Forum Discussion

coreyw's avatar
coreyw
Helper I
9 years ago

Optional related entity - why 'Error'?

I am modifying a Query against an entity provided by an OData source.  An entity 'A' has an optional relationship to another entity 'B'.  i.e. 'A' has an (nullable) foreign key column and a navigation property to 'B'.

 

When I try and expand the 'B' navigation property in the Query Editor of 'A' to retrieve just one of 'B's properties, I see 'Error' for all those cases where the foreign key/navigation property does not point to anything in 'B'.  When there is a valid relationship link between 'A' and 'B', the navigation property works as I expect.

 

Is this by design?  I would argue that it should not be flagged as an error because the relationship is optional.

 

 

Need Help

3 Replies

  • v-ljerr-msft's avatar
    v-ljerr-msft
    Microsoft Employee
    9 years ago

    Hi coreyw,

     

    I think it is the default behavior currently. And I would suggest you to submit your requirements on Power BI Ideas to improve this feature.:smileyhappy:

     

    Regards

  • GilbertQ's avatar
    GilbertQ
    Super User
    9 years ago

    Hi coreyw

     

    In my opinion this is by design in order for a relationship to work it needs to be able to identify each side of the relationship.

     

    And what happens is that when there is a NULL value it cannot by any means make that identification, and thus this is why it fails.

    • coreyw's avatar
      coreyw
      Helper I
      9 years ago

      Thanks for the comments.  If it is an optional relationship, it's not an error and shouldn't be flagged as an 'error'.  'NULL' or empty would make much more sense.

       

      GilbertQ,v-ljerr-msft, I'm afraid this is a bigger deal than it looks like on the surface.

       

      The problem I have with this is that when you save the query, an error dialog comes up, and then it throws AWAY all the records with these so-called errors.

       

      This should not be the default behavior.  It's throwing away semantically valid records. It's a data loss bug, and a serious one.

       

      The maddening part is that Power Query Excel does NOT throw away the error records, so there is no consistancy.