Sam Lester - SQL Server & BI Premier Field Engineer

Microsoft Flow – Copy files from SharePoint to a local PC

Microsoft Flow – Copy files from SharePoint Online to a local PC I recently assisted a customer with...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 10/14/2018

Power BI Troubleshooting Checklist

If you have ever started a sentence with “I’m seeing a strange issue in my Power BI Desktop report”...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 03/15/2018

Importing a .dbf (dBase) file into Power BI

How can I import data from a .dbf (dBase) file into Power BI? Today’s Power BI Mailbag Question...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 02/23/2018

Understanding the differences between “Power BI Desktop” and “Power BI Desktop Optimized for Power BI Report Server”

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been spending a lot of time discussing Power BI Report Server with my...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 02/19/2018

Help! I can’t close the Power BI Desktop Splash Screen!

Today’s blog entry is a quick tip to get around what appears to be a Power BI Desktop splash screen...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 02/16/2018

Troubleshooting a Power BI Dataset Refresh Error

Troubleshooting a Power BI Dataset Refresh Error I investigated a Power BI Dataset Refresh issue...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 02/07/2018

Exploring Big Data: Course 10 – Microsoft Professional Capstone: Big Data

(This is course #10 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #10 of 10...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 01/01/2018

SQL Server DBA Morning Health Checks

Introduction: As a Microsoft Premier Field Engineer, I get to work with amazing colleagues who...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/29/2017

Exploring Big Data: Course 9 – Developing Big Data Solutions with Azure Machine Learning

(This is course #9 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #9 of 10 –...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/19/2017

Exploring Big Data: Course 4 – Querying Data with Transact-SQL

(This is course #4 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #4 of 10 -...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/08/2017

Exploring Big Data: Course 8 – Orchestrating Big Data with Azure Data Factory

(This is course #8 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #8 of 10 –...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 11/29/2017

Exploring Big Data: Course 2 - Analyzing and Visualizing Data with Power BI

(This is course #2 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #2 of 10 -...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 11/21/2017

Exploring Big Data: Course 7 – Implementing Real-Time Analytics with Azure HDInsight

(This is course #7 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #7 of 10 –...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 11/19/2017

Exploring Big Data: Course 6 – Processing Big Data with Azure Data Lake Analytics

(This is course #6 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #6 of 10 –...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 11/15/2017

Exploring Big Data: Course 5 – Delivering a Data Warehouse in the Cloud

(This is course #5 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #5 of 10 –...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 11/12/2017

Exploring Big Data: Course 3 – Introduction to NoSQL Data Solutions

(This is course #3 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #3 of 10 –...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 11/12/2017

Exploring Big Data: Course 1 – Microsoft Professional Orientation: Big Data

(This is part 1 of my review of the Microsoft Professional Program in Big Data) Course #1 of 10 -...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 10/11/2017

My Journey into the Microsoft Professional Program (MPP) in Big Data

Exploring Big Data with the Microsoft Professional Program (MPP) After the introduction of a very...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 10/11/2017

Compiling a XAML-based project fails in Visual Studio with FIPS enabled

Compiling a XAML-based project fails in Visual Studio in a FIPS-enabled environment with an error...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 09/20/2017

Power BI Desktop and "The Case of the Missing Taskbar Icon"

Power BI Desktop and "The Case of the Missing Taskbar Icon" For the past two years, I’ve installed...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 08/28/2017

Troubleshooting SCCM Database Replication Service (DRS)

Problem: SCCM Database Replication Service is not working Solution: Service Broker had been disabled...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 07/02/2017

Tracking LinkedIn and Twitter social media shares in Power BI

How to: Retrieve Twitter & LinkedIn share totals for a list of URLs in Power BI / Power Query /...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 04/25/2017

Power BI Desktop – Terms and Definitions

Power BI Desktop – Terms and Definitions The following list of Power BI Desktop terms and...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 04/12/2017

Calculating the difference between two dates in YEARS, MONTHS, and DAYS in Power BI or Excel

How do I calculate an employee’s tenure given their start date? How can I determine a person’s age...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 04/06/2017

Comparing Table Styles in Power BI

Tip: Use table styles to improve the look of your table data in Power BI As I continue to work with...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 04/02/2017

Sorting by Month Names in Power BI

How do I sort by month number instead of alphabetically by month name in Power BI? As I continue to...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 04/02/2017

Power BI - Using the Treemap Visual with KPI status colors (red, yellow, green)

Using the Treemap Visual with KPI status colors (red, yellow, green) "Is possible to modify the...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 04/01/2017

Excel Add-In not displayed in ribbon due to Group Policy setting

Excel Add-In not displayed in ribbon due to Group Policy setting Problem: The Excel Solver Add-in is...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 03/22/2017

What is the minimum number of AlwaysOn nodes required to obtain both HA and DR?

While recently answering questions in the MSDN SQL Server forums, I came across a great question...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 03/14/2017

Creating a New Project in Visual Studio fails when FIPS is enabled

While testing application compatibility on Windows 10, one of my customers encountered an issue...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 03/10/2017

SSRS Report Manager issues when using SSL

SSRS Report Manager issues when using SSL - The Report Manager menu was not seeming to honor the SSL...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 02/10/2017

Connecting to SSRS through Management Studio throws "Invalid Namespace" Error

When connecting to a SQL Server Reporting Services instance through Management Studio, I encountered...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 02/10/2017

SSRS Report Manager Configuration Wizard failed when Applying Connection Rights

The SQL Server 2012 SSRS Report Manager Configuration Wizard failed when Changing Database on step...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 02/08/2017

Power BI Parameter Error - Invalid URI: The hostname could not be parsed

Today I encountered an issue in Power BI where a user was building a dashboard from a template I had...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 01/12/2017

Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards - Day 11 - NFL Football Touchdown Dashboard

Day #11 - NFL Football Touchdown Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, I'm...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/22/2016

Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards - Day 9 - Building your first SCCM Report in Power BI

Day #9 - Building your first SCCM ConfigMgr Report in Power BI As part of my Power BI 12 Days of...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/20/2016

Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards - Day 8 - Fitbit Dashboard

Day #8 - Fitbit Activity Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, day #8...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/19/2016

Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards – Day 7 – Disk Usage Dashboard

Day #7 - Disk Usage Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, day 7 brings you...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/18/2016

Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards – Day 6 – Meetup.com Dashboard

Day #6 - Meetup.com Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, the 6th day of...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/17/2016

Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards – Day 5 – Amazon.com Order History Dashboard

Day #5 - Amazon.com Order History Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, the...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/16/2016

Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards – Day 3 - Create your own Pinterest Viewer

Day #3 - Pinterest Viewer As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, the 3rd day of...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/14/2016

Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards – Day 2 – LinkedIn Connections

Day #2 - LinkedIn Connections Dashboard As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, the 2nd...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/13/2016

Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards - Day 1 - Goodreads Book Statistics

Day #1 - Goodreads Book Statistics As part of my Power BI 12 Days of Dashboards series, the 1st day...

Author: Samuel Lester - MSFT Date: 12/12/2016

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