How to connect your Power BI Solutions report to your Learn365 data

Connect your Power BI report to your Learn365 data

To enable your Power BI Solution report to retrieve and display your data, you'll need to complete a few configuration steps. The following steps typically take 10 minutes to complete.

Before proceeding, ensure:

• Power BI Desktop is installed on your computer.
• One of the Power BI Solutions report has been downloaded to your computer. Power BI solution reports are available to Plus and Premium customers through the Zensai Academy.
• You have your Learn365 API key. Only a read-only key is needed. For information on how to get your API key, see this article.

Step 1. Open the report file

1. In File Explorer on your computer, navigate to the location of your report file.

2. Double-click the report file to open it in Power BI Desktop.

Step 2. Edit the parameters

1. On the Home tab in Power BI Desktop, select Transform data > Edit parameters from the Queries group to open the Edit Parameters dialog.

2. Check the API URL and update it, if necessary.

This defaults to the Central US tenant region but you should replace this with the URL for the region your tenant is using.

Information on tenant regions and the API in general can be found at https://api.365.systems/.

Once you've identified the region for your tenant, copy the relevant URL from the following list and paste it in the API URL field.

• Central US: https://us-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• North Europe: https://ne-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• Japan East: https://je-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• Australia East: https://au-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• Canada Central: https://ca-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• United Kingdom South: https://uk-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• Germany West Central: https://de-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• Switzerland North: https://ch-api.365.systems/odata/v2
• U.S. Government GCC: https://va-api.usgcc365.systems/odata/v2

3. Select OK if you made any changes. Otherwise, select Cancel.

If you encounter issues when connecting a Power BI Solutions report to your Learn365 data, check you're using the correct API URL. If you still encounter issues, you can submit a request to the Zensai Product Support team via the Zensai Help Center.

Step 3. Configure the data sources

1. On the Home tab in Power BI Desktop, select Transform data > Data source settings from the Queries group to open the Data source settings dialog.

2. Ensure the Data sources in current file radio button is selected.

3. To ensure you can input your own API key, select Clear All Permissions from the Clear Permissions drop-down list then select Delete to confirm.

4. Select the item that ends .../odata/v2. Typically, this will be the first item in the list. 

5. Select Edit Permissions to open the Edit Permissions dialog.

6. In the Credentials section, select Edit.

7. Select Basic in the left-hand menu then enter API as your username and your API key as the password. For information on how to get your API key, see this article.

8. Select Save then OK to confirm.

9. On the Data source settings dialog, select the item that that has the blue and white globe icon, and ends .../odata/v2/Users. Typically, this will be the last item in the list.

10. Repeat steps 5 to 8 to provide your credentials.

11. Select Close on the Data source settings dialog.

12. Select Refresh from the Queries group.

Power BI will attempt to connect to your Learn365 instance and retrieve data. This might take a few minutes.

If you encounter issues when configuring the data sources, check the configuration. If you still encounter issues, you can submit a request to the Zensai Product Support team via the Zensai Help Center.

Customize your visuals

Custom visuals in Power BI provide the flexibility to create visual representations that are tailored specifically to your data and analysis goals. They enable you to go beyond the limitations of the built-in visuals and create visualizations that align perfectly with your organization’s brand, style, and requirements.

1. Identify the type of data you want to visualize and select the appropriate chart type from the Visualizations panel on the right-hand side of the screen.

2. Drag and drop your data from the Fields panel on the right-hand side of the screen into the appropriate areas of the chart or graph, such as values, axes, legend, etc.

3. Configure the chart properties, such as colors, labels, titles, filters, etc. by applying the relevant formatting. For more information, see this Microsoft article.

4. Use design best practices to improve the readability of the chart, such as choosing an appropriate scale, avoiding clutter, highlighting important data points, etc.

5. Save and publish your report to share your custom visual with others. For more information, see this Microsoft article.

Additional resources

If you want to learn more about Power BI and how to use its features, there are many resources available online, including:

• An overview of the Power BI training options, such as courses, webinars, documentation, samples, and more. For more information, see this Microsoft article.
• Learning paths and modules for Power BI, covering topics such as data visualization, data analysis, data preparation, and more. For more information, see this Microsoft article.