Add a new column or measure to an existing shared dataset without having to rebuild all reports

[Nemza]

Hi there, 

I have a shared dataset that I have published to a workspace, and now that users are starting to use it they are asking for some columns and measures to be added. I cannot make changes to the dataset without PowerBI creating a brand new dataset each time I publish a change. So I feel that I am now stuck with the dataset that I have, is this really how Power BI handles changes to a dataset? 

My question is: Is there a way to make changes to a dataset and publish these to a workspace without breaking the existing reports that are using the dataset already? 

Some more context, the dataset is a SQL Server data set and I use Query Editor to pull and transform the data that I need. I would like to make additions or modifications to columns or measures. I don't want to remove any columns or measures.

I have been struggling with this and I've scoured the forum and YouTube to no avail. 

Similar posts to this one all involved using an Excel xlsx as a datasource, and it seems that adding columns a spreadsheet will update the datasource automatically. 

Is there really no way to make changes to a dataset after reports have been created with it?

It seems very odd that this would be the case.

Any help would be really appreciated!

p.s. I've also watched the tutorial on how to do this with the ALM Tool Kit, but didn't manage to test it because I have a pro license and not a premium one. ALM Tool Kit requires a premium license to get the end-point of your workspace.

[Greg_Deckler · Accepted solution]

@Nemza - Depends on what you are changing in the dataset. If you are adding columns and measures, that should not break any reports. If you are changing column and measure names then that would break reports. 

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[Greg_Deckler · Accepted solution]

@Nemza - Depends on what you are changing in the dataset. If you are adding columns and measures, that should not break any reports. If you are changing column and measure names then that would break reports. 

Power BI Usage Models in Pictures! - Microsoft Power BI ...

[Nemza · Accepted solution]

@Greg_Deckler thanks for responding so quickly. 

To answer your question, I would like to add columns and measures. 

You say that it shouldn't break my dataset, but it does. 

Perhaps I am doing something wrong when adding a column. 

What I do is:

1. Browse to my workspace where the shared dataset is
2. Download the .pbix for the dataset (let's call it "dataset.pbix")
3. Open the dataset in Power BI desktop
4. Add a calculated column to one of the tables/ or add a new measure
5. Publish the dataset to the workspace from pt. 1 above
6. When I go to the workspace, I have a new dataset on my workspace.

What I did see when I was writing this out was that my downloaded pbix was not named the same as the report on my workspace, the name was "dataset (1).pbix" as the file already exists on my local PC and the filename is incremented. If I change the filename to be the same, then follow the steps above, the dataset is updated!

I honestly would not have gone through the steps if you had not responded, thank you.