Languages used in Power BI, Power Automate, Power Apps, and Dataverse, along with summaries, usage, examples, and links to their respective API

Power BI

Language	Summary	Code Example	LanguageUsedIn	Docs
DAX	Formula language for calculated columns, measures, and tables.	Total Sales = SUM(Sales[Amount])	Measures, Calculated Columns, Calculated Tables, Row-Level Security	DAX Reference
M (Power Query)	Functional language for data transformation in Power Query Editor.	= Table.SelectRows(Sales, each [Amount] > 1000)	Power Query Editor, Data Source Queries, Query Parameters	M Language Reference
R / Python	Used for advanced analytics and custom visuals.	summary(lm(Sales ~ Region, data=sales_data)) (R)	Power BI Desktop Scripts, Custom Visuals, Transform Data Scripts	R & Python in Power BI

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Power Automate

Language	Summary	Code Example	LanguageUsedIn	Docs
Workflow Definition Language (WDL)	JSON-based schema for defining flow logic and expressions.	@equals(triggerBody()?['Status'], 'Approved')	Conditions, Expressions, Dynamic Content, Advanced Mode in Actions	WDL Overview
Power Fx	Low-code formula language used in some expressions and integrations.	If(Status = "Approved", "Proceed", "Hold")	Instant Plugins, Dataverse Accelerator, Desktop Flows (Preview)	Power Fx in Power Automate

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Power Apps

Language	Summary	Code Example	LanguageUsedIn	Docs
Power Fx	Excel-like formula language for app logic and UI behavior.	If(User().Email = "admin@contoso.com", Navigate(AdminScreen), Navigate(HomeScreen))	Canvas Apps, Cards, Formula Columns, Model-Driven Command Bars, Instant Plugins	Power Fx Docs
JSON / REST APIs	Used for external data integration via custom connectors.	Patch(MyDataSource, Defaults(MyDataSource), {Name: "Jason"})	Custom Connectors, HTTP Actions via Power Automate, REST API Bindings	Power Apps REST APIs

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Dataverse

Language	Summary	Code Example	LanguageUsedIn	Docs
OData / Web API (REST)	HTTP-based API for CRUD operations on Dataverse data.	GET https://<org>.crm.dynamics.com/api/data/v9.2/accounts	External Integrations, Custom Connectors, Power BI Direct Query, Power Apps REST Calls	Dataverse Web API
C# (via SDK)	Used in plugins, custom workflows, and server-side logic.	service.Create(new Account { Name = "Contoso" });	Plugins, Custom Workflow Activities, Azure Functions, Server-Side Extensions	Dataverse SDK

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Would you like this exported as a CSV or markdown file for quick reference? Or maybe a visual map showing how these languages interact across the platform? I can whip that up too. Let me know how deep you want to go

Unable to create Azure Purview Account – Resource provider Microsoft.Purview is not registered

 In my last Azure Purview Quickstart video (#3 – Create an Azure Purview Account – link), I’ve shown you how to create a new Azure Purview account.

And what pre-prepared demos have in common, well – it “just” works there 
BUT: there are some requirements that need to be configured beforehand, in order to create an Azure Purview Account.

Basically, problems during the creation process can be listed to:

• Security / permissions
• Missing Resource providers

Permissions required to create an Azure Purview Account

You need Azure Contributor or Owner role (or be an Administrator of the Azure subscription)

Missing Resource providers

Azure Purview requires the following resource providers to be registered in your Azure subscription. If you have not heard of Azure resource providers before, please have a look at the docs page.

Azure Purview requires the resources providers for

• Microsoft.Purview
• Microsoft.Storage
• Microsoft.EventHub

to be activated in your subscription…

The validation error message looks similar to this one:

Validation failed with error: The template deployment ‘Microsoft.AzurePurviewGalleryPackage-datagov01’ is not valid according to the validation procedure. The tracking id is ‘xxxxxxxx’. See inner errors for details.
Detailed error(s):
21005 – The resource providers Microsoft.Storage and Microsoft.EventHub and Microsoft.Purview are not registered for subscription xxxxxx. For improved Azure Policy validation on managed resources, we recommend to register Microsoft.PolicyInsights resource provider on your subscription.

The resource providers Microsoft.Storage and Microsoft.EventHub and Microsoft.Purview are not registered for subscription xxxx

Missing resource providers (Microsoft.Purview) for Purview Account

How to register missing resource providers?

• First of all – you need administrative access to your Azure subscription to enable resource providers.

• Open the Azure portal and head over to Subscriptions

Azure subscription list

Select the Resource providers menu entry and search for the three required ones (Microsoft.Purview, Microsoft.Storage, Microsoft.EventHub)

Resource provider menu in the subscription section

(1) Search for the resource provider name, select (2) the entry and (3) register / re-register it in your subscription.

