Integrating and Visualising A number of Microsoft To Do Accounts with Energy BI

It’s been some time that I exploit Microsoft To Do to organise my day by day duties. From work-related duties to purchase groceries. Whereas Microsoft To Do is tremendous straightforward to make use of however there are some challenges in utilizing it extra effectively, particularly when you might have a number of O365 accounts inside totally different organisations. Listed here are among the challenges I confronted; chances are you’ll face different challenges too:

• The Microsoft To Do app for Home windows gadgets could be very consumer pleasant with amazingly good options like the flexibility so as to add a number of To Do accounts. Nevertheless, we at present have to pick out which account we want to use and the app exhibits all our duties inside that particular account. This implies we cannot see all our duties from all our accounts in a single place.
• The Microsoft To Do app for iOS gadgets can be very helpful to make use of, however it lacks including a number of accounts. Therefore we can’t see all our duties from a number of O365 accounts on the app. 🙁
• We are able to use the Duties throughout the Microsoft Outlook desktop software (I used the Home windows model) which is by far essentially the most complete one with tons of options. Whereas we are able to see duties from a number of accounts in a single place, it’s a actual problem if I need to know which process is assigned to which account. Moreover, it’s actually laborious to reply some questions like, what number of high-priority duties I’ve for right this moment or the week forward. I do know, we are able to group duties, however, it’s nonetheless not so intuitive.

For the above causes, I looked for a product that may do all of the above directly. After spending some hours, I believed, nicely, I’ve to do it myself.

With that, let’s go forward and see how we are able to get the job completed in Energy BI.

Word:

This technique just isn’t working for Microsoft To Do utilizing private accounts resembling Outlook, Hotmail or MSN. If anybody is aware of tips on how to add these, please tell us within the feedback part beneath this submit.

It is a lengthy submit that took me an inexpensive period of time to put in writing. So I added the next desk of contents so you possibly can rapidly soar to a topic of your curiosity.

Desk of Contents

How It Works

Microsoft Energy BI is NOT a reporting device solely. We are able to hook up with many information sources, combine and match the info, create information fashions and visualise the info. So it ought to be doable to hook up with a number of To Do accounts, append the info, create a easy information mannequin on prime of that, and visualise the info to reply our questions or our prospects’ questions. The Microsoft To Do information is accessible through the Microsoft Alternate On-line connector obtainable in Energy BI. The remainder is determined by our necessities and what questions we want to reply.

In my case, during which I’m the end-user of the report, I would love to have the ability to know:

• Right now’s duties: All duties that their StartDate or DueDate is right this moment or the Duties with none StartDate and DueDate
  • Variety of duties
  • Variety of essential duties
  • Duties by mailbox
  • Duties particulars
    • Activity checklist
    • Activity description
    • Standing
    • Begin date
    • Due date
    • A hyperlink to the duty itself that I can replace if I need to
• All Duties
  • All above plus
    • Variety of open duties
    • Variety of accomplished duties

You or your buyer(s) may need totally different necessities, however when you perceive tips on how to get the To Do information from Microsoft Alternate On-line and do some information explorations to seek out out what you might be after, you’ll be good.

Integrating A number of To Do Accounts in Energy BI

Earlier than we begin, I prefer to encourage you to vary your Energy BI settings to permit parameterisation in all connection and transformation dialogue bins. The next steps clarify how to take action:

1. In Energy BI Desktop click on the File menu
2. Click on Choices and settings
3. Click on Choices
4. Within the Choices, window choose the Energy Question Editor tab
5. Tick the All the time enable parameterization in information supply and transformation dialogs choice
6. Click on OK

With that, allow us to get the Microsoft To Do information in Energy BI Desktop.

Getting Information from the Supply

This part explains tips on how to get the info from Microsoft Alternate On-line for Microsoft To Do.

Observe these steps:

1. Click on Get information in Energy BI Desktop
2. Seek for Microsoft Alternate
3. Choose Microsoft Alternate On-line (you should utilize Microsoft Alternate as nicely, in our state of affairs each connections work the identical)
4. Click on Join

5. Click on the Parameterise drop down button and choose the New parameter… choice to open the Magane Parameters window. This button is enabled as we beforehand enabled this characteristic.

