There were no published updates for January, but February came back with a bang. The latest updates introduced incremental refresh for Power BI Pro and an hierarchical slicer. Additionally, Microsoft added some improvements to the new Ribbon combined with several new DAX functions.

However, before you rush into the update, you might want to know the following. There is a known issue that results in the following error:

“We weren’t able to restore the saved database to the model”.

This issue is caused by a mismatch in the regional settings of your locale and your application. Microsoft has gone on record to “…apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and we plan to have a fix for it in the next couple of days...”.

Additionally, there is an update imminent which addresses a different issue where DirectQuery models with no credentials could not be opened. This will be available from the Download Center shortly (version number for the fixed version is 2.78.5740.841 onwards).

In the meantime, here’s the complete list of February updates:Dataset Management

• Incremental refresh is now Generally Available

Reporting

• Hierarchical slicer (Preview)
• Updates to the new Ribbon (Preview)

Modelling

• New DAX Functions, FIRSTNONBLANKVALUE and LASTNONBLANKVALUE
  

Visualisations

• Funnel and pyramid chart by xViz
• OEE Dashboard by 3AG Systems
• Organization chart by MAQ Software
• PI VIZpack by PQ Systems
• Updates to Zebra BI tables and charts

Template Applications

• Microsoft 365 usage analytics
• NFL analytics by P3
• Acterys for Quickbooks, Xero and WorkflowMax

Data Preparation

• Non-administrative support for query diagnostics

Data Connectivity

• MicroStrategy connector is now Generally Available
• FHIR connector is now Generally Available
• Factset connector
• TIBCO connector
• Jamf Pro connector
• Asana connector.

As always, we'll be detailing these updates in our March newsletter. Please remember we have training in Power BI which you can find out more about here. If you are not already a subscriber, why not sign up at the bottom of any SumProduct web page? And don't forget to download the latest version of Power BI Desktop here too.