Speckle from Grasshopper to Power Bi

lassebk · 15 July 2021 15:24

Hi all,

I’m trying to access (mostly tabulated) data from Grasshopper in Power Bi, preferable as live an automated as possible (transfer to Excel and then to Power Bi requires to many manual steps). I’ve seen how, at least with Speckle v1 how it was possible to access the source code from the Speckle URL. That would be sufficient I geuss in order to import data “from web” in Power Bi. However I’m uncertain as to how this would most easily be done using Speckle v2. Are there any tools that come in handy for this use case? I would like to avoid setting up a SQL-server.

teocomi · 16 July 2021 08:18

Hi @lassebk ,

I’m travelling at the moment and can’t try this myself, but it seems possible to call a GraphQL API from PowerBI (this tool could also be useful):

gist.github.com

https://gist.github.com/petrsvihlik/cc34a6cf1882d515139c5b27f37cf99e

GitHub-GraphQL-PowerBI.m

// This script shows how to use M language (Power Query Formula Language) 
// to read data from GitHub API v4 using a POST request.
// This can come in handy when building PowerBI reports that utilize GraphQL endpoints for loading data.

let
    vUrl = "https://api.github.com/graphql",
    vHeaders =[
			#"Method"="POST",
			#"Content-Type"="application/json",
			#"Authorization"="Bearer <your_personal_token_here>"

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And here is some information on our new API:

https://speckle.guide/dev/server-graphql-api.html

I’ll try put together a working example later, unless you beat me to it!

lassebk · 20 July 2021 13:56

Hi @teocomi,

Thanks a lot!

I don’t have the experience to see exactly how to translate the code into accessing data from Speckle - so it would be really helpful for me to see a working example.
Thanks for link, as I understand it you suggest using the code from PetrSvihli in GraphQL Explorer? But the code should also be suitable to use for a query written directly in Power Bi right?

dimitrie · 20 July 2021 14:01

Hi @lassebk, I don’t have any experience with power bi, but I’ve been thinking about what you posted here, especially v1 vs v2 problems.

V1 was more accessible from this point of view, especially since in V2, to query the api via graphql you’ll need a POST request. I suspect these are more difficult to embed (if possible at all) than simple GET requests from V1 days.

I think you’ll need to wait on us figuring these things out and posting a PowerBI tutorial - it’s a pending TODO tutorial in our content database. Do keep pestering us if we don’t produce this soon

lassebk · 21 July 2021 08:53

Hi @dimitrie,

I’m sorry to hear that it’s more complicated in v2, but glad to hear that there’s a reason why I couldn’t just do a similar thing.

That sounds amazing - I’ll be looking forward to the tutorial and make sure to pester you if I become impatient

gokermu · 13 July 2023 06:07

There is now a dedicated Power BI connector that makes connection between Grasshopper and Power BI so easy and supafast. Check it out👇!

Power BI Data Connector: GitHub - specklesystems/speckle-powerbi
3D Viewer Visual: GitHub - specklesystems/speckle-powerbi-visuals: Custom Speckle visuals for PowerBI

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