6. Kind in a Identify for the parameter
7. Change the Kind to Textual content
8. Kind in your e mail tackle related together with your account within the Present Worth
9. Click on New and repeat the method from step 6 for creating a question parameter for all To Do accounts you’d prefer to combine
10. Click on OK

11. Choose the specified question parameter within the Mailbox tackle dropdown from the Microsoft Alternate connector
12. Click on OK

We have now a number of choices on the Navigator window. We are able to analyse our Calendar, E-mail, and so forth., however this weblog submit goals to get the info from Microsoft To Do. I depart that so that you can discover extra on these areas :).

13. Tick the Duties desk. That is the desk that retains all To Do information 😀
14. Click on Rework Information

We at the moment are navigated to the Energy Question Editor with 3 queries showing on the Queries pane; the 2 question parameters we created earlier and the Activity desk loaded from Microsoft Alternate On-line. Now we have now to repeat the method and get the info from our different accounts. After getting information from all our accounts, we have now to arrange the info to satisfy our necessities.

Word:

I renamed the queries to Activity 1 and Activity 2.

To date, we related to a number of Microsoft Alternate On-line sources. That’s the very first step. The subsequent step is to arrange the info to satisfy our necessities.

Information Preparation

I’ve to say that the info is nicely structured already; due to this fact, we have now to spend much less effort to arrange the info. The next few steps care for my necessities which could be totally different than yours:

1. Proper-click every question
2. Disable information load (I want I may choose a number of queries and disable load for all chosen queries. For those who assume this can be a good concept that improves the event please vote for this concept which was posted a very long time in the past.)

I disabled the info load as I require to Append the queries. I favor to append the queries right into a separate question, so it could be simpler to make adjustments sooner or later if I require to vary something within the unique queries. I’ll revisit this level later on this submit.

3. Choose a question from the Queries pane
4. Click on the Append Queries dropdown button
5. From the Residence tab, choose the Append Queries as New choice

6. Choose the primary and second queries you’d prefer to append. In case you are appending greater than two tables click on the Three or extra tables radio button
7. Click on OK

8. At this level chances are you’ll get the Data is required about information privateness warning. We’re getting this warning as we’re appending the info from two information sources which may doubtlessly result in information leakage as the info can trasit from an information supply to a different. In our state of affairs this isn’t a priority as we’re the proprietor of each information sources. Click on the Proceed button

9. Set the privateness degree for all appending information sources
10. Click on Save

Necessary observe:

I set the Privateness Stage to Organisational as I’m not coping with delicate information on this explicit instance. Make sure you utterly perceive the totally different choices obtainable for configuring the Privateness Stage to stop any potential information leakage. Learn extra about Privateness Ranges right here.

11. Choose the Append1 question from the Queries pane and rename it to Duties. You possibly can rename a question by double clicking the question from the Queries pane.

Now that we appended the queries, it’s good to take a look at the outcomes to see how most of the necessities we are able to meet with the info in its present form.

I can see within the information that I’ve a Folder Path column. This column exhibits me the totally different process lists I created in Microsoft To Do. The next picture exhibits the info in Energy Question Editor side-by-side the Microsoft To Do duties from considered one of my accounts.

Revisiting the Necessities

Wanting nearer to the info exhibits that the Topic column accommodates my duties; I’ve StartDate and DueDate columns in addition to Standing and Significance columns. my necessities, I can use all of these columns to help my necessities colored in inexperienced:

• Right now’s duties
  • Variety of duties
  • Variety of essential duties
  • Duties by mailbox
  • Duties particulars
    • Activity checklist
    • Activity description
    • Standing
    • Begin date
    • Due date
    • A hyperlink to the duty itself that I can replace if I need to
• All Duties
  • All above plus
    • Variety of open duties
    • Variety of accomplished duties

As you possibly can see, we are able to already meet many necessities, however what in regards to the necessities colored in purple? If we have a look at the info, we see no approach to distinguish between duties coming from a number of accounts. This is a matter that we have now to resolve. One fast repair is so as to add a brand new Customized Column into each Activity 1 and Activity 2 queries utilizing the values of the 2 question parameters. Keep in mind, the question parameters comprise our e mail accounts. As said earlier, we disabled information load and appended the Activity 1 and Activity 2 queries as a brand new question. The Duties question should embody the brand new customized column.

