nimblelearn / datapackage-connector

Power BI Custom Connector for loading tables directly from Tabular Data Packages (Frictionless Data) into Power BI

Data Package Connector (datapackage-connector)

A Power BI Custom Connector based on the Data Package M (datapackage-m) functions. Data Package Connector enables you to load one or more tables from Tabular Data Packages directly into Power BI through the familiar 'Get Data' experience. It also includes the Data Package M functions library.

Not heard of Power BI? You can learn about it here.

What is Frictionless Data?

A Tabular Data Package is a simple format for publishing and sharing tabular data. Tabular Data Packages extend and specialise the Data Package specification, and both come under the umbrella of Frictionless Data.

Visit https://frictionlessdata.io to learn more.

Data Package Connector in Power BI Desktop

Easily load Data Packages through the 'Get Data' UI

Data Package Connector is a stable third-party connector

Specify a valid Data Package identifier and whether to respect the Table Schema

Connects using anonymous authentication

Select the tables that you want to load/edit and the rest is history

Full support for on demand and scheduled data refresh in the Power BI service (requires a Data Gateway)

Includes Data Package M functions for more advanced scenarios

Data Package Connector Functions

Function Name	Description
DataPackage.Load	Returns a Navigation Table (i.e. table) that lists the Data Resources contained within a Data Package. This function wraps DataPackage.Tables but expects the ignoreTableSchemaTypes parameter to be a text representation of a logical value instead of an actual logical value. The text value is casted to a logical value before calling DataPackage.Tables.

DataPackage.Load

Parameter	Type	Description
dataPackageIdentifier	text	A valid Data Package Identifier
ignoreTableSchemaTypes	text	Controls whether the Table Schema is applied to the data. This must have a value that can be casted to a logical value using the Logical.From function in the standard Power Query M library e.g. 'true' or 'false'.

Only data resources that are detected as being tabular (i.e. contain a table value in their 'Data' column) are returned by this function.

Data Package M Functions

Function Name	Description
DataPackage.Table	Returns a Tabular Data Resource as a table
DataPackage.Tables	Returns a table that lists the Data Resources contained within a Data Package
DataPackage.Helper	Returns a Data Package helper function as a function

DataPackage.Table

Parameter	Type	Description
dataPackageIdentifier	text	A valid Data Package Identifier
dataResourceIndex	number	A valid Data Resource index
dataResourceName	text	A valid Data Resource name
ignoreTableSchemaTypes	logical	Controls whether the Table Schema is applied to the data

DataPackage.Tables

Parameter	Type	Description
dataPackageIdentifier	text	A valid Data Package Identifier
ignoreTableSchemaTypes	logical	Controls whether the Table Schema is applied to the data

Any Data Resource that is detected as being tabular will contain the data table in the 'data' column. Data Package properties that are inferred and added by Data Package M have their name preceded by double underscore e.g. '__fullpath'.

DataPackage.Helper

Parameter	Type	Description
functionName	text	A valid Data Package helper function name

This is a special function that acts as a library of Data Package helper functions. As the returned functions are only used as helpers for the DataPackage.Table and DataPackage.Tables functions, please see the comments inline with the Power Query M expressions to understand how they work. Advanced Power Query M users may wish to use these helper functions to work with Data Package metadata more directly.

Table Schema Type Conversions

Type conversion is attempted for the most common Table Schema types:

Table Schema Type	M Type
string	text
number	number
integer	number
boolean	logical
date	date
datetime	datetime
time	time

Unhandled types are defaulted to the text type. Setting the ignoreTableSchemaTypes property to true when invoking DataPackage.Load, DataPackage.Table, or DataPackage.Tables will stop the Table Schema from being applied. This can be useful when one or more values in a column cause an error when the Table Schema type conversions are attempted.

Setup

Using Data Package Connector as a Trusted Third-Party Power BI Connector (Recommended)

1. Download the latest release.
2. Extract the 'DataPackage.pqx' Power BI extension file from the 'distributable' folder.
3. Follow these instructions on how to use Power BI Custom Connectors with Power BI Desktop.
4. Follow these instructions on how to trust a third-party connector.
5. Follow these instructions on how to use Power BI Custom Connectors with the Power BI On-premises Data Gateway.

The thumbprint to use when setting up the Data Package Connector as a trusted third-party Connector can be found in the 'thumbprint.txt' file located in the 'distributable' folder.

Using Data Package Connector as an Untrusted Power BI Connector (Not Recommended)

1. Download the latest release.
2. Extract the 'DataPackage.pqx' Power BI extension file from the 'distributable' folder.
3. Follow these instructions on how to use Power BI Custom Connectors with Power BI Desktop.
4. Follow these instructions on how to use Power BI Custom Connectors with the Power BI On-premises Data Gateway.

Power Query M Expression Examples

The following examples show the recommended way to invoke the Data Package M functions when using them in your Power Query M expressions.

Getting the List of Resources from a Data Package (Remote)

    // Invoke the function
    Source = DataPackage.Tables("https://datahub.io/core/gdp/datapackage.json")
in
    Source

Getting the List of Resources from a Data Package (Local)

let
    // Invoke the function
    Source = DataPackage.Tables("C:\gdp\datapackage.json")
in
    Source

Getting the Data for a Resource Using Its Index (Remote)

let
    // Invoke the function
    Source = DataPackage.Table("https://datahub.io/core/gdp/datapackage.json", 0)
in
    Source

Getting the Data for a Resource Using Its Index (Local)

let
    // Invoke the function
    Source = DataPackage.Table("C:\gdp\datapackage.json", 0)
in
    Source

Getting the Data for a Resource Using Its Name (Remote)

let
    // Invoke the function
    Source = DataPackage.Table("https://datahub.io/core/gdp/datapackage.json", null, "gdp")
in
    Source

Getting the Data for a Resource Using Its Name (Local)

let
    // Invoke the function
    Source = DataPackage.Table("C:\gdp\datapackage.json", null, "gdp")
in
    Source

Getting the Data for a Resource Without Table Schema Type Conversion

let
    // Invoke the function
    Source = DataPackage.Table("https://datahub.io/core/gdp/datapackage.json", null, "gdp", true)
in
    Source

Invoking a Data Package Helper Function Directly

let
    // Get the required helper function by name
    DataPackage.Package = DataPackage.Helper("DataPackage.Package"),

    // Invoke the helper function
    Source = DataPackage.Package("https://datahub.io/core/gdp/datapackage.json")
 in
    Source

Try Data Package Connector with the Core Datasets

• Core Datasets on DataHub
• Core Datasets on GitHub

Licensing

This work was created by Nimble Learn and has been published with the MIT License. The full license can be viewed in plain text.

Notes

• When prompted for the 'Privacy Level' choose either 'Public' or 'Organizational'.

• If the field values in a CSV file do not match the expected field type, as defined in the Table Schema, the invalid values in the column will return an error (Expression.Error). You can get around this by setting the ignoreTableSchemaTypes parameter to true.

Known Issues

There are no currently known issues.