Creating a universal dataset for my team.

[Spencer_Bye]

My team is just in the beginning phases of using Power BI for data modeling within the department. I have been working through the process of creating a dataset which pulls in data from our institution's SQL servers (which I have no control over), cleaning it, and formatting it in a way that is suitable for use in reports by other members of the team without them needing to replicate the work. However, I have run into some issues when importing data from a Power BI Dataset into a new report in Power BI Desktop. Power BI does not allow manipulating the data imported from the dataset like it does when importing from other sources. Are there any good practices for handling situations like this? I want to create a univseral source of data for the team which they can build on in their own reports.

[v-stephen-msft]

Hi @Spencer_Bye ,

Did the above replies help you? If the problem has been resolved, accept them.

For your question, if you want to connect to a data source using import mode, it's best to find a way to connect directly to the SQL database.

Tutorial: Connect to on-premises data in SQL Server - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Best Regards,

Stephen Tao

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

[watkinnc · Accepted solution]

You should instead make a dataflow and connect to THAT with Power BI Desktop.

--Nate

[Greg_Deckler]

@Spencer_Bye That's correct, when connecting to a Power BI dataset, there is no "import", only Live and DirectQuery, which do not have the full editing capabilities of import. You basically build out a composite data model in these cases.