1. Click on the Duties 1 question from the Queries pane
2. Click on the Customized Column button from the Add Column tab
3. Give the brand new column a reputation
4. Kind the corresponding question parameter identify used for connecting to Microsoft Alternate On-line
5. Click on OK

If we scroll to the very finish (to the appropriate), we see our e mail tackle is added as a brand new column.

Now repeat the above steps (1 to five) for the Duties 2 question.

6. Click on the Duties question from the Queries pane
7. On the info view, scroll proper to the very finish to see the brand new Supply column presents

With that, we at the moment are cable of figuring out duties by the mailbox.

So the one remaining requirement that the present information doesn’t help is a hyperlink to the duty to change the duty if wanted. This one is a bit difficult as the info doesn’t counsel such a hyperlink on the first look. Let’s look extra totally on the Duties information. There are 5 columns containing structured values throughout the Duties desk. We are able to click on on every cell of information to see the underlying information.

Word:

If we click on on the structured worth itself, Energy Question drills right down to the underlying information. We have to click on the cell, not the worth.

Manually exploring all structured columns to discover a particular worth generally is a time-consuming course of. We are able to use some methods to undergo the structured values, however these are out of the scope of this submit. Possibly I write a separate weblog submit about that later. However the excellent news is that I do know which column accommodates the URL to the Activity. It’s the Attributes column. Observe these steps to increase the Attributes column and the URL:

8. Click on the Broaden button on the appropriate facet of the Attributes column
9. Untick the Choose All Columns
10. Untick the Use unique column identify as prefix choice
11. Scroll down and tick the WebClientReadFormQueryString
12. Click on OK

13. Double click on the WebClientReadFormQueryString column and rename it to Internet URL
14. Click on the Shut & Apply button from the Residence tab

To date, we ready the info to help all our necessities. After we click on the Shut & Apply button on Energy Question Editor, it hundreds the info for all queries during which their Allow Load is energetic. We disabled information load for Duties 1 and Duties 2 tables. Due to this fact solely the info of the Duties desk is loaded into the info mannequin.

Information Modelling

Within the earlier part of this weblog submit, we ready the info primarily based on our necessities. The info is now loaded into the info mannequin. If we have a look at the necessities once more, we see some factors that we have now to care for. Our necessities have two most important elements to analyse the info for Right now’s Duties and All Duties. To analyse Right now’s Duties, we require to determine if the DueDate falls into right this moment’s date. To have the ability to sort out date-related calculations, we require to create a Date desk. Learn extra in regards to the Date desk right here.

Creating Date Desk

We are able to create the Date desk both in Energy Question Editor or within the information mannequin utilizing DAX. In my pattern, I create the Date desk utilizing DAX. Different bloggers over the web already wrote DAX expressions to create a Date desk. Some are quite simple, and a few are very complicated. I exploit an easy model utilizing the CALENDARAUTO() perform.

1. Click on the New desk button from the Modelling tab
2. Copy/paste the next DAX expression and press Enter

Date = 
    ADDCOLUMNS(
        CALENDARAUTO() 
        , "Yr", YEAR([Date])
        , "Month", FORMAT([Date], "MMMM")
        , "MonthOrder", FORMAT([Date], "MM")
        , "Day", DAY([Date])
        , "IsToday", [Date] = TODAY()
        )

Marking Date Desk as Date

To date, we created a Date desk. Now we have now to mark it as Date. Learn extra right here to know what marking a Date desk as Date means and why we must always try this. Observe these steps to take action:

1. Proper click on the Date desk
2. Hover over Mark as date desk and click on the Mark as date desk from the context menu
3. Choose the Date as Date column. Be sure the validation was profitable
4. Click on OK

