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Plecky's avatar
Plecky
Frequent Visitor
1 year ago
Solved

Direct Lake Model - Implicit measures vanished

Hi Community,

 

I would require your help with the following:
I created a Power BI Semantic Model based on Direct Lake mode. It includes various tables, relationships, measures, etc.

However, a couple of days ago I realized that automatic sum / count functionality (implicit measures) vanished from the Report View. It still is properly configured in the Model itself in Power BI Service, I can also see those configurations in Model view in Power BI Desktop. But using a column "Cost" for example won't give summary in Report view but full list of all entries instead. I don't want to create explicit measures for all potential scenarios here.

Any idea what has changed? Any other configuration I require to do / undo?

 

Thank you so much in advance and best regards,

Fabian

Need Help
  • johnbasha33's avatar
    johnbasha33
    1 year ago

    Hi Plecky 
    The issue of implicit measures disappearing in Power BI when using Direct Lake mode is likely due to recent changes in Power BI behavior or semantic model settings. Here are some potential reasons and solutions:

    Possible Causes & Fixes:

    1. Direct Lake Mode and Aggregations Limitation

    • Implicit measures (auto sum, count, avg, etc.) are not always available in Direct Lake mode if Power BI detects potential performance issues.

    • Fix: Try switching the storage mode of the table to "Import" or "Dual" instead of Direct Lake (if possible).

    2. Column Data Type & Aggregation Settings

    • Check if the "Summarize By" property of your numeric column (Cost) has changed:

      1. Go to Power BI Desktop → Model View.

      2. Click on the Cost column.

      3. Look for "Summarize By" in the properties pane.

      4. Ensure it is set to Sum (or another aggregate function) instead of "Do not summarize."

    3. Power BI Desktop Update Issue

    • A recent Power BI update may have changed behavior for implicit measures in Direct Lake models.

    • Fix: Try rolling back to an older version of Power BI Desktop to see if the issue persists. You can download older versions from the Power BI archive.

    4. Power BI Service Configuration Issue

    • If the model is published to Power BI Service, check the settings:

      1. Go to Power BI Service → Open the Semantic Model.

      2. Click on Model Settings.

      3. Ensure that "Allow Implicit Measures" is enabled.

    5. Workspace or Fabric Configuration Change

    • If your Fabric environment was updated, there may be default settings affecting implicit measures.

    • Fix: Try creating a new test model with Direct Lake and see if implicit measures work there.

    Next Steps

    1. Check "Summarize By" settings in Model View.

    2. Ensure Direct Lake limitations are not affecting implicit measures.

    3. Try rolling back Power BI Desktop if this issue appeared after an update.

    4. Check settings in Power BI Service or Fabric Admin Portal.

      Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution! Appreciate your Kudos !!


5 Replies

  • johnbasha33's avatar
    johnbasha33
    Super User
    1 year ago

    Hi Plecky 
    The issue of implicit measures disappearing in Power BI when using Direct Lake mode is likely due to recent changes in Power BI behavior or semantic model settings. Here are some potential reasons and solutions:

    Possible Causes & Fixes:

    1. Direct Lake Mode and Aggregations Limitation

    • Implicit measures (auto sum, count, avg, etc.) are not always available in Direct Lake mode if Power BI detects potential performance issues.

    • Fix: Try switching the storage mode of the table to "Import" or "Dual" instead of Direct Lake (if possible).

    2. Column Data Type & Aggregation Settings

    • Check if the "Summarize By" property of your numeric column (Cost) has changed:

      1. Go to Power BI Desktop → Model View.

      2. Click on the Cost column.

      3. Look for "Summarize By" in the properties pane.

      4. Ensure it is set to Sum (or another aggregate function) instead of "Do not summarize."

    3. Power BI Desktop Update Issue

    • A recent Power BI update may have changed behavior for implicit measures in Direct Lake models.

    • Fix: Try rolling back to an older version of Power BI Desktop to see if the issue persists. You can download older versions from the Power BI archive.

