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PBIR-Utils UI

The PBIR-Utils UI visualizes Power BI reports, explores their structure, and runs cleanup actions. It launches in your default browser.

Launch

Start the UI from your terminal:

# Open for the current directory
pbir-utils ui

# Open a specific report
pbir-utils ui "C:\Reports\Sales.Report"

# Use a specific port
pbir-utils ui --port 9000

# Start without opening the browser
pbir-utils ui --no-browser

Options

Option Description
report_path Path to auto-open (optional; defaults to finding a .Report in CWD)
--port Port to bind to (default: 8765)
--host Host to bind to (default: 127.0.0.1)
--no-browser Don't open the browser automatically

Browsing & Viewing

The UI provides a wireframe view of your report layout.

  • Activity Bar: Use the navigation rail on the far left to switch between Reports, Actions, Validate, and Export panes. Clicking an active icon collapses the sidebar.
  • Reports Navigation: Use the Active Reports pane in the sidebar to browse your file system and open .Report folders.
  • Search: Use the main search bar in the header to filter the view. You can search by:
    • Visuals: Filter by unique ID or visual type (e.g., slicer).
    • Pages: Filter by display name or page ID. Entering a page ID will narrow the tab bar to only that page.
  • Canvas: The center area shows your report visuals. Zoom in or out using the controls in the top-right.
  • Tabs: Switch pages at the top. Right-click a tab to Copy Page Name, Copy Page ID, or Hide Page.
  • Dark Mode: Toggle the Sun/Moon icon in the header.
  • Panes: You can resize the sidebar and the output panel by dragging their edges.
  • Active States: Zoom levels and theme preferences are saved to your local storage across sessions.

Interacting with Visuals

Click visuals to select them. Hold Ctrl (or Cmd) to select multiple, or click and drag to draw a selection box.

When you select one or more visuals, the Fields Pane automatically filters to show only the tables and columns those visuals use. A green indicator chip appears at the top of the pane showing the number of selected visuals; click the ✕ to clear the selection.

Right-click any visual (or selection) to:

  • Copy ID: Get the visual's unique ID.
  • Hide Visual: Temporarily remove it from the wireframe.

Hiding & Restoring

You can hide visuals or pages to declutter the view.

  • Undo: Restores the last hidden item.
  • Reset: Restores everything.
  • Hidden Pills: The header shows pills like +3 hidden if items are hidden. Clicking a pill unhides all items of that type immediately.

Data Model

The Fields Pane (right side) lists your tables, columns, and measures.

  • Search: Find fields by name.
  • Field Usage: Hover over a field to see where it is used (visuals, bookmarks, filters).
  • Field Selection: Click a field to select it. Hold Ctrl (or Cmd) to select multiple fields. This highlights the visuals that use those fields on the canvas.
  • Mutual Exclusivity: You can filter visuals by selecting fields, or filter fields by selecting visuals, but not both at once. Clicking a field clears active visual selections.
  • Selection Controls: A summary chip appears at the top of the pane showing active field or visual selections. Click the ✕ to clear it.

Actions & Validation

Running Actions

Click the Zap icon in the Activity Bar to open the Actions panel, which lists available cleanup tasks.

  • Run: Executes the selected actions.
  • Dry Run: Simulates the actions and prints a log of what would happen, without changing files.
  • Load Config: Click the "Load Sanitizer Config" button to upload a custom pbir-sanitize.yaml to override default action behaviors. When loaded, this area displays the active config name along with specific controls to change or reset the configuration.

Validation

Click the Search icon in the Activity Bar to open the Validate panel, which checks your report against rules.

  • Expression Rules: Checks logic (e.g., "Visuals must not overlap").
  • Sanitizer Checks: If "Include sanitizer action checks" is selected, it also checks if any sanitizer actions (like "Remove unused bookmarks") would trigger changes.
  • Load Rules: You can upload a custom pbir-rules.yaml here. Similar to actions, the loaded config name and controls will be displayed inline.

Exporting

Click the Download icon in the Activity Bar to open the Export panel, where you can export data for external use:

  • Attributes CSV: Metadata for visible visuals.
  • Visuals CSV: List of visuals with IDs and types.
  • Wireframe HTML: Generates a standalone HTML file of the current view that you can share.

Static Wireframes

If you just need a portable file to share with colleagues, you can generate a static wireframe. This contains the same rich visualization but as a standalone file.

CLI Export

You can also generate the standalone wireframe from the command line:

pbir-utils visualize "C:\Reports\Sales.Report"

Options:

  • --pages: Filter by page name or ID.
  • --visual-types: Filter by type (e.g., slicer).
  • --visual-ids: Filter by specific IDs.
  • --no-show-hidden: Exclude hidden visuals from the output.