Consumer

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Consumer

Overview

The Consumer class in the TCDX object model represents a client application that interacts with a tabular model. This can include:

Excel workbooks containing pivot tables and other data-connected components.
Power BI reports with visuals that reference tabular models.
Other client applications that query and consume tabular model data.

Each Consumer contains metadata about its origin, interactions with the tabular model, and a collection of Items (such as pivot tables or Power BI visuals) that utilize the model.

Purpose

The Consumer class serves the following key functions:

Identifies the data source: Tracks the application (Excel, Power BI, etc.) accessing the tabular model.
Captures interaction metadata: Stores details such as host system, file location, and modification timestamps.
Maintains a collection of Items: Each Item represents an individual data-connected object within the Consumer, such as a pivot table in Excel or a visual in Power BI.
Tracks model dependencies: Establishes relationships between the Consumer and the tabular model it references.

By organizing this data in a structured manner, the Consumer class enables auditing, optimization, and governance of tabular model usage.

Public Properties

The Consumer class consists of the following key properties:

Property	Type	Description
`ConsumerType`	`EnumConsumerType`	Defines the type of client application (e.g., `Excel`, `PowerBIService`, `PowerBIDesktop`).
`HostName`	`TcdxName`	The system or environment where the Consumer is located (e.g., computer name).
`Container`	`TcdxName`	The location within the host where the Consumer resides (e.g., file path or dataset container).
`FileName`	`TcdxName`	The actual name of the Consumer file, if applicable.
`Uri`	`TcdxName`	The Universal Resource Identifier (URI) for cloud-based Consumers.
`UtcAcquisition`	`DateTime`	The timestamp when the Consumer data was extracted.
`UtcModification`	`DateTime`	The last known modification time of the Consumer.
`ConsumerProperties`	`Dictionary<string, TcdxName>`	A key-value collection of custom properties specific to the Consumer type.
`Items`	`List<Item>`	A list of Items within the Consumer, each representing an individual object (e.g., pivot table, Power BI visual).

Property Details

ConsumerType
Specifies the type of client interacting with the tabular model. Common values include:
- Excel → An Excel workbook containing pivot tables or other data connections.
- PowerBIService → A report hosted in Power BI Service.
- PowerBIDesktop → A Power BI Desktop (.pbix) file.
HostName
Identifies the system or cloud environment where the Consumer is located.
Container & FileName
- Container represents the folder or dataset location where the Consumer is stored.
- FileName provides the actual file name if applicable.
Uri
Stores the URL or cloud-based identifier of the Consumer when applicable (e.g., Power BI datasets stored in the cloud).
UtcAcquisition & UtcModification
These timestamps record when the Consumer metadata was collected and when it was last modified.
ConsumerProperties
A dictionary storing additional custom properties, which can vary depending on the type of Consumer.
Items
A collection of Item objects representing individual components (e.g., Excel pivot tables, Power BI visuals) that reference tabular model elements.

Methods

The Consumer class includes the following methods:

GetModels()

Returns: IEnumerable<ModelDependency>
Description: Retrieves a collection of ModelDependency objects representing the tabular models that the Consumer references.

Relationships with Other Classes

The Consumer class interacts with multiple components in the TCDX model:

ConsumersCollection → Contains multiple Consumers.
Item → Represents individual components within a Consumer (e.g., pivot tables, visuals).
ModelDependency → Tracks which tabular model the Consumer interacts with.

Class Diagram Representation

Consumer
├── ConsumerType : EnumConsumerType
├── HostName : TcdxName
├── Container : TcdxName
├── FileName : TcdxName
├── Uri : TcdxName
├── UtcAcquisition : DateTime
├── UtcModification : DateTime
├── ConsumerProperties : Dictionary<string, TcdxName>
└── Items : List<Item>

ConsumersCollection → contains multiple Consumer
Consumer → contains multiple Item
Consumer → references ModelDependency

Conclusion

The Consumer class is a central component in the TCDX object model, enabling structured tracking of how Excel workbooks, Power BI reports, and other clients interact with tabular models. It provides valuable metadata for auditing, performance optimization, and governance, ensuring efficient management of tabular model usage.

By linking Consumers, Items, and ModelDependencies, the TCDX model allows for detailed analysis of how data is utilized across different reporting tools and analytics applications.

Note:

for privacy reasons, strings are implemented as TcdxName objects, to allow a future implementation of objects anonymization.