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wac1ldy's avatar
wac1ldy
Frequent Visitor
5 years ago

Not Reading Data

Good day all.

My PBI reads data from an Excel file that is fed by an Alteryx Workflow. The workflow simply pulls two Excel worksheets together, cleans them and outputs the results to a third Excel workbook. It appends the file each time it runs.

 

On the PBI side, the report reads the data and does it's thing.

 

When I manually update the source .xlsx, PBI reads the appended data just fine. However, when I append the data using Alteryx, PBI does not read the new data at all.

 

OK, now here is the weird thing, I open the file and the new Alteryx data is there. Close and it still won't read it. But if I save the file manually, PBI picks up the new data as one would expect.

 

I have completely recreated the Excel file from scratch. Emptied it except the headers and run the Alteryx, PBI does not see a thing until I save the Excel manually. I have made sure there are no ghost rows or columns by anually deleting all the empty ones. I am befuddled.

 

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

Thanks

CW

Need Help

4 Replies

  • PhilipTreacy's avatar
    PhilipTreacy
    Super User
    5 years ago

    Hi wac1ldy 

    I'm not familiar with Alteryx but could the workflow be locking the Excel file preventing PBI from reading it?

    Phil

    • wac1ldy's avatar
      wac1ldy
      Frequent Visitor
      5 years ago

      Phil,

       

      Good thought, thanks for the suggestion. I just ran it again and no, it is not locked and has the correct "Last Modified Date". I even went to far as to created a whole new PBI and connect to the Excel file and it still did not see the last append.

      Strange me thinks.

       

      CW

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    Not applicable
    5 years ago

    Hi wac1ldy ,

     

    Does your manual refresh also not work? (just click "refresh" in Power BI Desktop)

    What data source did you choose in the figure below? I cannot find the "Alteryx Workflow".

     

     

    Best Regards,

    Yuna

    • wac1ldy's avatar
      wac1ldy
      Frequent Visitor
      5 years ago

      Yuna,

      I selected the Excel (top one).

      There is no auto refresh yet, strictly unpublished. When I manually refresh, it runs through the read process as normal but does not pick up the new data. I then manually open the Excel file and click in any cell and save the file and close it. I run the refresh again and it picks up the new data. But as soon as I run the next day's Alteryx, I am back to it not picking up the new data.

       

      Here is the Alteryx append piece:

      Thank

       

      CW