Forum Discussion
Question on How and where source data is changed
Again:
"you don't need to upload the excel file at all. A pbix file connected to it should be able to reach back to One Drive when it refreshes. [...] If you want that transformed version [of the source] readily accessible to other reports you need them in a dataflow."
A dataset <> dataflow. They both use Power Query but are handled differently in the workspace.
Dataset = semantic model.
" If I switch workspaces and want to create a new report using the same datasource, that same xlsx file, that was previously used in WPoer BI Desktop I'm assuming I have to select a published data set and then go find where that source xlsx file was initially shared or uploaded to yes?"
No. Don't upload your excel file. You can make a new report off the existing dataset, or a new dataset off of a dataflow, or connect to the same file again in one drive.
CORRECTION:
Thank you and I understand that the xlsx file itself is not uploaded but the data from it surely is else if you couldn't connect to the source with Power BI then anything built on it would be unusable. If an xlsx file has 100 rows with 50 columns of data in each and I use that in Power BI I understand that the source XLSX file isn't itself uploaded but the data from it has to be.
Let me elaborate on thsi b/c I seem to have doen a bad job conevying what I'm saying.
Yes I understand that when you refresh the data sets, PBI must be able to access the source data,;an excel file in this example. That said the report and Dashboards built on that data will change the numbers you see when applying filters and so on. That data that tells the various visualiztaions what to show when user A has applied Filter X has to be stored somewhere. Does that make sense?