setne017 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs Connect to datasets in the Power BI service from Power BI Desktop {i 10/17/2017 « © 7 minutes to read + Contributors @ @ @ In this article Using a Power BI service live connection for report lifecycle management Step-by-step for using the Power BI service live connection Limitations and considerations You can establish a live connection to a shared dataset in the Power BI service, and create many different reports from the same dataset. This means you can create your perfect data model in Power Bl Desktop, publish it to the Power BI service, then you and others can create multiple different reports (in separate .pbix files) from that same, common data model. This features is called Power BI service Live connection. Contin Services File BD SreePoint Onin it 8 Database 2 wire change Orne Are De Dame 385 ck AF rac 35 a other i conn bt sere Acer et iS Team Sri Bt) (© sere O conser Digi Ary Bats) There are all sorts of benefits of this feature, including best practices, which we'll discuss during this article. There are also a few considerations and limitations, so please make sure you read through those - they're found at the end of this article, htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots anesetne017 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs Using a Power BI service live connection for report lifecycle management One challenge with the popularity of Power Bl is the proliferation of reports, dashboards, and their underlying data models. Here's why: it's easy to create compelling reports in Power Bl Desktop, then share (publish) those reports in the Power BI service, and to create great dashboards from those datasets. Since so many people were doing so, often using the same (or nearly the same) datasets, knowing which report was based on which dataset - and how fresh each dataset might be - became a challenge. The Power BI service Live Connection addresses that challenge, and makes creating, sharing, and expanding upon common-dataset reports and dashboards easier and consistent. Create a dataset everyone can use, then share it Let's say Anna (a business analyst) is on your team, and she's great at creating good data models (often called datasets). With Anna's expertise, she can create a dataset and report, and then share that report in the Power Bl service. Sign in e ti x test box ts Siow @ q plates Showcase Page Visual GShapes* Theme~ Relationships Measure ~ Publish this report to Power i on the web, Everyone loves her report, and her dataset, and that's where the trouble would begin - everyone ‘on her team would attempt to create their own version of that dataset, then share their own reports with the team. All of the sudden there was a multitude of reports (from different datasets) in your team’s workspace in the Power BI service. Which was the most recent? Were the datasets the same, or only almost? What were the differences? With the Power Bl service Live Connection feature, all that can change for the better. In the next section, we see how htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots anasve2s017 Connect odatases inthe Power Bl service fom Power Bl Desktop Power | Micosoft Docs others can use Anna's published dataset for their own reports, and enable everyone to use the same solid, vetted, published dataset to build their unique reports. Connect to a Power BI service dataset using a live connection Once Anna creates her report (and creates the dataset it's based upon), she publishes it to the Power BI service, it shows up in her team's workspace in the Power Bl service. Now it's available for everyone in her workspace to see and use. Other members of her workspace can now establish a live connection to Anna's shared data model (using the Power BI service live connection feature), and create their own unique reports, from her original dataset. In the following image, you see how Anna creates one Pewer BI Desktop report, and publishes it (which includes its data model) to the Power BI service. Then others in her workspace can connect to her data model using the Power BI service live connection, and create their own unique reports based on her dataset. ‘dlilda tnt? © Note Datasets are only shared in one workspace. To establish a Power BI service live connection, the dataset to which you connect must be in a shared workspace of which you are a member. htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots angwavaotr Cont ests nthe Powe Bl src tom Power Bl Deskiop Powe Bl | Meso Does Step-by-step for using the Power BI service live connection Now that we know how useful the Power BI service live connection is, and how you can use it as a best practice approach to report lifecycle management, let's walk through the steps that get us from Anna's great report (and dataset) to a shared dataset that teammates in her Power Bl workspace can use. Publish a Power BI report and dataset The first step in managing the report lifecycle using a Power BI service li e connection is to have a report (and dataset) that teammates want to use. So Anna must first publish her report from Power BI Destkop. She does this by selecting Publish from the Home ribbon in Power Bl Desktop. Sign in e ‘fied test box ts Siow @ q plates Showcase Page Visual GShapes* Theme~ Relationships Measure ~ Publish this report to Power i on the web, being An If she isn’t signed in to her Power BI service account, she's prompted to do so. htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots anaswernor7 Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power Bl | Mcrosot Docs Power BI! Desktop Work or school account From there, she can choose the workspace destination to which the report and dataset will be published. Remember, only members who have access to the workspace where a report is published can access its dataset using a Power BI service live connection. Publish to Power BI Select a destination My workspace: The publishing process begins, and Power BI Desktop shows the progress. htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots sngswernor7 Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power Bl | Mcrosot Docs Publishing to Power BI , Publishing ‘Report Lifecycle Best Practices.pbix’ to Power BI Go to the “View” tab, select “phone reports’ to tallor a portrait view of your existing teport for mobile viewers. Leatn