Desktop Refresh Error: Query "references other queries or steps ... "

[tylerabbott]

On nearly every report I have in Power BI Desktop, I refresh the data and get this error message on random tables/queries in my dataset. To 'fix' it, I have to open the Power Query Editor, refresh all previews in there, then close the editor and refresh the data in the report view again - and everything refreshes no problem. So, it's not actually an issue with my queries at all - it just seems to be a bug in PBI Desktop.

[v-yetao1-msft]

Hi @tylerabbott 

Is it normal to refresh on Desktop before ? Did this error occur suddenly or after you did something ? 

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Ailsa Tao

[tylerabbott]

@v-yetao1-msft - In this case I am only talking about Desktop, not the Online Service. As I edit my reports in desktop, or for some reports for which I only use Desktop, this happens. If I don't have to make edits in the Power Query Editor, there is no reason for me to refresh in Power Query Editor first, so the normal thing to do is just hit refresh in the main PBI Desktop window to refresh the data as I'm working. But then this happens (nearly every time).

[C4YNelis]

Hi @v-yetao1-msft ,

this is definitely a bug, I have exactly this same behavior in PBI Desktop. This never used to be the case before, but started happening a couple of updates ago. Unfortunately I don't know exactly which was the last "stable" version.

I have absolutely no references to external queries or steps, the error just occurs at random. I believe it has to do with the cached data, because in my experience the older the report is that I open, the more likely it is to throw this error. Indeed, the solution is to open the editor and refresh all and just wait until it is done. After that, a regular refresh will work again.

It would be very nice if this bug could be solved, because it is taking up a lot of unnecessary time.

Cheers,

Niels

[tylerabbott]

Thank you, @C4YNelis  - I would also say it was a couple updates ago that this began. I have tried 'waiting it out' to see if one of the upcoming updates would fix it, but it didn't. I also could not say what the latest version was that didn't have this problem, unfortunately. Thank you for confirming it's not just me or something I'm doing!

[C4YNelis]

Hi @tylerabbott ,

thank you for reporting the bug. Saves me time too. 😉

It's not you, reports used to refresh just fine, until they did not, without having changed a single thing. I've been trying to troubleshoot the exact problem, but I haven't found it yet. By any chance, do you work with multiple development machines? I'm working on two machines (on the same reports) and was wondering if that had to do anything with this peculiar behavior.

Good luck

[tylerabbott]

@C4YNelis - No, I develop everything on the same machine, so I don't think that has anything to do with it. I do have another machine that hosts my data gateway for my published reports to refresh, but of course that has nothing to do with our desktop app issues.

[MladenJ]

Same here! It really annoys me, as every report development i work is in Desktop, so it's natural to use Refresh from PBI Desktop. 

It started to happen beginning of June i think, that was the first time i noticed.

[paulh-sefa]

@v-yetao1-msft and others - I'm having this same issue. I could've sworn it was longer ago than June, but maybe it just feels like it. With a large dataset, this really increases the development time.

[franzdalvit]

I am having the same issue, it's really annoying. I think it's a caching problem too, and the proof it's a bug is that the service refreshes regularly without any errors. I hope it will be fixed soon.

[057Sophie]

I am happy to see that it is not only related to my reports.

I will try to empty the desktop cache to see if this helps.