Bug in "Don't include in Report Refresh"

[ImkeF]

There's a bug in "Don't include in report refresh" like described here: http://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/Disabling-quot-Include-in-Report-Refresh-quot-works/m-p/1017...

unfortunately I didn't test correctly and this thread is closed, but the bug is still there and preventing solutions for problems like this:

http://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/Big-file-needs-no-update/m-p/111341#U111341

If the query that shall not be refreshed is not referenced by any other query or part of a UNION-operation in DAX, then everything works fine, but if it is referenced as mentioned, then it will be loaded again.

A lot of the usecases for this features are of this kind, so this bugfix is really needed !!!

[v-haibl-msft]

@ImkeF

Please check following steps to see if it is the issue you reported.

1. Get data from a source (e.g. excel file), we will get Table1 for it in Query Editor.
2. Right click Table1, select Reference. We will get Table1 (2) in Query Editor.
3. Right click Table1, uncheck Include in Report Refresh.
4. Close & Apply Query Editor.
5. Go to Data pane in the left navigation bar to check the table data.
6. Modify the data in the source excel file and save it.
7. Click Refresh in Home ribbon of PBI Desktop.

Expected Result: Both Table1 and Table1 (2) have the same old data.

Actual Result: Table1 has the old data, Table1 (2) has the new data.

Best Regards,

Herbert

[ImkeF]

Edited response:

Hi Herbert, thanks for your feedback again!

Yes, this is the issue. We currently cannot connect to the "frozen" content of one query in the query editor. & I find this behaviour also very irritating, as the reference to one table delivers different results than the table is showing itself.

Here's the link to the file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2p40g4o01anxfzl/IncrementalLoadDaxUnion.pbix?dl=0

I got some info from Taylor Clark via Twitter this morning stressing out that the workaround using DAX-UNION actually works (which it does on my machine as well). But it's not ideal, as you cannot perform all types of necessary transformations in M (all those kind, who would need to iterate over the whole table)

[v-haibl-msft]

@ImkeF

I’ve reported this issue internally: CRI 29545185

I’ll post here once I get any update for it.

Best Regards,

Herbert

[ImkeF]

That's really good news - thank you!

[v-haibl-msft]

@ImkeF

Below is the response from Product team.

The current behavior is By Design. The "Do no include in refresh" applies only to a specific table; it does not exclude downstream tables. Often users will have a "base query" (e.g. "All Customers") that they do not want to load; however, they may want to nonetheless load downstream queries (e.g. "North American Customers").

Best Regards,

Herbert

[ImkeF]

Thx for the quick response!

(Result is very disappointing though...)

Link to description of current workaround: http://www.thebiccountant.com/2017/01/11/incremental-load-in-powerbi-using-dax-union/