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๐Ÿ”Œ Loading Data and Metadata into Power BI

PowerConnect brings two things from TM1 into Microsoft Power BI: TM1 data and TM1 metadata. Together they give Power BI everything it needs to render a report that stays faithful to the source model โ€” values, structure, and labels.

TM1 data

TM1 data is the actual cube values you want to chart, slice, and aggregate in Power BI. PowerConnect loads it in one of two ways:

  • From a TM1 cube view โ€” point PowerConnect at an existing view and the values flow straight into a Power BI dataset.

  • From your own MDX query โ€” write the exact slice you need and PowerConnect runs it, giving you full control when the cube views don't quite match what the report needs.

TM1 metadata

TM1 metadata is the supporting structure that makes the data meaningful โ€” without it, Power BI sees numbers but not what they mean. PowerConnect loads:

  • TM1 subsets โ€” bring the dimension subsets you've already defined in TM1 into Power BI, so the same groupings used by your TM1 reports drive your Power BI visuals.

  • TM1 attributes โ€” element attributes (descriptions, aliases, categorisations, formats, and any custom attributes) come across alongside the data, so Power BI users see meaningful labels and can filter by attribute values.

Why both matter

Loading data without metadata gives Power BI a flat table of numbers with cryptic codes. Loading metadata as well gives Power BI hierarchies it can drill through, descriptions it can show on tooltips, and attributes it can filter by โ€” making the report behave the way TM1 users already expect.

In this section

Star Schema
How to join dimension, security, and fact tables into a star schema so filtering and element-level security work in the Power BI Service, illustrated with the one-to-many joins between Years, Stores, Store Security, and the Budget All Releases fact table.

Retrieving Data
Step-by-step instructions for pulling TM1 data into Power BI Desktop via the Cubewise IBM Planning Analytics connector โ€” selecting views, subsets, and security in the Navigator, preparing element data types, and renaming tables before building the star schema.

Working with TM1 Hierarchies in Power BI
A detailed walkthrough of making TM1 hierarchies roll up correctly in Power BI โ€” loading separate dimension and leaf-level fact tables to avoid double-counting, filling blank level columns, swapping element codes for descriptions with Power Query, relating the tables, and using the hierarchy in Matrix and chart visuals.