Possible to load .SQL file to Power bi? - sql

Question

Just started exploring power bi and I came across a basic question that I find difficult to get a correct solution.
Is it possible to load .sql file in power bi and create a report for it? thanks

Answer 1

It is not possible to load a .SQL file in a Power BI report, but you can specify a SQL query when adding a data source, if you expand the Advanced Options:
If your query is complex you can create a stored procedure to wrap all of the code and then call the stored procedure from Power BI, e.g. EXEC NameOfYourStoredProcedure

Answer 2

I read the SQL as text file, add a custom column, pivot and adjust to be text combine with delimiter, drop excess column, and then go into advanced editor and make SQL database query.
Here is some code to put in advanced editor. Replace the bolded with your inputs:
let
Source = Table.FromColumns({Lines.FromBinary(File.Contents("**absolute_file_path.sql**"))}),
#"for pivot" = Table.AddColumn(Source, "Custom", each 1),
pivoted = Table.Group(#"for pivot", {"Custom"}, {{"Sql", each Text.Combine([Column1], "
"), type text}}),
#"SQL Query Readable" = pivoted{[Custom=1]}[Sql],
#"Output" = Sql.Database("**your-server.database.windows.net**", "**your-database-name**", [Query=#"SQL Query Readable"])
in
#"Output"
This way you do not need to go in and change the query content in the Power BI report. Nice if changing the file a lot because then you do not need to republish report every single time. Makes dataset depend on SQL in file and not SQL in query editor.
This probably has some security flaws and is more of a loophole, if file is formatted weird perhaps this could break? However the output is the same as if you do the method of copy and paste the query into the box as described in the other answer. The main draw of doing it this way is that it allows users to
not need to republish reports every time the SQL feeding the reports is updated.