The Power Query Editor constitutes the heart of most Microsoft services involving data transformation. Power Query Template, as it's called, lets an entire project get exported as a singular entity which boasts of several benefits. While enhancing version control, it also promotes effective team development and simplifies the processes of migrating between tools and services.
The Power Query Template houses all the queries or tables, and all the steps in every query. It also holds all related parameters, functions, and every other part of the respective Power Query Editor project. It is a file that comes with a PQT extension, excluding merely a few things like refresh settings, history, connection credentials, etc. At the moment, Microsoft supports the Power Query Template in the Fabric Dataflows Gen 2 and Power Platform Dataflow.
To create a Power Query Template, you need to select the 'Export template' in the Power Query editor online, enter a name and description when prompted, and download the PQT file. Import of a template is even easier and can be done through the Dataflow Gen2. However, you'd need to set up credentials for connections and manage to publish and set up the schedule refresh. The Power Query Template helps move vital parts of your work to the new Dataflow.
With Power Query Template, Power Query goes a step further by facilitating migration and software development lifecycle of a project. Projects can be migrated quickly and easily from one environment to another, or from Excel to Dataflow and Power BI Desktop to Dataflow or vice versa. The possibility to version control the Power Query work in Git or other such platforms is anticipated in the future.
The vision for Microsoft with Power Query involves making it more accessible in an enterprise environment. While Microsoft Fabric offers a larger control flow of execution for data integration, Power Query Template allows for saving, migrating, and version controlling.
In conclusion, Power Query Template enables saving Power Query work as a single file. It also allows migration of Power Query work from Dataflow Gen1 to Dataflow Gen2. It saves the time and offers version control. Although not all platforms have this feature, it is predicted to eventually become omnipresent.
Some features might not appear complicated but can significantly impact the tool’s usage and adoption. The Power Query Template, innovative yet uncomplicated, certainly falls in this category. It stands as one of the best advancements in Power Query in many years. Billed as a giant leap, it is poised to make a massive difference in the future by making migrations simpler and bringing in enterprise features like version control.
The main topic of the text is the Power Query Template, a tool in Microsoft technologies like Power Query Editor, Excel and Power BI. The text identifies its utility for version control, team development and easy migration between tools and services. The use of Power Query Template addresses the previous necessity of saving an entire Excel or Power BI file to preserve the Power Query portion, it now allows for the Power Query project's separate preservation. The Power Query Template is a comprehensive tool encapsulating all queries, functions, parameters and other related components of the Power Query Editor. However, it does not include settings and history like refresh settings, connection credentials and Dataflow IDs.
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