mere Once complete, Power BI Desktop shows you success, and provides a couple links to get you to the report itself in the Power Bl service, and a link to get Quick Insights on the report. Publishing to Power BI v Success! or Get Quick Insights Go to the View” tab, select your existing report for mobil ort Lifecycle Best Practices.obi Power El ho reports! to tailor ® portrait view of cut aun Lc Next, let's see how other teammates who have access to the workspace where the report (and dataset) were published can connect to the dataset and build our own reports. Establish a Power BI service live connection to the published dataset To establish a connection to the published report, and create your own report based on the published dataset, select Get Data from the Home ribbon in Power BI Desktop, and select Power BI service. You can also select it from Get Data > Online Services > Power Bl service. htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots ang‘wennor7 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Microsoft Docs Pa aneee If you're not signed in to Power Bl, you'll be prompted to do so. Once logged in, you're presented with a window that shows which workspaces you're a member of, and you can select which workspace contains the dataset to which you want to establish a Power BI service live connection. The number in brackets beside the workspace shows how many shared datasets are available in that workgroup, and selecting the triangle to the left expands the workspace, allowing you to select the shared dataset. htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipower-bildosktop-zopar Get Data [aeenmlg 0 cnet Dew cots en maswernor7 Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power Bl | Mcrosot Docs x Power BI service David Iseminger Q @microsoft.com Switch account 2 B Gi Microsoft Power Bi service [12] ae ro ae pas mm r AB one en Dae ae > Ae m ae a 288 pn +o cat 158 direct reports I & Report litecyce Best Practices & Search cacults are limited to already expanded iteme =e There are a few items to note from the previous Power BI service live connection window: * You can search for a shared dataset, but the search results are limited to the expanded items, and won't include any workspaces that you have not expanded. * You can expand more than one workspace to expand your search. When you select Load from the window, you establish a live connection to the selected dataset, which means the data you see (the fields, and their values) are loaded into Power BI Desktop in real time. htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots angset017 Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power Bl | Microsoft Docs — a x David iseminger ~ @| oa fi Publish Manage me* Relationships mes Relationships Calculations Share ona Cost of ero eee Overall rank a Tax rate Weather Now you (and others) can create and share custom reports and share them, all from the same dataset. This is a great way to have one knowledgeable person create a well-formed dataset (such as what Anna does), and allow many teammates use that shared dataset to create their own reports. O Note When you create reports based on dataset using a live connection to the Power BI service, you can only publish that report to the same Power BI service workspace that contains the dataset being used.setne017 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs Limitations and considerations When using the Power BI service live connection, there are a few limitations and considerations to keep in mind. * Read-only members of a workspace cannot connect to datasets from Power BI Desktop. © Only users who are part of the same Power BI service workspace can connect to a published dataset using the Power BI service live connection. Users can (and often do) belong to more than one workspace. * Since this is a live connection, left-navigation and modeling are disabled, similar to the behavior when connected to SQL Server Analysis Services. ‘* Since this is a live connection, RLS (row- and role-level security), OneDrive for Business, and other such connection behaviors are enforced, just as they are when connected to SQL Server Analysis Services. ‘* When selecting which dataset to connect to in the Power BI sei applies to workspaces that have been expanded. * Ifyou modify the original shared .pbix file, the dataset and report that is shared in the Power BI service is overwritten. * You cannot replace the originally shared report. Attempts to do so result in a warning that prompts you to rename the file, and publish. * Ifyou delete the shared dataset in the Power BI service, then other Power BI Desktop (pbix files) will no longer work properly or display their visuals. * For Content Packs, you must first create a copy of a content pack before using it as a basis for sharing a .pbix report and dataset to the Power BI service. * For Content Packs from My Organization, once copied, you cannot replace the report created on the service and/or a report created as part of copying a Content Pack with a live connection. Attempts to do so result in a warning that prompts you to rename the file, and publish. In this situation, you can only replace published live connected reports. ‘* When you create a report based on dataset using a live connection to the Power BI service, you can only publish that report to the same Power BI service workspace that contains the dataset being used, * Deleting a shared dataset in the Power BI service means you can no longer access that dataset from Power Bl Desktop. e, the search box only htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots tone‘swennor7 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots ang‘swennor7 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots rane‘swennor7 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots 139‘swennor7 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots tang‘swennor7 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots 159‘swennor7 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots 169‘swennor7 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots 17H9‘swennor7 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots 18n9‘swennor7 ‘Connect to datasets inthe Power BI service from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Mcrosot Docs htpssocs microsoft com/enaisipawer-bldosktop report ifecycle-datasots tno