Change data source for a Power BI report builder report

[Anonymous]

I'm building a bunch of similar reports in report builder coming from different data sources, but with the same basic format and many of the same columns. Once I have one finished I want to copy it, and then point the new copy to a different data source, so that I have all my formatting done and most columns are set, then I just need to add or delete any columns which are different in the new report. But I can't seem to find a way to change the underlying source - how is that done?

[1powerbiaccount]

still to this date in 2023 this is not possible; pathetic

[v-shex-msft]

Hi @Anonymous ,

I'd like to suggest you take a look at following document to create a embedded datasource in report builder.

Create an embedded data source for paginated reports in the Power BI service
In addition, your requirement sounds more related to power bi report server, I'd like to suggest you post to report server forum for better support.

Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng

[Anonymous]

@v-shex-msft  I even tried adding my new datasource to the new report, deleting the old one, and than using the exact same name for the new one. Even that doesn't work, it kicks out an error. It seems like there has to be a way to make this work.

[v-shex-msft]

Hi @Anonymous ,

Maybe you can refer to the following link to parameterize your connection string with query parameters then you can change it on power bi service side.

Using the Power BI Service Parameters to change connection strings (To possibly change between Dev

Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng

[Anonymous]

@v-shex-msft  Thank you for the reply. I'm currently working on embedding and datasource sharing, but that doesn't address my issue, which is how to change the data source of an existing report. For example, I have a report with a data source named "datasource" which points to a sql server view. I now have a new report requirement which looks virtually identical to my first report and has almost all the same columns. So I want to preserve all the formatting work I've done by copying my first report and then changing the data source for the new one to "datasource2". That way I can simply delete any fields I don't need and add any new ones from the new source, but I can re-use all my existing work.

Is that not possible yet? It seems like a pretty basic requirement but I can't find any documentation which discusses it.

thanks!

Alex