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Tag Archive: Microsoft Fabric

  • SQL Server vs Fabric Warehouse: T-SQL gotchas nobody warns you about

    SQL Server vs Fabric Warehouse: T-SQL gotchas nobody warns you aboutJuly 23rd, 2026 in Blog, Data Warehouse, Fabric, Microsoft Fabric, SQL, SQL Server

    Fabric Warehouse looks just like SQL Server. It uses T-SQL, has schemas, stored procs and more. Yet, you migrate your first proper workload and see “that’s not supported” errors you never had to think about before. Fabric Warehouse isn’t SQL Server. Under the bonnet it’s storing everything as Delta Parquet in OneLake, and that storage format shapes what T-SQL can and can’t do. Here’s what actually trips…

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  • There Is More Than One Way to Query Your Data: Have You Tried DAX?

    June 12th, 2026 in Blog, Data analytics, DAX

    Power BI is fantastic for building reports, but sometimes you just need to get data out of a semantic model quickly, without building a full report page to do it. However, what if you need to dig further into a specific snapshot of your data? For example: What if you wanted to pull a precise slice of data into Excel for a one-off analysis? Or maybe you’re building a bespoke report and want to make sure it’s using the same agreed…

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  • Baking Up Better Data: Microsoft Fabric and the Fabric Toolbox

    May 8th, 2026 in Blog, Community, Data Factory, Data Warehouse, Fabric, Microsoft Fabric

    Recently, I presented a talk at the Birmingham Data User Group, titled “Stop Hand-Whisking Your Data: Faster Fabric Development with the fabric-toolbox”. On the back of that, I wanted to summarise the talk into a blog and share how you can use fabric-toolbox to enhance your Fabric development. Data engineering can feel abstract. Layers upon layers of transformation, movement, and logic that are hard to visualise at a glance. So, when talking…

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  • Microsoft Fabric FabCon 2026 announcements that will transform your data stack

    March 25th, 2026 in Blog, Community, Microsoft Fabric, News, Power BI

    What Microsoft just revealed about the future of enterprise analytics… Microsoft’s FabCon 2026 conference unveiled a transformative vision for enterprise data and AI integration. Rather than incremental improvements to existing tools, the announcements represent a fundamental architectural shift. Fabric is evolving from a passive data platform into an active intelligence layer that drives real-time, autonomous decision-making across…

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  • Fabric Toolbox: A Helpful Resource for Exploring Fabric

    Purple Frog Systems branded blog header featuring a team member standing in front of a purple background with hexagon graphics and a magnifying glass illustration, alongside the title “Fabric Toolbox: A Helpful Resource for Exploring Fabric.”March 5th, 2026 in Blog, Community, Fabric, Microsoft Fabric

    As Microsoft Fabric adoption grows, many businesses are starting to move beyond experimentation and into building production analytics platforms. However, implementing and managing a modern data platform still involves more than simply enabling the technology. To help teams get started and explore best practices, Microsoft and the wider community have introduced Fabric Toolbox, a collection of open source resources designed to support Microsoft…

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  • Incremental Refresh in Power BI

    January 23rd, 2026 in Blog, Power BI

    The aim of an incremental refresh is to reduce refresh time by avoiding unnecessary reprocessing of historical data. Rather than reloading an entire table on every refresh, Power BI refreshes only the most recent period where new or corrected records are likely to appear, while retaining older data that is unchanged. Incremental refresh is based on two time windows: Retention (historical data): how far back data is kept in the model. Refresh…

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  • FabFest 2025: Running the Microsoft Fabric Clinic!

    Laura-Jayne wearing a black Purple Frog Systems polo shirt, standing in front of a graphic background with hexagonal patterns and an event photo of people networking. Text on the image reads: “FabFest 2025: Running the Microsoft Fabric Clinic!” along with the FabFest logo.October 16th, 2025 in Blog, Community, Data Lakehouse, Fabric, Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Sponsoring Event

    FabFest is a great community conference held in Birmingham, UK, that Purple Frog Systems has sponsored for the past 2 years. This year, we had the opportunity to host 2 clinics for attendees, where they could learn more about Microsoft Fabric or AI solutions, or troubleshoot issues currently faced in these areas. Why did we choose to run these clinics? At last year’s conference, we had several attendees approach us with questions about…

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  • Variable Libraries In Microsoft Fabric, In Preview!

    June 13th, 2025 in Blog, Microsoft Fabric

    In Preview: Variable Libraries in Microsoft Fabric Microsoft Fabric’s variable libraries offer a powerful way to streamline your CI/CD processes, especially when you’re working in a shared workspace. In this post, we’ll explore the key benefits of this feature and how it can boost your team’s productivity. What Are Variable Libraries in Microsoft Fabric? Variable libraries in Microsoft Fabric let you store and manage variables in a…

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  • From Practical to Impactful: Using Base64 Encoded Images to Transform Power BI Button Slicers

    From Practical to Impactful: Using Base64 Encoded Images to Transform Power BI Button SlicersMarch 25th, 2025 in Blog, Dashboarding and Reporting, Microsoft Fabric, Power BI

    Slicers are a key component within a Power BI report. They enable the user to intuitively explore their data and interact with visuals to reveal insights and patterns. The Button Slicer is a great choice to elevate the interactivity of a report whilst also boosting the visual impact, as it can be customized in a multitude of ways. In this blog I will show you how to use images in your Button Slicer to take your Power BI reports to the next…

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  • Transform Your Data Strategy: Why You Should Migrate to Microsoft Fabric

    March 24th, 2025 in Blog, Fabric, Microsoft Fabric

    Microsoft Fabric Migration offers several compelling benefits for organisations looking to enhance their data management and analytics capabilities 📊 Here are some key reasons why you should consider the transition: 1. Unified data ecosystem Microsoft Fabric consolidates diverse data toolsets into a single integrated service. This means you no longer need to juggle multiple tools and platforms. Fabric provides a comprehensive solution…

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