Resource provider details page

Reminder: check for all three resource providers to be registered! 

With these configuration steps, you now should be able to create your Azure Purview account!

20 Cloud based Virtual Sandbox or CloudPC or Remote Environment Tools available for no cost

1. Browserling – A cloud-based browser sandbox for securely running applications in an isolated virtual machine.

2. – A web-based virtual browser for secure browsing and testing without installation.

3. NetworkChuck Cloud Browser – A zero-trust browser isolation tool for secure browsing and malware testing.

4. Any.Run – An interactive malware analysis sandbox that runs in the cloud, allowing real-time testing of suspicious files.

5. – A cloud-based Windows PC that can be accessed remotely for testing and development.

6. RollApp – A cloud-based platform that lets you run desktop applications in a browser, including development tools.

7. DistroTest – A free online service that allows you to test various operating systems, including Windows alternatives, in a browser.

8. AppOnFly – A cloud-based Windows desktop that allows you to run applications remotely.

9. CloudShell – A browser-based cloud environment for running Linux and Windows applications securely.

10. Microsoft Azure Sandbox (Microsoft Learn) – Free, temporary Windows VMs via browser-based Azure Cloud Shell for testing VSCode projects or learning Azure.

11. – Open-source cloud sandbox with Windows VMs for dynamic malware analysis, suitable for testing VSCode project files.

12. VirusTotal – Free service for scanning files/URLs with antivirus engines, including Windows-based sandbox analysis for VSCode files.

13. Hybrid Analysis – Free cloud sandbox for static/dynamic analysis of files in Windows VMs, ideal for verifying VSCode project safety.

14. Kasm Workspaces – Browser-based Desktop-as-a-Service with free Windows desktops for testing and running VSCode in a cloud environment.

15. Google Cloud Free Tier (Compute Engine) – Free Windows VM (B1S instance) for 12 months via browser-based Google Cloud Console, suitable for VSCode development.

16. Oracle Cloud Free Tier – Forever-free Compute Instances with Windows support via browser-based Cloud Console, ideal for VSCode projects.

17. OnWorks – Free platform offering Windows virtual desktops via browser, suitable for running VSCode or testing Windows projects.

18. CodeSandbox – Cloud-based development platform with Windows-compatible environments via browser, optimized for VSCode-like web projects.

19. A few others open source projects activehttps://github.com/cuckoosandbox

    https://www.joesandbox.com/#windows

    https://testingbot.com/members/manual/new

    https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie

    https://capev2.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

Sandbox / Cloud VMS Related Services

Service	Description	User Rating	Price
Browserling	Online browser sandbox for secure browsing and testing.	Not widely rated	Paid
	Web-based virtual browser for anonymous browsing.	Mixed reviews	Paid
NetworkChuck Browser	Cloud-based secure browsing tool for OSINT and threat research.	Not widely rated	Paid
	Cloud gaming and virtual PC service for high-performance computing.	Well-rated	Paid
RollApp	Cloud-based application virtualization for running desktop apps online.	Mixed reviews	Paid
DistroTest	Online Linux distro testing without installation.	Well-rated	Free
AppOnFly	Cloud-based remote desktop service for running Windows apps.	Mixed reviews	Paid
Google Cloud Shell	Web-based command-line interface for managing Google Cloud resources.	Well-rated	Free
Microsoft Learn	Online training platform for Microsoft technologies.	Highly rated	Free
Google Cloud Free	Free-tier cloud services including compute and storage.	Highly rated	Free (limited)
Oracle Cloud Free	Free-tier cloud services with compute and database options.	Well-rated	Free (limited)
OnWorks	Free online virtual machines for Linux and Windows.	Mixed reviews	Free
CodeSandbox	Online collaborative coding environment for web development.	Highly rated	Free & Paid
TestingBot	Automated and manual browser testing platform.	Well-rated	Paid

Malware Related

Service	Description	User Rating	Price
ANY.RUN	Interactive malware analysis sandbox with real-time execution.	Highly rated	Free & Paid
	Malware analysis sandbox with automated threat detection.	Well-rated	Free & Paid
VirusTotal	Multi-engine malware scanning and threat intelligence platform.	Highly rated	Free
Hybrid Analysis	Deep malware analysis powered by Falcon Sandbox.	Well-rated	Free & Paid
Cuckoo Sandbox	Open-source automated malware analysis system.	Well-rated	Free
Joe Sandbox	Advanced malware analysis with deep behavioral insights.	Highly rated	Paid
CAPE Sandbox	Malware configuration and payload extraction sandbox.	Well-rated	Free

MS Fabric Parquet Files Query Mods Cost Case Studies? Compute and Capacity and Storage billing line items

General Microsoft Fabric Billing Model

Microsoft Fabric uses a capacity-based pricing model. You purchase a Fabric Capacity (an F SKU) with a certain number of Capacity Units (CUs). These CUs are a pool of compute resources shared across all Fabric workloads (Data Factory, Synapse Data Engineering/Data Science, Data Warehouse, Data Lakehouse, Power BI, etc.).  

