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Microsoft Idea

Power BI

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Data Sources for Reports build in the Power BI Service

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Corey on 01 Sep 2017 02:12:02

Please change the dataset related to a report built in the Power BI Service to use a live connection to the Power BI Dataset when the report is exported to PBIX instead of downloading a copy of that dataset.

Our company wants to push the reuse of datasets in Power BI which works in Power BI Desktop when you use a live connection to a dataset. However one limitation we see is that if a user created a report from within the Power BI Online Service against a dataset, and then choses to download that same report to PBIX it downloads the entire contents of the original dataset and not with a live connection to the dataset. This means that if a user starts creating a report in the Power BI Service but later wants to make a change in the Power BI Desktop and publish them up it creates a dataset with the report which is not intended.

Comments (5)
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philippe tacquet on 08 Feb 2022 07:18:17

RE: Data Sources for Reports build in the Power BI Service

Users can create reports on the service from shared datasets. That's great for end users !But, we need to be able to change the dataset used in this report !!I had to delete a dataset that had a problem.I made a new one. But users reports are all broken, we can't change the source and we can't download pbix...

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Andrew Simmans on 05 Jul 2020 23:24:51

RE: Data Sources for Reports build in the Power BI Service

The "natural" way one would expect it to work is that if you download a REPORT, then you get a report with a Live connection to the dataset. As it works at the moment, if the user has created a report using the Web interface and then wants to work on it in Power BI Desktop (for example to create a similar report perhaps for a different Department), they have to recreate the whole report in Power BI desktop which is highly frustrating.

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Andrew Simmans on 05 Jul 2020 23:24:51

RE: Data Sources for Reports build in the Power BI Service

Actually I have found the situation is "worse" than I expected. If I create a report using Power BI Desktop with a live connection and then publish it to the web, then in the web open the report and do a "save as" the new report goes back to using the old dataset - so when you download it, it has the dataset embedded so you can't then edit it and publish it back. I find this rather confusing - yes the solution is to develop ALL reports in Power BI desktop - but that is not what I would "naturally" expect.

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Andreas Lindenberg on 05 Jul 2020 23:07:39

RE: Data Sources for Reports build in the Power BI Service

'+1 this would really help a lot. The way it currently works is an important option though.

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Kevin H on 05 Jul 2020 23:02:42

RE: Data Sources for Reports build in the Power BI Service

Yes -- now that we have Power BI Service live connections, this just seems like the natural/intuitive thing that "Download report" should do.

Currently, "if you build a dataset using import mode, it would be import model when you download the .PBIX copy. If you build a dataset using direct query mode, it would be direct query when you download the .PBIX copy."

I think that in EITHER CASE, it should be an OPTION to download the report with a Power BI Service live connection.