Pass Oracle Server Name from flat file to Power BI

[lojith]

Hi - I am connecting Power BI to Oracle DB. I would like to pass the DB name from flat file to Power BO so that users can change the server name in flat file and run in different Oracle servers without having to manually change in Pbix file.

Could anyone guide me on how to achieve this? Tried to use Query but did not work out. 

Instead of Server Name, it should be able to pass Server_Name from say "C:\Users\User1\DB_Parameter.txt"

[AmiraBedh · Accepted solution]

You can achieve that using parameters. In Power BI, go to Home > Get Data > Text/CSV.

• Select your file (DB_Parameter.txt) and load it into Power BI.
• This will import the file content as a single-column table.

Then :

• In Transform Data, go to Manage Parameters > New Parameter.
• Name the parameter ServerName.
• Set the Type to Text.
• Under Current Value, use Data Source Settings to dynamically reference the column with the server name by selecting the column name from the DB_Parameter.txt file.

Then go back to Home tab, go to Get Data > Oracle Database.

When setting up the connection, instead of entering the server name directly, enter the parameter you just created.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @lojith ,

Please convert the single column table to a list.

Best Regards,

Wearsky

[AmiraBedh · Accepted solution]

You can achieve that using parameters. In Power BI, go to Home > Get Data > Text/CSV.

• Select your file (DB_Parameter.txt) and load it into Power BI.
• This will import the file content as a single-column table.

Then :

• In Transform Data, go to Manage Parameters > New Parameter.
• Name the parameter ServerName.
• Set the Type to Text.
• Under Current Value, use Data Source Settings to dynamically reference the column with the server name by selecting the column name from the DB_Parameter.txt file.

Then go back to Home tab, go to Get Data > Oracle Database.

When setting up the connection, instead of entering the server name directly, enter the parameter you just created.

[lojith]

Thanks @AmiraBedh for your response. I have followed the steps you have mentioned. Imported the file. In the New Parameter window, unable to reference the column from the imported table. The Query option is coming as disabled. How can I dynamicallly reference the Servername vlaue nder Current Value? Am i missing something? Thanks.

[lojith]

Hi @AmiraBedh -  could you please guide me further here?

[AmiraBedh]

Have you try converting the column to a list ?

[lojith]

Sorry for the late reply as I was Out of Office. Yes, I tried converting to list and was able to select the parameter file. But the next problem is it is expecting to provide a current value. I have provided a Server Name.

In the parameter flat fle, I have given a different server name. But the parameter is not taking the new value, it still uses the initial value given in Current Value. Is there a way to update the Current value with the value provided in the flat file?