Fabric Task Flows: The Newcomer’s Guide
Another month, another update Fabric! This time, a whole new functionality got released: the Task Flow!
Are you a data analytics solution architect in desperate need for visual representation of your project? Maybe you are a data engineer working on a project and need to represent your transformations? Have you ever wondered how you can show the entire data lineage in Power BI? Well, then you’ve found the right blog post!
We’ll tell you all about how Microsoft Fabric provides you with a wide range of predefined, end-to-end task flows based on industry best practices. And to already give you a preview, all task flows are customizable to your needs!
TL;DR: Fabric Task Flows in a nutshell
Fabric Task Flows are a visual representation of showing dependencies of different tasks in Microsoft Fabric. A Task Flow can consist of Notebooks, Data Flows, Semantic Models and more.
Fabric Task Flows need to be maintained manually. If you’re rescheduling different flows and/or dependencies, than your Fabric Task Flow is not automatically updated.
Fabric Task Flows help you refresh data at the end of the chain. If you need an extra refresh of a report/dataset during the day and this dataset relies on previous steps, triggering a Fabric Task Flow will execute different steps (such as Notebooks, SQL Transformations, Data Flows and Semantic Model refreshes) that result in up-to-date data.
Let’s first set the stage, shall we?
On the image below you see a task flow that describes all steps needed to complete a data analytics project built on sensitive data. While the image looks interesting at first, you’re probably wondering what all those colorful boxes mean.
Let’s clear the fog, this table describes all tasks with their corresponding color:
| Task Type | Color | What you want to do with the task |
|---|---|---|
| General | Black | Create a customized task for your project needs that you can assign available item types to. |
| Get data | Green | Ingest both batch and real-time data into a single location within your Fabric workspace. |
| Store data | Blue | Organize, query, and store your ingested data in an easily retrievable format. |
| Prepare data | Purple | Clean, transform, extract, and load your data for analysis and modeling tasks. |
| Analyze and train data | Red | Propose hypotheses, train models, and explore your data to make decisions and predictions. |
| Track data | Magenta | Monitor your streaming or nearly real-time operational data and make decisions based on gained insights. |
| Visualize data | Orange | Present your data as rich visualizations and insights that can be shared with others. |
How does it work?
You can either choose one of the Microsoft provided templates when you click on ‘Select a task flow’ when you enter the workspace. This opens a menu where you can pick from the abovementioned different pre-defined task flows. If you have a clear vision, you can immediately start with ‘add a task’ and start from a blank canvas. You can always add more tasks (or connectors) by pressing add in the left upper corner.
You’ll notice you have 2 options to add fabric objects to your task:
New item: Add a new required item to your task
Attachment: Assign an existing item residing in a fabric workspace to your task.
All tasks are connected with a ‘connector’. You just define the two task that are yet to be connected and in which way the logic should flow.
Result
You will see that all items in your workspace that were assigned a task are grouped together in the workspace. You’ll also see to which semantic model your Lakehouse is linked. When clicking on a task, you’ll filter your workspace to only see the items belonging to that specific task.
By adding the whole logic of how your data travels from ‘a to z’, the task flow enables you to have a clear overview of your setup. Furthermore, by being able to assign your fabric items directly to the task you get a precise insight into where and how all the data is either pulled in, stored, transformed or visualized, making this a valuable way of presenting your end- to- end solution in a visual way.
Wrap up
The task flows are a new interactive way of connecting business logic to your fabric architecture.
Taks flows will help your business streamline data operations, enhance efficiency and ensure your data is consistent across environments. It offers a scalable and reliable solution to meet the most demanding of business needs.
So, what are you waiting for? Go build your very own task flow!
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Dennis Guldemont
Hello there! I’m always ready to help you out with all your questions concerning MS Power BI and Fabric! I’ve been working as a Microsoft analytics consultant for some years now. In an ever-changing data landscape, I pick up the challenge to guide your company through all awesome new functionalities Microsoft is offering.
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