Which tool can create partitions in the Power BI service without processing them?

• A. DAX Studio
• B. Microsoft Visual Studio Enterprise
• C. Microsoft Visual Studio Code
• D. Tabular Editor

Answer: (D)

Partition management in a tabular model focuses on how data is stored and loaded, separate from running a full data refresh. Tabular Editor is designed to edit the structure of a Power BI dataset, including partitions, directly through the tabular object model. This lets you create new partitions and define their data source and query without triggering any processing of those partitions right away. You can then decide when to process them, which is especially helpful for large datasets or staged loading in the service.

DAX Studio is aimed at writing and testing DAX queries against a model, not at altering its storage layout. Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code are general-purpose IDEs and don’t natively provide reliable, integrated support for creating or configuring Power BI dataset partitions. Tabular Editor, in contrast, is specifically built for editing tabular models and supports partition creation and configuration, including processing options, making it the best choice for this task.