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Intro to the Excel Data Model
Here is a great new Excel lab hosted on TechNet Labs. Learn about the data model, for free.
This lab is intended to serve as an introduction to the understanding the Excel Data Model. The Excel data model was available in Excel 2010 and was introduced together with an add-in to Excel called Power.
It has the data model in it and in the next version of Excel 2013, the model was actually absorbed into Excel and now it’s part of Excel itself.
To really use the Excel Data model you need to understand the DAX language, which is the formula language for the Excel Data Model. This Lab will not walk through DAX.
For further in-depth DAX learnings, please check out the following resources:
- The DAX Resource Center Wiki (http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/dax-resource-center.aspx).
- Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) Reference (https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Data-Analysis-Expressions-DAX-Reference-411c6891-614d-438c-bf45-c7e061dd9e08).
- The DAX in the BI Tabular Model whitepaper (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=237472&clcid=0x409)
The lab will walk through viewing the data model, setting up relationships, creating a date dimension and a set of calculations.