Dataflows from Custom SQL Query

We shipped Native SQL query support. You can learn more about this feature here: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-dataflows-january-updates/

If we can't use SQL native queries, Dataflow is useless for us...

Yes Please!

Same for us. We need Dataflows to work with SQL native queries to take advantage of it.

This is possible if you first create the query in Power BI Desktop and reuse the M code in the blank query connection in Dataflows. However, this process should be alot easier and the SQL database connector today is too limited.

Hi Kristoffer. You're correct you can create the SQL native queries however as soon as you try to achieve a schedule refresh you receive an error message saying native queries aren't supported.

This is having a big impact on my reporting. For instance: when selecting a list of active tickets generated within the last 12 months, my database contains tickets generated since 2001. Instead of extracting 450 rows using my Oracle servers as the first layer, I have to extract a list of all tables, then more than a million rows of tickets and then apply M filtering (and a series of filters at that) to achieve the results I want. And this is oversimplifying the issues. Sometimes my queries will contain joins, subqueries, CASE statements and aggregates that can be processed server-side for ease of implementation, only sending the data I really need for PowerBI.

I'd like to be able to use SQL native queries in Dataflow too!

This is something that we have found ourselves by surprise in a client (since we have not seen in any detailed site this limitation). The solution we have found at the moment is to create a view with that query, and once created select that view from the list of objects that appear (tables and views) when connecting to the corresponding database. But, obviously, this is a workaround. We also need to execute native query in dataflows

Dataflows can be a game changer - but Native Queries are a must for it.