Creating Relationships

Now that we efficiently created the Date desk and marked it as Date, we should create the connection between the Duties and the Date desk. Be taught extra in regards to the idea behind the relationships right here. We have now a number of choices with regards to create and handle relationships:

• We are able to use the Handle Relationships button obtainable on the Report view, Information view and Mannequin view (proven within the following picture)
• Or we are able to drag-and-drop key columns from a desk to a different

The next steps present tips on how to create the connection from the Mannequin view utilizing the drag-and-drop choice:

1. Click on the Mannequin view
2. Drag the Date column from the Date desk and drop it on the StartDate column from the Duties desk. This creates an Lively Relationship confirmed with a strong line between the Date and Duties tables
3. Drag the Date column from the Date desk, however this time, drop it on the DueDate column from the Duties desk. This creates an Inactive Relationship between the 2 tables

Learn extra about Lively vs. Inactive relationships right here.

By creating the relationships, we are able to now help all our necessities. Our date desk has an IsToday column that flags if a particular date is certainly right this moment’s date. We are able to use this column later to reply the questions round Right now’s Duties. With that, it’s time to create some measures.

Creating Measures

One of the crucial frequent and undoubtedly an important duties whereas growing a Energy BI information mannequin is creating measures. With measures, we are able to do calculations resembling summations, averages, counts, and so forth. There are two forms of measures:

• Implicit measures: Implicit measures or automated measures proven with a Sigma icon () within the Fields pane in Energy BI Desktop. These are the measures which might be robotically created when utilized in a visible on the reporting canvas. In different phrases, we do not create implicit measures.
• Express measures: Express measures alternatively are these ones we create throughout the information mannequin utilizing DAX. The express measures additionally present up within the Fields pane in Energy BI Desktop. The icon for specific measures is a calculator ().

Learn extra about measures right here.

It’s best apply all the time to create specific measures. After I point out making a measure, I consult with specific measures. We should all the time create the measures to help our necessities, so in our pattern, we’ll create the next measures:

• Measures to calculate for all duties
  • Variety of duties
  • Variety of essential duties
  • Variety of open duties
  • Variety of accomplished duties
• Measures to calculate for right this moment’s duties:
  • Variety of duties
  • Variety of essential duties

Right here is how we create a measure in Energy BI Desktop:

1. From the Report view or the Information view, right-click the Duties desk
2. Click on the New measure
3. Kind within the following DAX expression
4. Press Enter from the keyboard or click on the Submit button to create the Variety of Duties measure

Variety of Duties = COUNTROWS(Duties)

Repeat the above course of for the opposite measures utilizing the DAX expressions beneath.

Measures for All Duties

Necessary Duties = 
    CALCULATE([Number of Tasks]
        , Duties[Importance] = "Excessive"
    )

Open Duties = 
    CALCULATE([Number of Tasks]
        , NOT(Duties[IsComplete])
    )

Accomplished Duties = 
    CALCULATE([Number of Tasks]
        , Duties[IsComplete]
    )

Measures for Right now’s Duties

Per our necessities for calculating Right now’s Duties, we have now to seek out all duties that their StartDate or DueDate is right this moment or the Duties with no StartDate and DueDate. This particular a part of the requirement accommodates three circumstances:

• Duties beginning right this moment
• Duties due right this moment
• Duties with out StartDate and DueDate

So we are able to break the calculation into three separate measures. We then create a fourth measure so as to add up the outcomes of these three measures as beneath:

Duties Beginning Right now = 
    CALCULATE([Open Tasks]
        , 'Date'[IsToday]
        )

Duties Due Right now = 
    CALCULATE([Open Tasks]
        , 'Date'[IsToday]
        , USERELATIONSHIP('Date'[Date], Duties[DueDate])
        )

Duties with No Begin or Due Date = 
    CALCULATE([Open Tasks]
        , AND(ISBLANK(Duties[StartDate]), ISBLANK(Duties[DueDate]))
        )

Right now's Duties = [Tasks Starting Today] + [Tasks Due Today] + [Tasks with No Start or Due Date]

The final measure to create is Right now’s Necessary Duties. The next DAX expression caters that:

Right now's Necessary Duties = 
    CALCULATE([Today's Tasks]
      , Duties[Importance] = "Excessive"
    )

Now that we created all of the required measures, it’s time to visualise the info.

