The concept of a data model is fundamental to Power BI. In short, a data model is defined by the tables that are created from Power Query queries, as well as the relationships that are defined. These are needed to connect individual tables to one another, as well as the metadata (data about data) regarding the columns within the tables.
In Power BI, the data model is stored within a SQL Server Analysis Services tabular cube. It is the creation of this data model that enables self-service analytics and reporting.
In Chapter 3, Connecting and Shaping Data, we connected to various sources of data (three different Excel files), which, in turn, created seven different queries that ultimately resulted in four queries that loaded data tables into our data model. We will now stitch those individual tables, along with our previously created data table, into a cohesive...