Reports Center and Power BI Integration

The integration of Reports Center and Power BI enables you to connect the Reports Center to your organization's Power BI workspace, allowing you to view and interact with dashboards directly within Reports Center. Additionally, you can publish Jet Reports data as Business Views and connect them to Power BI through OData feeds for advanced analytics and visualization.

Connect Reports Center to Your Power BI Workspace

Before you start, make sure that the following prerequisites are fulfilled:

  • You have access to Reports Center with permissions to run reports and publish Business Views.

  • You have the following Power BI connection information from your organization:

    • Tenant ID

    • Client ID

    • Client Secret

    • Workspace ID

  • You have Power BI Desktop (if building custom visuals)

  • You have a Power BI Pro Account - Required for initial setup to create dashboards, establish connections, and obtain connection credentials. Typically handled by an administrator or designated user. Once the connection is established, users with free Power BI licenses can view shared dashboards within Reports Center.

To set up the connection between Reports Center and Power BI, follow the below steps:

  1. In Reports Center, navigate to the Power BI section.

  2. Click Configure.

  3. Enter your organization's connection details:

    • Tenant ID

    • Client ID

    • Client Secret

    • Workspace ID (Group ID)

  4. Click Save and confirm the connection.

After a successful setup, dashboards from your Power BI workspace will be available in Reports Center.

Where to Find Connection Details

To find values for the connection details from step 3 of the procedure, do the following:

  • Workspace ID (Group ID) - In Power BI Service, open the workspace and copy the Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) in the URL after /groups/.

  • Tenant ID - Navigate to Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) > Overview.

  • Client ID and Client Secret - Navigate to Azure AD > App registrations > your app. You'll find the Client ID in the Overview section and Client Secret in the Certificates & Secrets section.

For detailed app permission requirements, refer to the Azure AD App Registration Permissions for Power BI section.

Prepare Your Report for Publishing

Before publishing, make sure the report output has a clean, tabular structure.

Report Requirements

Make sure that the following requirements are fulfilled for the Header Row:

  • Single header row with valid, unique column names

  • No blank headers, duplicates, or merged cells

Also, create a Named Range that includes:

  • The header row

  • All data rows

  • One additional blank row at the bottom (required for Business Views)

Define Named Ranges and Excel Tables in Excel

To define named ranges in Excel, perform the following:

  1. Select the table area (header, data rows and one blank row)

  2. Go to Formulas > Name Manager.

  3. Provide a clear name for the range (for example, SalesData).

  4. Confirm Refers to covers the header, data, and extra blank row.

  5. Save the workbook and upload it to Reports Center.

To define tables in Excel, go to Create and Format Tables.

Publish Report Data as a Business View

To publish report data as a business view, follow the below steps:

  1. Navigate to Reports Center > Reports and elect your prepared report.

  2. Run the report. Publishing option is unavailable until the report runs.

  3. After completion, select Publish to Business Views.

    Review the data preview in the popup:

    • In Select Ranges to Publish, select the required named ranges you want to publish as a business view.

    • In Select Tables to Publish, select the required Excel tables to publish as a business view.

    Note: The Select Ranges to Publish or Select Tables to Publish options will be available only if you have created named ranges or tables for the report, respectively.

  4. Click Confirm to publish.

The Business View will appear under Business Views in Reports Center. If publishing fails, verify your headers and named ranges are correct, then re-run the report.

Generate an OData Access Token

  1. In Reports Center, click the Apps button in the sidebar to return to the main Platform page.

  2. Navigate to your user profile and select User Settings.

  3. Navigate to Access Tokens > Generate token.

  4. Provide a Token name to identify the integration.

  5. Check the Angles PDS checkbox.

  6. Click Generate.

  7. Copy the token immediately (it cannot be displayed again for security reasons).

Important: Access tokens are required for token-based authentication. Tokens expire and must be regenerated when needed. Remember to store tokens securely.

Connect Business View in Power BI

To connect Business View in Power BI, follow the below steps:

  1. Navigate to Power BI Desktop > Select Get Data > OData Feed.

  2. Enter the following URL: https://reports.app.insightsoftware.com/api/SharedData/odata leaving the setting onBasic.

  3. Enter the access token into the User name field.

  4. Click Connect. The Business Views list is displayed.

  5. Choose from the Business Views available for your environment

  6. Load the data and build your visuals in Power BI.

Business Views: Key Information for Jet Customers

  • Creation: Business Views are created from Jet report outputs in Reports Center.

  • Requirements: Reports must have valid header rows and named ranges.

