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ROKRI's avatar
ROKRI
Helper I
5 years ago
Solved

Collaborate on a shared Power BI Desktop File Using as shared Excel file as Datasource

Hello!   I need to collaborate with a colleague using a shared PBI desktop file and a shared Excel file as the datasource. I know PBI desktop establishes a pathway to the excel file on my machine, ...
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AlexisOlson's avatar
AlexisOlson
Super User
5 years ago

If you connect Power BI to the Excel file in the cloud, then you wouldn't need to point files on different machines.

ROKRI's avatar
ROKRI
Helper I
5 years ago

Thanks for the guidance. Can you please provide more detail on what you mean? I read up on connecting PBI to Excel in the cloud but am confused. Here are the two pathways I see, though, don't fully understand how to make work:

1. Import Excel file into PBI online, which may be the cloud you reference and would keep it centralized. However, while I am able to import the excel file into PBI online, I don't understand how to connect it to an existing report nor how we would update it monthly. To update, we'd either need to copy/paste in new data or upload a new excel file over the existing one, right?  That said, if I'm on the right track, then the way this works regarding access is she can publish everything and share with me, or vice versa, and what ever changes one of us makes will be reflected in the same file (pbix or excel)?

2. If #1 isn't what you meant, I've also seen connecting via OneDrive Business, in the cloud, which my organization has but isn't our prime document storage.

Am I missing something? I appreciate your continued support.

ROKRI

  • AlexisOlson's avatar
    AlexisOlson
    Super User
    5 years ago

    The basic principle is that Power BI's data source should be in a fixed location. In your case, this is an Excel file. If you save it somewhere in the cloud where you both can access and update it, whether that is Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, SharePoint, or whatever, that's where you point your Power BI file to load the data.

     

    To update each month, you'd edit the Excel file in the cloud and then simply refresh your Power BI report in the desktop editor or the online service (it should work for both). I think this is your option #2.

    • ROKRI's avatar
      ROKRI
      Helper I
      5 years ago

      Understood on the cloud, I appreciate the additional details, and along the lines of what I've been trying to do.  
      I'm trying to do that through Box.com, a cloud based file storage solution similar to OneDrive but I can't get it to connect. I've tried using a publicly accessible box link to the file and just the main website to connect but it won't establish a connection to the dataset.

      Any ideas specific to Box connectivity? I can't find any guidance on that after lots of research. 

      Thanks,

      ROKRI