Forum Discussion
Error in Power BI: "Column 'cachedEntity' not found when selecting Data Flow Gen 2 in Fabric"
Hello Community,
I'm encountering a persistent issue in Power BI when attempting to use Data Flow Gen 2 in Fabric as a data source. Regardless of the data source type — whether pulling data from a SharePoint folder in both .xlsx and .parquet formats, or accessing data via a web API — I repeatedly face an error stating: "Column 'cachedEntity' not found in table." Notably, there is no column named 'cachedEntity' in any of my datasets, which adds to the confusion.
Configuration and Context:
- Platform: Power BI Desktop
- Data Source Type: Data Flow Gen 2 in Fabric
- Data Variants: Data extracted from:
- SharePoint folder (formats: .xlsx and .parquet)
- Web API
- Troubleshooting Done: Refreshed datasets, reconnected data sources, and verified that no erroneous column references exist in my Power Query transformations.
What I Need Help With: Has anyone else encountered this error or knows what might be causing this specific issue with Data Flow Gen 2 in Fabric? Any suggestions on additional steps to resolve this would be greatly appreciated.
Research Done: I've searched the forum and haven't found a similar issue. I am reaching out hoping someone might have insights or has resolved something similar.
Attachments:
Thank you all in advance for your time and assistance!
Best regards, Luciano Ingrassia
Luciano_Ingrass , Make sure your dataflow gen was published and loaded properly. There was no error showing on the Power BI service.
I can load a table from Dataflow gen2 , using the dataflow connector under Microsoft Fabric
Also, In case Fabric prefer, using Lakehouse and Warehouse as sources, then dataflow Gen2
Hello Luciano_Ingrass
I had the same error, but it is solved by "Enabling staging", by doing so, publish the Data Flow Gen 2
This option is disabled when you assign data loading to a warehouse or lakehouse so you have to enable manualy.
If i answered your question, mark my post as a solution! I appreciate your kudos!
11 Replies
Luciano_Ingrass , Make sure your dataflow gen was published and loaded properly. There was no error showing on the Power BI service.
I can load a table from Dataflow gen2 , using the dataflow connector under Microsoft Fabric
Also, In case Fabric prefer, using Lakehouse and Warehouse as sources, then dataflow Gen2
Hello amitchandak,
Thank you for your response. I appreciate your suggestions and have confirmed that my Data Flow Gen 2 was published and loaded correctly in the Power BI service without any errors. However, the issue with the "Column 'cachedEntity' not found" error still persists when I attempt to load the table using the dataflow connector under Microsoft Fabric.
I'm curious about your suggestion regarding the use of Lakehouse and Warehouse as sources. Could you please elaborate on how integrating these sources might be more beneficial compared to Data Flow Gen 2 in the context of Fabric? Are there specific advantages or configurations in Lakehouse and Warehouse that could potentially bypass or resolve the issue I'm experiencing?
Additionally, if you have any specific steps or settings that you could share for setting up and using the Dataflow connector successfully, it would be immensely helpful.
Thanks again for your help and looking forward to your further insights.
Best regards, Luciano Ingrassia
Hello Luciano_Ingrass
I had the same error, but it is solved by "Enabling staging", by doing so, publish the Data Flow Gen 2
This option is disabled when you assign data loading to a warehouse or lakehouse so you have to enable manualy.
If i answered your question, mark my post as a solution! I appreciate your kudos!
Hi ,
My dataflow Gen2 is already sourced from lakehouse tables. Now I am trying to connect to this Dataflow Gen2 into the Power BI semantic model using Get Data->Microsoft fabric -> Data Flows. When I select my Daatflow Gen 2, It throws ."Expression.Error: The column 'cachedEntity' of the table wasn't found.
Details:cachedEntity" .Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Thanks, Sindhu
I'm having this same issue. I've tried connecting this same dataflow to a new powerBi project and get the same error.
I've been conducting some research and found that the error stopped occurring when I began saving each instance of the data flow as an object, either in a DataMart or in the DataLake, depending on the intended use.
it solved mine too
I have been trying the same thing. The staging for a blank query worked but not for a sharepoint list in dataflows. Staging is automatically disabled when choosing a lakehouse as a destination. The options : choose staging leading to refresh failures or disable staging but unable to choose a lakehouse as destination. If anyone can assist, that would be great. Thanks
Enabling staging in dataflows helped resolve the problem.
When Staging is disabled, the dataflow only contains the transformation logic. It reads from the source and writes directly to the destination (Lakehouse/Warehouse). It doesn't keep an internal materialized copy of the query results that Power BI Desktop can consume.
When you enable Staging, Dataflow Gen2 first executes the query and materializes (stores) the intermediate result in an internal staging Lakehouse/Warehouse managed by Fabric. Once the data is physically stored, Power BI Desktop can discover and read the staged entity, which is why the cachedEntity error disappears.
