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dalton_stegner's avatar
dalton_stegner
Frequent Visitor
5 years ago

Using Tabular ProviderDataSource with On Premise PowerBi Data Gateway DB Connection

I am attempting to use Microsoft.AnalysisServices.Tabular .NET library in an attempt to programmitcally generate a Tabular model in powerbi. I am able to upload my table structure just fine. My issue...
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DSMau's avatar
DSMau
Regular Visitor
5 years ago

I am not seeing exactly the same. I am able to write the Database as a dataset to Power BI, add the tables, roles, etc to the model that I wish and then successfully update the model. I request a refresh and then try to save the changes. It does seem to remember the datasource I attached to the model when uploading, as the error calls out that is not able to connect to a datasource of that name.

Database database = new Database(NAME);
database.CompatibilityLevel = 1500;
ssasServer.Databases.Add(database);
model = new Model();
database.Model = model;
ProviderDataSource ds = new ProviderDataSource()
{
     Name = "PBI_DS_NAME",
     ConnectionString = "Provider=SQLNCLI11;Data Source={SERVERNAME};Initial Catalog={DBNAME},
};
model.DataSources.Add(ds);
// add dimentions, facts, calculated measures, security roles
ValidationResult vs = model.Validate();       //PASS
model.Database.Update();                      //PASS
model.Model.RequestRefresh(RefreshType.Full); //PASS
model.Model.SaveChanges();                    //FAIL

 I think you are right that the ProviderDataSource is not in the correct format, but I have not found any documentation suggesting the correct format for a dataset written to Power BI Premium that must call back to a server through a data gateway.

DSMau's avatar
DSMau
Regular Visitor
5 years ago

Further testing reveals that if I do not request a refresh at the time of upload, it will upload successfully. The tables, measures, and dimensions are all present, but requesting a refresh fails and like the other posters, discovering datasources on the dataset does not list any. The error given for a manual refresh, is that it is references an unsupported data source, not that it cannot find a datasource associated with the dataset. When exploring the dataset with the REST API, no datasources are listed in its metadata.

It looks like when not requesting a refresh at the time of upload, the datasource is completely discarded as invalid. It does try to access it when requesting a refresh at the time of upload, but cannot find the referenced datasource on Power BI given the way we have tried to define it so far.