Information Visualisation

To date, we ready the info and constructed our information mannequin. It’s time now to deliver our information to life and constructed some significant information visualisation. Once more, the overall rule of thumb is to take a look at our necessities first then begin visualising the info. In your comfort, I copy the necessities right here to keep away from transferring up and down on this weblog submit.

• Right now’s duties: All duties that their StartDate or DueDate is right this moment or the Duties with none StartDate and DueDate
  • Variety of duties
  • Variety of essential duties
  • Duties by mailbox
  • Duties particulars
    • Activity checklist
    • Activity description
    • Standing
    • Begin date
    • Due date
    • A hyperlink to the duty itself that I can replace if I need to
• All Duties
  • All above plus
    • Variety of open duties
    • Variety of accomplished duties

One of many largest challenges in information visualisation, whatever the visualisation device we use, is actual property. It’s fairly difficult to make use of the obtainable house on the report canvas to signify the knowledge effectively. It isn’t value constructing a flashy and vibrant report that doesn’t inform a narrative in regards to the information and doesn’t reply the enterprise questions mirrored within the necessities. Information visualisation is a serious matter that requires particular consideration to element. There are lots of finest practices round information visualisation which might be out of the scope of this weblog submit. So, I put collectively a easy information visualisation that meets all the necessities.

Within the subsequent few sections, I rapidly clarify some easy methods used within the above visualisation, leaving the remaining so that you can examine.

Displaying URL Hyperlinks in Desk Visible

Displaying a URL hyperlink as an alternative of exhibiting a textual full hyperlink could be very straightforward. Observe these steps to get it completed:

1. Choose the Internet URL column from the Duties desk
2. Choose the Internet URL choice from the Information class dropdown from the Column instruments tab
3. Click on the Desk visible
4. Click on the Format tab from the Visualisations pane
5. Seek for url
6. Toggle on the URL icon choice

Filtering the Information to Present Right now’s Duties Solely

As you possibly can see within the Right now’s Duties report web page, we have now a Desk visible containing the required columns from the Duties desk exhibiting all duties. We require to filter the info proven on the desk solely to indicate right this moment’s duties. It’s possible you’ll assume that we are able to use the IsToday column from the Date desk on the visible filters. Suppose we filter the Desk visible utilizing the IsToday column when IsToday equals True. In that case, we’re placing a filter on the Date desk. The filter propagates to the Duties desk through the connection between the Date column from the Date desk and the StartDate column from the Duties desk. Due to this fact, the values on the Desk visible are filtered solely when the beginning date is right this moment. However this isn’t what we require. The necessities clearly say, “Right now’s duties are all duties that their StartDate or DueDate is right this moment or the Duties with none StartDate and DueDate”. So we can’t merely filter the values of the Desk visible by the IsToday column from the Date desk. The answer is easy. We already carried out the required logic within the Right now's Duties measure. We are able to put this measure on the Desk visible, which leads to exhibiting the right values.

Whereas it could look to be an excellent answer, it’s not excellent. In actuality, we’re not including any insights by including the Right now's Duties measure to the Desk visible, because it exhibits 1 in nearly all rows. Including a measure to a visible to solely resolve our drawback with out including any worth is inappropriate. A greater answer is to filter the Desk visible by the Right now's Duties measure. Observe these steps to see how:

1. On the Right now’s Duties web page, click on the Desk visible
2. Proper click on the Right now's Duties measure from the Fields pane
3. Hover over Add to filters and click on Visible-level filters

4. On the Filters pane, choose the just isn’t clean choice from the Present gadgets when the worth dropdown checklist
5. Click on Apply filter

It’s completed now.

Downloading the Pattern File

You possibly can obtain the PBIT model of the report from right here.

As all the time, please let me know when you’ve got any feedback or suggestions through the feedback part beneath.