  • Accessibility: Once published, Business Views are reusable by anyone in your organization with access.

  • Updates: Changes to report structure (columns, headers) require re-running and re-publishing the Business View.

  • Purpose: Bridge Excel-based reporting with enterprise BI capabilities.

Troubleshooting

Procedure: Power BI connection setup.

Issue: Connection fails during setup.

  • Check if Tenant ID, Client ID, Client Secret, Workspace ID are correct.

  • Ensure the app registration has permissions to access the Power BI API.

  • Confirm your Power BI workspace exists and you have permissions.

Procedure: Preparing Jet reports.

Issue: Publish option is unavailable.

  • Report hasn’t been run yet. Run the report first.

Issue: Publish fails immediately.

  • Header row is missing, blank, duplicated, or merged. Correct headers and re-run.

  • Named range doesn’t include the header row. Adjust the range.

Procedure: Publishing to Business Views.

Issue: Popup shows no fields.

  • Verify named ranges exist and include headers.

  • Re-upload the updated workbook if changes were made in Excel.

Issue: Wrong fields appear.

  • The named range might point to the wrong cells. Check in Excel > Formulas > Name Manager.

Procedure: Generating access token.

Issue: Token not generated.

  • Ensure you have permissions to generate tokens in Reports Center.

  • Check that your organization’s connection to Power BI is valid.

Issue: Token expired.

  • Return to the token page in Reports Center and generate a new one.

Procedure: Connecting in Power BI.

Issue: Power BI fails to connect.

  • Double-check you’re using the correct OData URL from the Business View details.

  • Ensure you chose the correct authentication method (token vs. organizational account).

Issue: Fields missing in Power BI.

  • Re-run and re-publish the Business View in Reports Center. Refresh in Power BI.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need to republish a Business View every time I run a report?

A: No. You only need to re-publish if you change the report's structure (columns, headers, or data organization).

Q: Can multiple users use the same Business View in Power BI?

A: Yes. Once published, Business Views are available to all users in your organization with appropriate access permissions.

Q: How long does an access token last?

A: Token expiration periods are shown on the Platform page. Generate a new token when the current one expires.

Q: Can I publish any Jet report as a Business View?

A: Yes, provided the report has a valid header row and properly defined named ranges. Reports with complex formatting, merged cells, or missing headers will cause publishing issues.

Q: What's the difference between viewing Power BI dashboards in Reports Center and connecting Business Views in Power BI?

A: Viewing dashboards in Reports Center displays existing Power BI dashboards in the Portal. Connecting Business Views provides Jet report data to Power BI, enabling you to create new, custom dashboards and visualizations.

Support and Additional Resources

For additional assistance:

  • Contact your system administrator for Power BI connection details.

  • Refer to Azure AD documentation for app registration guidance.

  • Consult Power BI documentation for advanced visualization techniques.

Azure AD App Registration Permissions for Power BI

Before establishing the connection between Reports Center and Power BI, your organization's Azure administrator must properly configure the Azure AD app registration with the necessary permissions. This configuration is essential for the integration to function correctly and securely access your Power BI resources.

The registered application (identified by Client ID) needs these API permissions:

  • Power BI Service (Microsoft.PowerBI):

    • Dashboard.Read.All - Read all dashboards

    • Report.Read.All - Read all reports

    • Dataset.Read.All - Read all datasets

    • Workspace.Read.All - Read all workspaces

    • Content.Create - (if creating content)

PowerBI Service Settings

In the PowerBI Admin Portal, ensure these Tenant settings are enabled:

  • Allow service principals to use Power BI APIs - Must be enabled for your client app.

  • Allow service principals to create and use profiles - When using embedding profiles.

  • Embed content in apps - Should be enabled for the security groups containing your service principal.

Workspace Level Permissions

The service principal (your Azure AD app) needs to be added to the PowerBI workspace with appropriate permissions:

  • Member or Admin role in the workspace containing the dashboards

  • This is done in PowerBI Service > Workspace Settings > Access.

Additional Considerations

Security Group Assignment: It's recommended to create an Azure AD security group, add your service principal to it, and grant permissions to the group rather than individual applications for better management.

Content Permissions: Ensure dashboards and underlying datasets have proper sharing/permission settings within Power BI.

Network Access: If using on-premises data sources, ensure proper gateway configuration and permissions are in place.

The integration requires that the Client ID represents a service principal with explicit permissions both in Azure AD and within the Power BI service. Without proper configuration at both layers, the embedding will fail.

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