📄Data Source Settings

A data source in Power Query is a location where data is stored. Power Query can connect to a wide variety of data sources. Once you have connected to a data source, Power Query can import the data into a table or range in Excel, or into a Power BI dataset. You can then use Power Query to transform the data, such as by cleaning it, merging it, or filtering it. Power Query makes it easy to connect to a wide variety of data sources and to transform the data into a format that you can use. This makes it a powerful tool for data analysis and visualization. Some data sources are saved within the system and can be used in future as well. For example once you connect to an SQL server, the server name, database name, credentials and permissions will be saved. Next time when you connect to the same database, you are not asked for credentials. You can access stored data source settings through Power Query. There is a button named “Data Source Settings” on the home tab to access these settings.

Data Source Settings Window:

When you click on your data source settings button, following window will open up. This is where you can change data source settings. You can change the data source, export the data source as a file, edit the permissions, and clear the permissions.

Change Source:

In the data source settings window, you can change the data source, by clicking on the change data source button. Then you can change the name of the server, and the database, along with other options.

Export Power BI Data Source:

Export PBIDS is a feature in Power BI that allows you to export the connection settings for a data source to a file with the .pbids extension. This file can then be used to connect to the data source in Power BI Desktop or Power BI Service. The PBIDS file will be created and saved to the location you specified. It will contain the data source type, connection string, authentication method, security credentials, the mode of connection (DirectQuery or Import) etc.

You can open the PBIDS file in a text editor to view the contents. A PBIDS file can be used to share data source connection settings with other users, to create a backup of your data source connection settings, or to automate the connection to a data source.

Edit Permissions:

The Edit Permissions dialog box in Power Query allows you to control who has access to a data source and what they can do with it. You can set permissions for individual users or groups of users. You can only set permissions for data sources that are stored in your local machine or in a shared location. You cannot set permissions for data sources that are stored in the cloud.
If you change the permissions for a data source, any users who already have access to the data source will not be affected.

Permissions include:
Full Control: This permission allows the user to do anything with the data source, including reading, writing, and deleting data.
Read Only: This permission allows the user to read data from the data source, but they cannot write or delete data.
No Access: This permission prevents the user from accessing the data source at all.

Global Permissions:

Global permissions in Power Query data source settings refer to the permissions that are applied to all data sources in a Power BI Desktop file. These permissions can be set by the file owner or by a user with administrative privileges. You can only set global permissions for data sources that are stored in your local machine or in a shared location. You cannot set global permissions for data sources that are stored in the cloud. If you change the global permissions, any users who already have access to the data sources in the file will not be affected.