    4. Power BI Service Configuration Issue

    • If the model is published to Power BI Service, check the settings:

      1. Go to Power BI Service → Open the Semantic Model.

      2. Click on Model Settings.

      3. Ensure that "Allow Implicit Measures" is enabled.

    5. Workspace or Fabric Configuration Change

    • If your Fabric environment was updated, there may be default settings affecting implicit measures.

    • Fix: Try creating a new test model with Direct Lake and see if implicit measures work there.

    Next Steps

    1. Check "Summarize By" settings in Model View.

    2. Ensure Direct Lake limitations are not affecting implicit measures.

    3. Try rolling back Power BI Desktop if this issue appeared after an update.

    4. Check settings in Power BI Service or Fabric Admin Portal.

      Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution! Appreciate your Kudos !!


    • Plecky's avatar
      Plecky
      Frequent Visitor
      1 year ago

      Hi johnbasha33,

      Thanks a lot for your structured response, highly appreciated.

       

      I walked through the different options and here are my findings:

       

      1. Direct Lake Mode and Aggregations Limitation

      Fix: Try switching the storage mode of the table to "Import" or "Dual" instead of Direct Lake (if possible).

      Reponse: Switching Storage Mode is not possible and also not really an option for our use case.

       

      2. Column Data Type & Aggregation Settings

      Reponse: As mentioned in the original post, configurations are set properly in the Model and Model View:

       

      Model ViewReport View

       

      3. Power BI Desktop Update Issue

      Fix: Try rolling back to an older version of Power BI Desktop to see if the issue persists. You can download older versions from the Power BI archive.

      Reponse: We're talking (Big) Enterprise environment, rolling back Software is not an easy option. Anyway, issue is reproducable in the Online Service, hence, I don't think it's related to Desktop version.

       

      4. Power BI Service Configuration Issue

      Ensure that "Allow Implicit Measures" is enabled.

      [PROBLEM SOLVED] Response: Disabling the "Discourage implicit measures" option did the trick, so basically this is the answer needed. Haven't seen it before in any of the options, but it's there 🙂 - Thank you!

       

       

       

      5. Workspace or Fabric Configuration Change

      Fix: Try creating a new test model with Direct Lake and see if implicit measures work there.

       Reponse: Creating a new model from scratch would actually solve the issue and bring back implicit measures. However, I hope this could be avoided due to tremendous re-creation effort.

    • Plecky's avatar
      Plecky
      Frequent Visitor
      1 year ago

      And maybe to add to this: I do have another Semantic Model based on the one with Direct Lake Mode and here the Implicit Measures work fine again, so it must be a specific configuration topic.

      I realized it has huge impact, because I can't even drag such fields into "Value" data fields section anymore. It's crazy because I have existing reports with matrix visuals where it is working, but trying to replicate exact same visual isn't working anymore.

      • Anonymous's avatar
        Anonymous
        Not applicable
        1 year ago

        Hi Plecky,

        Just following up to your previous message, I'd like to confirm if you've successfully resolved this issue or if you need further help.

        If yes, you are welcome to share your workaround and mark it as a solution so that other users can benefit as well. If you find a reply particularly helpful to you, you can also mark it as a solution.


        If you still have any questions or need more support, please feel free to let us know. We are more than happy to continue to help you.
        Thank you for your patience and look forward to hearing from you.

         

        Best Regards,
        Hammad.
        Community Support Team

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    Not applicable
    1 year ago

    Hi Plecky,

    Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum.

     

    It looks like you are unable to find your measure which you created in your Semantic Model. As johnbasha33 already responded to your query, please go through the response and mark it as solution if it solves your issue.

     

    I would also take a moment to thank johnbasha33, for actively participating in the community forum and for the solutions you’ve been sharing in the community forum. Your contributions make a real difference.

     

    If I misunderstand your needs or you still have problems on it, please feel free to let us know.  

    Best Regards,
    Hammad.
    Community Support Team

     

    If this post helps then please mark it as a solution, so that other members find it more quickly.

    Thank you.