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Microsoft Power BI

This page shows how to set up and use the Microsoft Power BI destination. The Microsoft Power BI destination loads data to Power BI.

Supported Power BI Environments

There are two ways to connect your Power BI environment with Xtract Universal:

The table below shows which Power BI environments support which connection method.

Custom Connector M-script
Power BI Desktop ✅ ✅
Power BI service via
on-premises data gateway		 ✅ ✅
Power BI Report Server ❌ ✅

For more information, see Connect Xtract Universal to Power BI.

Video Tutorial

The following YouTube tutorial shows how to install and use the Xtract Universal Custom Connector with Power BI Desktop:

Create a new Microsoft Power BI Destination

Follow the steps below to add a new Microsoft Power BI destination to Xtract Universal:

  1. In the main window of the Designer, navigate to Server > Manage Destinations. The window “Manage Destinations” opens.
    xu-destinations
  2. Click [Add] to create a new destination. The window "Destination Details" opens.
    destinations_load_manage_shared
  3. Enter a Name for the destination.
  4. Select the destination type Microsoft Power BI from the drop-down menu. A list of connection details opens.
  5. Fill out the destination details to connect to the destination.
  6. Click [OK] to confirm your input.

The destination can now be assigned to extractions.

Destination Details

The destination details define the connection to the destination. For information on how to restrict access to the connection settings, refer to Access Management.

To use the Microsoft Power BI destination, no configuration is required.

Destination-Details

Assign the Microsoft Power BI Destination to an Extraction

Extractions write data to their assigned destination. Follow the steps below to assign a destination to an extraction:

  1. In the main window of the Designer, select an extraction.
  2. Click [ touch icon touch icon from the IconExperience.com O-Collection. Copyright by INCORS GmbH (www.incors.com). Destination]. The window “Destination Settings” opens.
    xu_designer_destination
  3. In the “Destination Settings” window, select your Microsoft Power BI destination from the dropdown list.
    assign-destination
  4. Optional: edit the destination settings.
  5. Click [OK] to confirm your input.

When running the extraction, the extracted SAP data is now written to the destination.

Destination Settings

The destination settings only affect the extraction that the destination is assigned to. To open the destination settings, select an extraction in the main window of the Designer and click [ touch icon touch icon from the IconExperience.com O-Collection. Copyright by INCORS GmbH (www.incors.com). Destination]. The window "Destination Settings" opens.

Destination-settings

Column Name Style

Defines the style of the column name. Following options are available:

column_name_style_options

Option Description
Code The SAP technical column name is used as column name in the destination e.g., MAKTX.
PrefixedCode The SAP technical column name is prefixed by SAP object name and the tilde character e.g., MAKT~MAKTX
CodeAndText The SAP technical column name and the SAP description separated by an underscore are used as column name in the destination e.g., MAKTX_Material Description (Short Text).
TextAndCode The SAP description and the SAP technical column name description separated by an underscore are used as column name in the destination e.g., Material Description (Short Text)_MAKTX.
Text The SAP description is used as column name in the destination e.g., Material Description (Short Text).

Convert dates

Converts the character-type SAP date (YYYYMMDD) to a special date format (YYYY-MM-DD), e.g., 19900101 becomes 1990-01-01. Target data uses a real date data-type and not the string data-type to store dates.

Year 0

Converts the SAP date 00000000 to the entered value.

Year 9999

Converts the SAP date 9999XXXX to the entered value.

Invalid values

If an SAP date cannot be converted to a valid date format, the invalid date is converted to the entered value. NULL is supported as a value. When converting the SAP date the two special cases 00000000 and 9999XXXX are checked first.

Connect Xtract Universal to Power BI

Xtract Universal connects to Power BI either using a Power Query (M-script) or a Custom Connector. Power Query (M-script) and Custom Connector do not belong together, so only use one of them.

The overview graphic below shows the data flow from SAP through Xtract Universal to the supported Power BI environments.

Power-BI-Connector

Power BI Custom Connector

The Microsoft Power BI destination provides a Power BI Custom Connector for Xtract Universal. The Custom Connector XtractUniversalExtension.pqx is located in the Xtract Universal installation directory, e.g., C:\Program Files\XtractUniversal\powerbi\. It follows Microsoft's guidelines for custom connectors in Power BI.

The Xtract Universal Custom Connector can be used to:

Power Query M-script

The Microsoft Power BI destination provides an M-script for connecting Xtract Universal and Power BI. The Xtract Universal M-script can be used to:

The Power BI Query M-script loading_script.txt is located inside the Xtract Universal installation directory, e.g., C:\Program Files\XtractUniversal\powerbi\ or you can download it here:

Download loading_script.txt

How to use the M-Script

  1. Create a new Power BI Report using Blank Query as a data source.
  2. Open the [Advanced Editor] and copy the content of the loading_script.txt into the editor.

  3. Change the values for ExtractionName and ServerURL to match the name of your Xtract Universal extraction name and server URL:

    let
    ExtractionName = "mara",
    ServerUrl = "http://localhost:8065",

    // Record containing run parameters with corresponding values, can be empty
    // Usage: <XU parameter name>= <value or Power BI parameter>
    // MUST NOT use "name" as a record field here
    Parameters = [ /*rows= "300", myparameter= SomePowerBIParameter*/ ],

  4. Optional: Enter values for Parameters to pass them to Xtract Universal. For a complete list of possible parameters, see extraction parameters. Also refer to our Knowledge Base Article: Dynamic Table Extractions with Power BI.

  5. Apply the script. If prompted, provide an authentication method for the Power BI and Xtract Universal connection. For more information, see Single Sign On and SAP Authentication.
  6. Save the Report.

Your SAP data is now available in Power BI.

Single Sign On and SAP Authentication

When setting up the Xtract Universal data source in Power BI for the first time, you are prompted for one of the following authorization methods. Select an authorization method according to your landscape:

  • Anonymous: Select this option if the Xtract Universal server settings don't require any authentication for running an extraction.
  • Basic: Select this option if the Require SAP Credentials to be explicitly supplied for execution checkbox is marked in the SAP Source Settings in Xtract Universal. Enter your SAP credentials in the respective input fields.

  • Windows: Select this option if you want to use SSO or if you have restricted access to extractions in the Xtract Universal server settings. Enter \\\ in the user field and your Windows password in the Password field.

    XU_PBI_EN_SSO

Xtract Universal and the Power BI Connector destination support single sign on (SSO) to SAP. If SSO is set up correctly, the Windows credentials of the executing Power BI user are mapped to this user's SAP credentials. This leverages the user's SAP authorizations and Power BI will only show data that matches the user's SAP authorizations.

Last update: January 16, 2026