Once you start Power View, the interface you will see will be a bit different depending on whether you are using Power View through SharePoint or Excel.
Power View through SharePoint looks like this:
Power View in SharePoint
Power View through Excel looks like this:
Power View in Excel 2013
Note that in SharePoint there is a View Area, while in Excel there isn't one. The biggest difference is with the ribbons. In Excel, there are three ribbons that are used exclusively by Power View. The Power View ribbon is always visible, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Power View ribbon in Excel 2013
The Design ribbon, as shown in the following screenshot, is visible when a visualization is selected:
The Design ribbon in Excel 2013
The Layout ribbon, as shown in the screenshot, is visible when a chart is selected:
The Layout ribbon in Excel 2013
In SharePoint, you have the Home ribbon, which is always visible, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Home ribbon in SharePoint
The Styles ribbon, as shown in the following screenshot, is always visible (the selected theme will change the colors for the entire view):
The Styles ribbon in SharePoint
The Design ribbon is visible when a visualization is selected:
The Design ribbon in SharePoint
The Layout ribbon is visible when a chart is selected. It will have different buttons depending whether you are on a chart, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Layout ribbon for charts in SharePoint
The Layout ribbon is visible when a map is selected, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Layout ribbon for map in SharePoint
The parts of the interface are described as follows:
- Ribbon: This is located at the top. It contains all the commands that can be performed either on the entire report or on the currently selected object in the report. Common tasks are grouped together.
- View Area: This is available only in SharePoint. It is located on the left-hand side. It tracks different states or views of the data in order to analyze the data at various points in time or as values change.
- Canvas: The center section is what contains the different data visualizations in the report. This is where you place the tables, charts, and filters that will display selected data from the data sources.
- Field List: This is on the upper right of the screen and contains the tables and fields from the data model. You will move these fields to build the report.
- Field Well: This is located in the bottom-right corner and is where you drag fields from the field list and drop them so they appear on the canvas. It also provides the properties of any object currently selected on the canvas so that you can control the appearance and behavior.
- Filters Area: This is used to restrict the amount of data displayed in the canvas area. It can be minimized by clicking on the > toggle at the top of the filters area or hidden completely by clicking on the Filters Area button on the ribbon.