Forum Discussion
Missing Fields from Common Data Service
Hi,
I noticed when connecting Power BI Desktop to Common Data Service, we have the option to connect to 'Entities' or 'System':
Unfortunately, it seems that Primary Name fields (User, Organisation) etc. are not visible in Power BI if you look under 'Entities', only under 'System'
Can anyone explain why?
6 Replies
Hi.
I'm experiencing the exact same bug.
When importing, the primary field name from one table is not showing in entities - only in systems.
Just copied some text from JordanImran post as it explains in perfectly:
"Example - My entity 'Categories' does not have the field Category which is the primary identifier for lookup fields - when importing from Entities.
The workaround is to import the entity 'Categories' from system, in which case the field appears as [prefix]_name1"
It's not consequently doing it for all tables.
Thanks.
All entities are grouped in to Entities and System folders.
- Entities - are standard entities and custom entities that you have created or imported in your environment.
- System - contains all entities in your environment, including system entities.
Please refer to: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/common-data-service/data-platform-powerbi-connector
Paul Zheng _ Community Support Team
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.
Hi Anonymous
I'd tentatively suggest it's a bug then - the required name field in Custom CDS entities does not display if the data is imported from 'Entities'.
Example - My entity 'Categories' does not have the field Category which is the primary identifier for lookup fields - when importing from Entities.
The workaround is to import the entity 'Categories' from system, in which case the field appears as [prefix]_name1
It's not a huge deal in practice but may be confusing for users.
Hi Anonymous ,
I've exactly the same issue. Just created custom entity and just can find some fields, but not my primary name field when I've choosen Entity mit CDS Connector.
I also guess its a bug, already have compared Entity settings with standard entity like 'Contacts', everything the same. In Contacts as a standard entity I can see the primary name field, in my custom entity not.
Hopefully someone can clarify it..
BR,
Sven
I came across this post when researching Entity vs System tables.
Re the missing primary name field, I have noticed is that if the primary field has the same name as the entity, it will not appear in the entity table, but will appear in the system table.
I am compiling list of differences to better understand the two:
- Entity tables include option set labels, system tables do not
- With Entity tables, if the primary name field has the same name as the Entity, it will not display in the entity table, but it will in the system table
- System tables include the ability to expand related tables and get values from them (this saves you having to do lookups and so on)
Often, I find the best thing to do is to connect to both versions of the table and merge them.
Then use Choose Columns to only keep the fields that I really need for now
DonalMc wrote:I came across this post when researching Entity vs System tables.
Re the missing primary name field, I have noticed is that if the primary field has the same name as the entity, it will not appear in the entity table, but will appear in the system table
I am encountering this exact situation. We have an entity named "Hours" and a decimal number field on the entity named "psa_hours". We have to use the System table rather than the Entity table in order to obtain the value of this field.
This does seem like a bug.
