Forum Discussion

Anonymous's avatar
Anonymous
Not applicable
3 years ago

How to insert a button/link within Power BI dashboard that opens an Excel, saves it and closes it

Hi all

 

I have an Excel source that has values edited via Power App visual in Power BI. When I click refresh all the values turn out null in the Power BI tables. A similar problem was addressed by this community - i.e. to open the Excel source, save it and then close the file, before refreshing the Power BI. I found that it is working.

 

I don't want the end user to open the Excel source as it is meant to be in background. If there is any way to complete the above operation with just a click of a button within Power BI, it would be great. I am aware that Power Automate can do such things but I couldn't find any option that can run similar operation. Let me know if there is any other way to do this.

Need Help

3 Replies

  • TomMartens's avatar
    TomMartens
    Icon for Super User rankSuper User
    3 years ago

    Hey Anonymous ,

     

    the simple answer is - no.
    You have to make sure that the Power App commits the changes to the Excel file, ideally the Excel file is located in a SharePoint library.
    Either you configure an automated refresh from the Power BI Service or use a Power Automate Solution, you can create such a button in the Power BI report.

    You have to be aware that the number of daily refreshes is limited to 8 times if you are on Power BI Pro licensing. If you are on Power BI Premium Per Capacity the number of refreshes using Power Automate is unlimited.

    Hopefully, this provides some ideas of how to tackle your challenge.

     

    Regards,

    Tom

    • Anonymous's avatar
      Anonymous
      Not applicable
      3 years ago

      Hi TomMartens 

       

      Thanks for your response.

       

      The problem is Power App does make changes in Excel, but somehow after refreshing, Power BI shows null for all the tables that have undergone changes. The solution that I had got was that to open the excel, click save option and close the Excel. Then on refreshing the Power BI the values remain in the table with all the applied changes. 

       

      If you mean automated resfresh of Power BI, that won't help unless the Excel is saved after changes. In fact I don't think I need an automated refresh because the user can just click the refresh buttons if there is any change in database. I just want a query that I can run on Power BI that opens the Excel, saves it and closes it. 

       

      Thanks a lot for your response though.