Your bill will primarily consist of:

1. Capacity Compute: Based on the CU consumption of all workloads running within your Fabric capacity.
2. OneLake Storage: Based on the amount of data stored in OneLake. Transaction costs (reads, writes) to OneLake are generally included in the capacity compute.
3. Optional Add-ons: Such as резервирование capacity for discounted rates.

Impact of Direct Lake vs. Direct Query on Billing

While direct case studies are lacking, we can infer the potential billing implications:

1. Capacity Compute (CU Consumption):

• Direct Lake:
  • Queries against Direct Lake models are processed by the VertiPaq engine (the same in-memory engine used by Power BI Import mode).  
  • Since the data is directly read from OneLake in Parquet format and loaded into memory on demand for querying, the compute consumption is expected to be efficient and potentially lower compared to Direct Query for analytical workloads.
  • The refresh operation for Direct Lake models is metadata-only, making it a low-cost operation in terms of compute.  
  • However, if a Direct Lake model falls back to Direct Query (e.g., due to unsupported features or row-level security on the SQL endpoint), the compute consumption would be similar to a standard Direct Query.
• Direct Query:
  • DAX queries are translated into the query language of the underlying data source (e.g., T-SQL for Fabric Data Warehouse or SQL endpoint of Lakehouse) and executed on that source.  
  • The compute cost here depends heavily on the efficiency and scale of the underlying data source. If the source is not optimized for BI-style queries, it can lead to higher CU consumption as Fabric waits for the source to return results.
  • Each query execution against the source will contribute to the overall capacity consumption.

2. OneLake Storage:

• Direct Lake: The underlying data resides in OneLake in Delta Parquet format. The storage cost will be based on the volume of data stored in OneLake. Direct Lake itself doesn't incur additional storage costs beyond the base OneLake storage.
• Direct Query: The data also resides in some form of storage (e.g., OneLake, Data Warehouse). Similar to Direct Lake, the storage cost is tied to the underlying data storage.

3. Specific Billing Line Items:

Without specific case studies, it's challenging to provide exact billing line items. However, when you analyze your Fabric capacity consumption in the Microsoft Fabric Capacity Metrics app, you would likely see:

• For Direct Lake: Operations related to "Semantic Model Queries" or similar, reflecting the CU consumption of the VertiPaq engine processing the queries. OneLake read operations might also be visible.
• For Direct Query: Operations related to the specific workload being queried (e.g., "Data Warehouse Query", "Lakehouse SQL Query"), indicating the CU consumption while Fabric interacts with that engine.

Key Considerations:

• Optimization of Underlying Sources: For Direct Query, ensure your Data Warehouse or Lakehouse SQL endpoint is well-optimized with appropriate indexing and partitioning to minimize query execution time and thus CU consumption.
• Data Volume and Complexity: Larger data volumes and more complex queries will generally consume more CUs regardless of the query mode. However, Direct Lake is designed to handle large volumes efficiently.  
• Fallback to Direct Query: Be aware of scenarios where Direct Lake might fall back to Direct Query, as this could impact performance and potentially increase CU consumption.
• Monitoring: Regularly monitor your Fabric capacity consumption using the Metrics app to understand how different workloads and query types contribute to your bill. Filter by workload and operation type to get a better understanding.

In summary, while direct billing case studies for Direct Lake vs. Direct Query are not readily available, the expectation is that Direct Lake, being optimized for large-scale analytics on OneLake data, would generally lead to more efficient compute utilization for BI workloads compared to Direct Query against potentially less optimized data sources. Storage costs are primarily tied to the volume of data in OneLake, irrespective of the query mode used for consumption.

To get a clearer understanding of your specific billing, it's recommended to:

1. Experiment with both Direct Lake and Direct Query scenarios with your data.
2. Monitor the CU consumption in the Microsoft Fabric Capacity Metrics app for each scenario.
3. Analyze the operation-level details to see how each query type contributes to your overall capacity usage.
4. Review your Azure bill for the Fabric capacity to see the total CU consumption and storage costs.

This hands-on approach with your specific data and workloads will provide the most accurate insights into the billing implications of Direct Lake vs. Direct Query in your environment.

