked Data Table has no data yet.
6. Done. Fresco BI creates a new data model and a draft report. Read Needs your attention, then click Open report or Open data model. Migrate another file starts again.

Note

If the data model checks do not pass, the data model stays a draft. The Done step says so. Open the data model, fix the issues and publish it. See Data models.

Mapping rules

• One table of the report maps onto exactly one Data Table, and one Data Table takes only one table of the report.
• Required marks the tables and columns that the visuals and measures use. Optional tables can be left out. Their relationships are then skipped, and a security role with a rule on them blocks every row.
• Calculated columns are not mapped. Fresco BI creates them again on the mapped table.
• A Data Table that shows No data yet cannot be used. Load its data first.

What moves and what does not

Moves	How
Pages	Same order. The page size is kept when Fresco BI supports it; other sizes are scaled.
Visuals	Converted to the matching Fresco BI visual. A visual type Fresco BI does not have yet becomes a text box at the same place, with the visual type and its fields.
Measures	Converted when Fresco BI supports the expression. Otherwise they are marked Needs rewrite (see below).
Calculated columns	Created again on the mapped table. A column that cannot be converted is left out and listed.
Relationships	Kept with their direction and whether they are active, when both ends are mapped.
Security roles	Created as row-level security roles with their rules.

These do not move:

• The data itself, and the data source connections. The file’s source is shown for reference only and is never connected.
• Visual, page and report filters. The Done step lists them.
• Formatting, themes, bookmarks, drill-through pages, tooltip pages and images.
• The members of security roles.

A report can hold up to 50 pages, 100 visuals on a page and 500 visuals in all. Items beyond that are skipped and listed.

If Fresco BI cannot read the data model in the file, only the report layout moves. Create the measures, relationships and roles again in Fresco BI. A report with a live connection to another model has no data model in the file, so only its layout moves.

Measures marked “Needs rewrite”

A measure that Fresco BI cannot convert is still created, so the report keeps its place:

• It returns blank.
• Its description keeps the original expression.
• It shows the Needs rewrite tag in the Data pane and on the Measures page.
• A visual that uses it shows This measure needs rewriting and the measure names, instead of an empty chart.
• A measure that uses a “Needs rewrite” measure is marked the same way.

In the Preview step, the measures list gives the reason, for example a function that is not in Fresco BI yet.

To fix one, open the Measures page of the data model and write the expression again. Once you change it, it is an ordinary measure. See Measures.

Security roles

• Each role of the file becomes a row-level security role with the same rules.
• A rule that cannot be converted, or that uses a table you did not map, makes the role block every row. It never shows more than the original role.
• A role without rules sees every row, as in the original file.
• Members are not in the file. In the Done step, the Row-level security roles created list shows each role. Click Assign members to add people to it. See Row-level security.

Common questions

Why is “Create report” turned off? A required table or column is not mapped, a Data Table is picked twice, or a picked Data Table has no data. The warnings above the button say which.

Why does a chart show “This measure needs rewriting”? It uses a measure Fresco BI could not convert. Rewrite that measure on the Measures page.

Can I run the migration again? Yes. Each run creates a new data model and a new report. The report name must be unused in the workspace.