Republishing of existing reports

[DMPBR]

We are just starting into our Power BI journey online (previously we used PBIRS) and there seems to be something not quite right so I was wondering if I could get a steer please 🙂

Republishing

If I want to edit a file in the Desktop application, it appears I only have the option to download the .pbix. If I download and retain a link back to the live dataset, I am then prevented from republishing my changes as it warns that the report already exists. What is the point of being able to download a .pbix with a link to live data if we can't then save our changes without deleting the original report?

Downloading

In line with the above, if I download the file it downloads as report_name.pbix - which is fine. I republish but being lazy I don't clear out my downloaded files. When I download the report in a weeks time to edit it again, I get report_name(1).pbix and if I then publish that report, it publishes it as report_name(1) and doesn't over-write the original report... is this by design? I am used to being able to edit in situ with PBIRS and this seems like a MASSIVE backward step in functionality to me (and my stakeholders) and it seems that, at the moment, sticking with PBIRS is the way to go.

Cheers for any help!

[v-zhangti]

Hi, @DMPBR 

Please consider some limitation when you republish from desktop and replace report in service based on this document: Publish from Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

• If you already have two or more datasets in Power BI with the same name as the Power BI Desktop file, publish could fail. Make sure you have only one dataset in Power BI with the same name. You can also rename the file and publish, creating a new dataset with same name as the file.
• If you rename or delete a column or measure, any visualizations you already have in Power BI with that field could be broken.
• If you have a refresh schedule configured for your existing dataset in Power BI and you add new data sources to your file and then re-publish, you’ll have to sign into them in Manage Data Sources prior to the next scheduled refresh.

You also can go to the Dataset settings online and rename the data set to match the name of the .pbix file you had downloaded. Then publishing it from the desktop app again prompted with the expected "do you wish to replace the existing".

Best Regards,

Community Support Team _Charlotte

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[DMPBR]

Thanks for getting back to me but what is listed there is a workaround at best. If I open the report and don't touch the dataset, only amending visuals, I don't understand how then having to rename the dataset to save to report is acceptable.

What is point of being able to download a report with a live data connection if I then can't amend said report and republish it without having to delete/rename other items?