Jason Romans
Lifelong Learner - Microsoft MVP
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
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Jason Romans is a Business Intelligence engineer in Nashville, TN working with the Microsoft Business Intelligence stack. Jason is a Microsoft MVP who started his career as a DBA and over the years moved to working in his passion of Business Intelligence and data modeling. His first computer was a Commodore 64 and he's been hooked ever since.
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Unlocking the Power of TMDL: Enhancing Power BI Development
Tabular Model Definition Language (TMDL) is a game-changer for efficient Power BI development using code. With the new TMDL view in Power BI Desktop, developers can quickly create and modify semantic model objects, surpassing the capabilities of the Power BI Desktop UI. This allows for the generation and modification of semantic objects that previously required third-party tools, enabling standardized reusable scripts that benefit individual developers and their teams.
This presentation will begin with an introduction to TMDL, highlighting its unique features and differences from other scripting languages. Attendees will learn the syntax and common pitfalls to avoid. We will explore how the TMDL view integrates with Power BI projects and provide guidance on when to use it.
Additionally, we will examine the support for TMDL in other tools such as Tabular Editor and Visual Studio Code. One of the key advantages of TMDL is its text-based nature, allowing developers to use their preferred editors to develop and apply changes. We will also touch on source control and how it can be utilized to detect changes between models efficiently.
Finally, we will discuss common use cases and demonstrate how to leverage TMDL to become more effective and sought-after Power BI developers.
Fabric Semantic Link Labs: A Link to the Future
Until Fabric you had two choices for Power BI modes of storage – Direct Query and Import. Direct Query is slower but queries the data at the source or import which is fast but requires the data to be copied upon refresh. Direct Lake in Fabric combines the best of both modes by accessing the data directly from OneLake. Direct Lake has the advantage that you access fresh data in OneLake and it is optimized for speed similar to import.
But how do you migrate a semantic model to Direct Lake? Migrating the tables to Direct Lake manually could be daunting. Semantic Link Labs is a Python library that extends Semantic Link to simplify tasks involving semantic models, reports, and other Fabric items. This is accomplished by using a Fabric Notebook that enables you to run Python, SparkSQL, and PySpark code.
One of the tasks that Semantic Link Labs simplifies is converting an import or Direct Query model to Direct Lake mode. I will show how to accomplish migrating to Direct Lake including getting started with your Fabric Notebook and Semantic Link Labs.
We will touch on some of the other tasks that Semantic Link Labs can accomplish such as:
• Run Best Practice Analyzer against your semantic models to find ways to improve performance and usability
• Run Vertipaq Analyzer to gather statistics on your model
• Rebind Reports to a different semantic model across workspaces
Semantic Link Labs and Direct Lake require a Microsoft Fabric or a Microsoft Fabric trial capacity.
Power up your Fabric Development with DAX Studio and Tabular Editor
Do you have a slow Power BI report? This session will equip you with the knowledge to address the issue of slow Power BI reports.
Whether you are just starting on your Power BI Journey or an experienced Power BI developer these tools enhance your development and analysis of your data. This session will cover connecting to Power BI Desktop, Power BI Premium Workspaces, and Fabric Workspaces to meet you where you currently are. DAX Studio and Tabular Editor are part of the study guide for the DP-600 exam for Fabric, so this is the perfect time to start learning how to put them to good use.
The first tool we will look at is DAX Studio. Its strength is being able to analyze your data separately from Power BI and Fabric. You can use it to quickly gather statistics about multiple semantic models. Has a user reported that one of the reports is running slow? You can use DAX Studio to do DAX performance tuning to make it faster.
The second tool is Tabular Editor 2. It gives you the ability to check to see if your models are following best practices. You can make changes to your models whether they are running in Power BI Desktop, Power BI Premium, or Fabric Workspaces. With Tabular Editor you can use scripts to automate changes that if done manually could take days.
These are just some of the topics we will cover as we learn how valuable these tools can be. This session will have the greatest benefit to someone new to DAX Studio and Tabular Editor regardless of where you are on your Fabric journey.
Basics of building a data model in Power BI
So, you want to start using Power BI. You have a couple of data sources that you want to bring in. How do you go about bringing in this data? How do you build a data model out of this data?
This can be a daunting task and one we will tackle from the beginning. First, we will look at using Power Query to bring in the data. Then we will examine how to best create the data model.
We will cover some of the best practices when developing the data model so that it scales well. One of the benefits of having a well-designed model is the DAX code can be easier to understand.
PASS Data Community Summit 2025 Upcoming
Utilizing Semantic Link Labs to identify issues in models and reports
Austin Power BI User Group - October 2025 Upcoming
Enhancing Power BI Development: It is fun to stay at the T-M-D-L
PASS Summit On Tour Dallas Upcoming
Utilizing Semantic Link Labs to identify issues in models and reports
Power BI DC User Group Upcoming
Enhancing Power BI Development: It is fun to stay at the T-M-D-L
PASS Summit On Tour New York Upcoming
Utilizing Semantic Link Labs to identify issues in models and reports
Data Saturday Columbus 2025 Sessionize Event Upcoming
SQL Saturday Baton Rouge 2025 Sessionize Event
SQL Saturday Jacksonville 2025 Sessionize Event
Nashville Modern Excel and Power BI User Group - March 2025
Enhancing Power BI Development: It is fun to stay at the T-M-D-L
SQL Saturday Atlanta 2025 - AI & BI Sessionize Event
Power BI & Fabric Summit 2025 Sessionize Event
PASS Data Community Summit 2024
1. Building Tabular Data Models Using Metadata
2. My Power BI Report is Slow: Time to Take Action!
SQL Saturday Oregon/SW Washington 2024 Sessionize Event
SQLSaturday Orlando 2024 Sessionize Event
SQLSaturday - Minnesota 2024 Sessionize Event
2024 Data.SQL.Saturday.SD (SQLSatSD) Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Dallas 2024 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Columbus 2024 Sessionize Event
Nashville Modern Excel & Power BI User Group - August 2024
Power up your Fabric Development with DAX Studio and Tabular Editor
Austin Power BI User Group - August 2024
Power up Fabric Development with DAX Studio & Tabular Editor
SQL Saturday Albany 2024 Sessionize Event
SQL Saturday Baton Rouge 2024 Sessionize Event
Indy BI User Group Meeting - June 2024
Topic: Power up your Fabric Development with DAX Studio and Tabular Editor
Power BI Dashboard in a Day
I assisted as a proctor during the all-day session. I was available to answer questions and help students with any issues they had.
SQL Saturday Jacksonville #1068 Sessionize Event
Nashville Modern Excel and Power BI User Group - April 2024
Topic: Basics of Building a Data Model in Power BI
SQLBits 2024 - General Sessions Sessionize Event
DataTune 2024 Sessionize Event
SQL Saturday Atlanta 2024 - BI & Data Analytics Sessionize Event
SQL Saturday Oregon/SW Washington 2023 Sessionize Event
2023 SQL Saturday Silicon Valley (SQLSatSV) Sessionize Event
SQLSaturday Orlando 2023 Sessionize Event
SQLSaturday MN 2023 Sessionize Event
SQLSaturday Denver 2023 Sessionize Event
SQL Saturday Baton Rouge 2023 Sessionize Event
SQL Saturday Columbus 2023 Sessionize Event
SQL Saturday South FL 2023 Sessionize Event
Ohio North SQL Saturday 2023 Sessionize Event
SQL Saturday Jacksonville #1041 Sessionize Event
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