This time we’re going bigger than ever. Fabric, Power BI, SQL, AI and more. We're covering it all. You won't want to miss it.
Learn moreDid you hear? There's a new SQL AI Developer certification (DP-800). Start preparing now and be one of the first to get certified. Register now
Is it possible to use volatile tables in PowerBi? The query works as expected in Teradata SQLAssistant.
BEGIN TRANSACTION; CREATE MULTISET VOLATILE TABLE vt_temp, NO Log AS (SELECT * FROM db.dtl_table ) WITH DATA PRIMARY INDEX ( xxx_id ) ON COMMIT PRESERVE ROWS; END TRANSACTION;
Hi @TCunningham,
Power BI does not have the same work process as SQL, what you can do is using DAX within a measure is to create a variable that makes your temporary table then use it for your calculations.
Measures are only used when called in Power BI so your temp table will also be used when called not affecting your performance if not used.
Don't know if this answers your needs but as refered the SQL concepts are a bit different.
Regards
Miguel Félix
Proud to be a Super User!
Check out my blog: Power BI em PortuguêsI don't quite understand. I'm trying to bring data into the appliation via a connection to Teradata, so when I create that connection, I'm dropping in a full query. The portion that creates the volatile table throws an error regarding BEGIN TRANSACTION/END TRANSACTION. The code runs in SQLAssistant just fine. Is there a workaround for getting it to execute in Power BI?
Hi @TCunningham ,
To what I know Power BI does not accept the use of volatile tables that's why you are getting an error.
But let me call out to @ImkeF the best user on Power Query around here, maybe she have some more insights or workaround.
Regards
Miguel Félix
Proud to be a Super User!
Check out my blog: Power BI em PortuguêsI appreciate it
Check out the April 2026 Power BI update to learn about new features.
Sign up to receive a private message when registration opens and key events begin.
If you have recently started exploring Fabric, we'd love to hear how it's going. Your feedback can help with product improvements.
| User | Count |
|---|---|
| 34 | |
| 31 | |
| 30 | |
| 21 | |
| 16 |
| User | Count |
|---|---|
| 62 | |
| 51 | |
| 31 | |
| 23 | |
| 23 |