What difference between Microsoft Power BI Desktop (Optimized for Power BI Report Server - September 2024) and Microsoft Power BI Desktop and Microsoft® Power BI Report Builder

  The differences between Microsoft Power BI Desktop (Optimized for Power BI Report Server - September 2024), Microsoft Power BI Desktop, and Microsoft Power BI Report Builder lie in their purpose, functionality, and target environment. Below is a concise comparison:

1. Microsoft Power BI Desktop (Optimized for Power BI Report Server - September 2024)

• Purpose: A specialized version of Power BI Desktop tailored for creating and publishing reports to Power BI Report Server, an on-premises reporting platform.
• Key Features:
  • Optimized for compatibility with Power BI Report Server (September 2024 release).
  • Does not include preview features until they are generally available, ensuring stability for on-premises environments.
  • Supports interactive Power BI reports (.pbix files) and connectivity to on-premises data sources without requiring a gateway for local data.
  • Lacks some cloud-specific features (e.g., dashboards, Q&A, shared datasets, advanced AI/ML capabilities) available in the Power BI Service.
  • Can be installed side-by-side with standard Power BI Desktop.
• Environment: On-premises, designed for organizations needing to keep data and reports within their firewall for security or regulatory reasons.
• Limitations:
  • Does not support paginated reports (.rdl files).
  • Limited to features supported by the specific Report Server version (e.g., no export to Excel with current layout).
  • Custom security extensions may prevent direct saving to the Report Server; reports must be uploaded manually.

2. Microsoft Power BI Desktop

• Purpose: The standard version of Power BI Desktop, designed for creating interactive reports and dashboards for the Power BI Service, a cloud-based platform.
• Key Features:
  • Supports a broader range of features, including preview features, frequent updates, and cloud-specific capabilities like dashboards, shared datasets, Q&A, and AI-driven insights.
  • Creates .pbix files for interactive, screen-optimized reports with advanced visuals and data modeling.
  • Integrates with Microsoft Fabric and other cloud services (e.g., Power Automate, Power Apps).
  • Allows data import, transformation, and visualization from various sources using Power Query and DAX.
• Environment: Primarily cloud-based (Power BI Service), though reports can be shared locally or published to on-premises servers with limitations.
• Limitations:
  • Not optimized for Power BI Report Server; reports created may not be fully compatible with on-premises servers due to version differences or unsupported features.
  • Cannot create paginated reports.

3. Microsoft Power BI Report Builder

• Purpose: A standalone tool for creating paginated reports (.rdl files) optimized for printing or exporting to formats like PDF or Excel.
• Key Features:
  • Designed for "pixel-perfect" paginated reports with precise control over layout, ideal for printed reports or fixed-format documents.
  • Based on SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) technology, supporting Report Definition Language (.rdl) files.
  • Supports accessibility features (e.g., tagging headers, text box properties) and conditional formatting.
  • Can connect to Power BI datasets or other data sources via SQL Server Analysis Services.
  • Compatible with Power BI Report Server and older SSRS versions (2016, 2017, 2019).
• Environment: Primarily used with Power BI Report Server or SSRS for on-premises deployment, though paginated reports can be published to Power BI Service with a premium capacity.
• Limitations:
  • Lacks the interactive, exploratory features of Power BI Desktop reports.
  • Not suited for building dashboards or highly interactive visuals.

Key Differences Summary

Aspect	Power BI Desktop (Optimized for Report Server)	Power BI Desktop	Power BI Report Builder
Primary Use	Interactive reports for on-premises Report Server	Interactive reports for cloud (Power BI Service)	Paginated reports for printing/export
File Format	.pbix (interactive reports)	.pbix (interactive reports)	.rdl (paginated reports)
Environment	On-premises (Power BI Report Server)	Cloud (Power BI Service)	On-premises or cloud (premium)
Feature Set	Stable, server-compatible features	Latest features, cloud-focused	Pixel-perfect, print-focused
Preview Features	Excluded until generally available	Included	Not applicable
Data Connectivity	On-premises focus, no gateway for local data	Cloud and local with gateway	SSRS-based, dataset-focused
Interactivity	High (slicers, filters, visuals)	High (dashboards, AI)	Low (static, formatted reports)
Compatibility	Tied to specific Report Server version	Power BI Service	Report Server, SSRS, premium cloud

Which Tool to Use?

• Use Power BI Desktop (Optimized for Report Server - September 2024) if your organization uses Power BI Report Server and needs interactive reports hosted on-premises.
• Use Power BI Desktop for cloud-based reporting, collaboration, and access to the latest features in the Power BI Service.
• Use Power BI Report Builder for paginated reports requiring precise formatting for printing or export, especially in on-premises environments or premium cloud workspaces.

For further details, refer to Microsoft’s official documentation on Power BI Report Server and Power BI Desktop