Forum Discussion

MOVC's avatar
MOVC
Resolver I
5 months ago
Solved

Blank data output when exporting via Power Automate Visual

I am using the Power Automate visual to export fields from a report to process elsewhere.

 

I tested this with a simple report with typed out dummy data and I could successfully get it to export and ping to Teams.

 

However when I tried this in my live report, the export out of Power BI was always empty:

 

"body": {
        "entity": {}
    }
}
 
As opposed to the test data which was working fine:
 
"body": {
        "entity": {
            "Power BI values": [
                {
                    "id": "a123",
                    "date": "2024-12-01T00:00:00.000Z",
                    "freetext": "lookup text",
                    "lookup": "a123"
                },
                {
                    "id": "a123",
                    "date": "2024-12-01T00:00:00.000Z",
                    "freetext": "more lookuptext",
                    "lookup": "a123"
                }
            ]
        }
 
What could potentially cause this? The common causes listed are things like data context and filters, however if I convert the Power Automate button into a table visual then all the data entered into the visual is correctly rendered in the table showing that there's no problem passing data into the button (hopefully). I've limited the data to just one row and column to ensure that there's no limitations on quantity and still nothing.
 
Thanks.
 
Need Help
  • v-karpurapud's avatar
    v-karpurapud
    4 months ago

    Hi MOVC 
    Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric community forum.

     

    This issue is related to trigger-binding (schema), not data, filters, or DAX. While the Table visual displays data correctly, the Power Automate visual does not access live query results. Instead, it uses a schema created at design time between Power BI and the flow.

     

    In a working case, the flow’s trigger schema contains a rows array, which is how Power BI sends selected fields to Power Automate. In the failing case, the trigger schema is empty ("properties": {}), so the trigger does not recognize any fields. As a result, when the flow runs, it cannot deserialize the data and always returns "body": { "entity": {} }. This outcome is consistent without the schema, the output remains empty, regardless of the report data.

     

    The problem occurs when the flow is created or edited without fields bound to the Power Automate visual, or if the binding is broken later. The schema is only generated when the trigger is first bound and does not update automatically if fields are added or changed afterward.

     

    To resolve this, rebuild the trigger binding in Power BI. Open the report in Edit mode, select the Power Automate visual, and add all necessary fields. Then, click Edit to open the flow, delete and re-add the “On Power BI button clicked” trigger in the same session, save the flow, return to Power BI, and click Apply. This will regenerate and attach the correct schema to the flow.

     

    Here are some references:
    Power Automate button in Power BI suddenly returns empty entity {}
    Create a Power Automate visual for Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

    If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out and we'll be glad to assist.

     

    Regards,

    Microsoft Fabric Community Support Team.
     

4 Replies

  • Kedar_Pande's avatar
    Kedar_Pande
    Super User
    5 months ago

    MOVC 

    Power Automate visual can't access measures - only base table columns.

    Fix: Create disconnected table visuals with measures converted to columns:

    New table → DAX: SELECTEDCOLUMNS(SUMMARIZE(Table, Table[ID]), "MeasureCol", [YourMeasure])

    Power Automate visual → use MeasureCol field (not measure)

    • MOVC's avatar
      MOVC
      Resolver I
      5 months ago

      Thanks for the response. I was concerned about calculated columns/measures/anything DAX and removed those from one example (I was just testing to see if I could export my IDs) and it still didn't work. I think I might have figured this out though:

      For the flow/export that is working, it has the following in the codeview

       

          "schema": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "rows": {
                "type": "array",
                "items": {
                  "type": "object",
                  "properties": {
                    "entity": {
                      "properties": {},
                      "type": "object",
                      "required": []
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            },
            "required": [
              "rows"
            ]
          }
       
      however in the one that isn't working the schema is just blank
       
          "schema": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {},
            "required": []
          }
        }
       
      I switched from the flow I was going to use in the live one and back to the test one with the populated schema and it brought through the data so I have a solution. But I have no idea why one schema is missing. I created them in the same way via the Power Automate builder in the edit mode of the visual...
      • v-karpurapud's avatar
        v-karpurapud
        Community Support
        4 months ago

        Hi MOVC 
        Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric community forum.

         

        This issue is related to trigger-binding (schema), not data, filters, or DAX. While the Table visual displays data correctly, the Power Automate visual does not access live query results. Instead, it uses a schema created at design time between Power BI and the flow.

         

        In a working case, the flow’s trigger schema contains a rows array, which is how Power BI sends selected fields to Power Automate. In the failing case, the trigger schema is empty ("properties": {}), so the trigger does not recognize any fields. As a result, when the flow runs, it cannot deserialize the data and always returns "body": { "entity": {} }. This outcome is consistent without the schema, the output remains empty, regardless of the report data.

         

        The problem occurs when the flow is created or edited without fields bound to the Power Automate visual, or if the binding is broken later. The schema is only generated when the trigger is first bound and does not update automatically if fields are added or changed afterward.

         

        To resolve this, rebuild the trigger binding in Power BI. Open the report in Edit mode, select the Power Automate visual, and add all necessary fields. Then, click Edit to open the flow, delete and re-add the “On Power BI button clicked” trigger in the same session, save the flow, return to Power BI, and click Apply. This will regenerate and attach the correct schema to the flow.

         

        Here are some references:
        Power Automate button in Power BI suddenly returns empty entity {}
        Create a Power Automate visual for Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

        If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out and we'll be glad to assist.

         

        Regards,

        Microsoft Fabric Community Support Team.