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2. Installation and Interface Tour

2.2 The Main Views

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Start with a problem

Rani loaded the orders file but cannot find where to check the rows, where to draw relationships, or where to test a measure.

Explain simply

The left bar has one icon per view: Report (build pages), Table (check rows, add calculated columns), Model (relationships and properties), DAX query (run test queries) and TMDL (model as script).

Show the data

Order ID Order Date City Store Platform Category Amount (₹) Delivery mins Status
301 06-Apr-2026 Pune Kothrud Blinkit Dairy 400 8 Delivered
302 06-Apr-2026 Pune Baner Amazon Now Snacks 200 12 Delivered
303 07-Apr-2026 Nashik Gangapur Blinkit Dairy 300 14 Delivered
304 04-May-2026 Nashik College Road Blinkit Fruits 150 9 Delivered
305 04-May-2026 Kolhapur Rajarampuri Amazon Now Snacks 450 7 Delivered
306 05-May-2026 Pune Kothrud Blinkit Fruits 250 16 Delivered
307 05-May-2026 Nashik College Road Amazon Now Dairy 350 11 Delivered
308 05-May-2026 Kolhapur Rajarampuri Blinkit Dairy 0 Cancelled

About this data: This table uses columns: Order ID, Order Date, City, Store, Platform, Category, Amount (₹), Delivery mins, Status. This table uses columns: Report view. This table uses columns: Status bar. Values shown are the lesson examples already on this page (not a new dataset).

Fictional sample data. Practice file: visuals_orders_apr_may_2026.csv (source: src/practice/).

Demonstrate

  1. Load the practice CSV › Close & Apply › you land in Report view. Add a card with Sum of Amount.

    Your result should look like this:

    Report view
    Card ₹2,100

  2. Click Table view › select Orders.

    Your result should look like this:

    Status bar
    Table: Orders (8 rows)

  3. Click Model view.

    Your result should look like this:

    Diagram
    1 table (Orders), no relationships yet

  4. Click DAX query view › type EVALUATE SUMMARIZECOLUMNS(Orders[City], "Sales", SUM(Orders[Amount])) › Run.

    Your result should look like this:

    Orders[City] [Sales]
    Pune 850
    Nashik 800
    Kolhapur 450

  5. Glance at TMDL view: the same model as text. Read only for now.

Show the result

Your result should look like this (fictional sample):

View What you checked Result
Report Card ₹2,100
Table Row count 8
Model Tables / relationships 1 / 0
DAX query Sales by city Pune 850, Nashik 800, Kolhapur 450

Explain what happened

All five views show the same model from different angles. You build in Report view, inspect in Table view, connect tables in Model view and test logic in DAX query view.

Explore further

  • Older videos say Data view and Fields pane; today they are Table view and Data pane.

Detailed reference for this lesson:

On the left side of the Desktop window there is a thin vertical bar with icons. Each icon opens a different view:

View Icon purpose What you do there
Report view Build the report canvas Add visuals, slicers, text boxes, pages; format and design
Table view (earlier called Data view) See the loaded data Inspect rows, check data types, create calculated columns and tables, format columns
Model view See tables and relationships as a diagram Create/edit relationships, set properties, hide fields, create display folders
DAX query view Write and run DAX queries Test measures, look at the results of table expressions, quick queries
TMDL view Edit the model as script (Tabular Model Definition Language) Advanced – bulk changes to model metadata

Table view vs. Data view

Microsoft renamed Data view to Table view, and the Fields pane to the Data pane. Older videos and blogs still use the old names, so keep both in mind.

Five views, five jobs. Next: the ribbon.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Many new learners try to fix data in Table view by typing into cells, which is not possible. Table view is only for checking data. All fixes go into Power Query (Transform data), and relationships are handled in Model view. Remember this rule.

Fix common mistakes

Wrong result Reason Correction
Typing a corrected value into Table view Table view is read-only for loaded data Fix data in Power Query (Transform data)
No DAX query view icon Older Desktop version Update Desktop
Relationships drawn in Report view Wrong view Use Model view

Practise independently

Practice task

In DAX query view, run a query for sales by Platform. What does it return?

Hints
  • EVALUATE SUMMARIZECOLUMNS(Orders[Platform], "Sales", SUM(Orders[Amount]))
Solution

Blinkit ₹1,100; Amazon Now ₹1,000.

Think like a professional

Check numbers in Table view or DAX query view before formatting visuals. A pretty chart of a wrong number is still wrong.

Ravi Sir's Cards for this lesson

The main views in Power BI Desktop. Beginners look for their data in the wrong place. Each view on the left bar has one job.Revision cardWhat views are there in Power BI Desktop? Report view for visuals, Table view to see the data, Model view for relationships, DAX query view to run DAX queries, and TMDL view to edit the model as scripInterview cardTable view vs Model view. Both are views on the left bar of Power BI Desktop.Comparison card

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