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Microsoft Idea

Power BI

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Pause auto-refresh

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Darren W Henderson on 22 Jul 2017 04:57:44

During the design of a visualization, pause the visualization from querying the database while you add dimensions and measures to the visualization. I am working with a very large dataset, so when I drag out a dimension or a measure, it's refreshing it eachtime. Let me pause that, drag out the whole design, and then refresh it.

Comments (4)
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Charles on 06 Jul 2020 00:08:28

RE: Pause auto-refresh

It is a must especially since Power BI seems to use a lot more RAM since the fall 2019 releases. Slightly better when authoring from a VM, but still it's a pain when you waste 15 minutes updating 3 graphs...

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Darrel Fontenot on 05 Jul 2020 23:47:53

RE: Pause auto-refresh

Tableau has this feature and it is GREAT! Please implement!

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Power BI User on 05 Jul 2020 23:41:50

RE: Pause auto-refresh

Completely agree, this is *the* fucking productivity killer. Designers should be given the option NOT to refresh.

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Sarah Kinmond on 05 Jul 2020 23:28:23

RE: Pause auto-refresh

Very much agree with this request. When using DirectQuery connector (we are specifically interested in HANA), having repeated queries triggered to the back end as I'm adding dimensions & key figures to a visual means memory usage is consumed rapidly and memory thresholds are quickly reached. There is no way to cancel a query and no way to pause, meaning an inefficient query processing.
Other tools (example: SAP Analysis for Office) have a specific 'pause' option, allowing the user to build their crosstab/visualisation structure with all required fields before unpausing and running the query in one hit.
Can Microsoft consider a 'pause/unpause' for PowerBI desktop and service?
Thanks.