Forum Discussion
Importing in from SSAS Cube
It is the case that Power BI can only connect to SSAS Multidimensional Enterprise Edition (or BI Edition, though that has gone in SQL Server 2016):
https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-desktop-ssas-multidimensional/
You can vote to try to have that changed here:
Sorry...
Chris
I've just had a second confirmation from Microsoft that DAX queries are supported in SSAS 2016 Multidimensional Standard Edition, and someone I know has tested Power BI Desktop with the same configuration and he says it works (though I haven't tested it myself). Are you sure you're using the latest version of everything?
Regards,
Chris
To be clear, you are using Power Pivot to import data from SSAS into Excel, then uploading that workbook to Power BI? As far as I know, this should work. I guess you've seen these pages, and the links to the troubleshooting tips?
https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-refresh-excel-file-onedrive/
https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-service-excel-workbook-files/
Chris
No - that thread is about an Excel PivotTable connected direct to SSAS, but the question here is about refreshing a Power Pivot model using SSAS as a data source which I think should work. But I asked for clarification on the details just to be sure.
Chris
cwebb Thank you for the reply. I'll check on the version the user has. I've had another odd occurence with importing, my measures are coming over as text fields. Is there any way to fix that?
You can always change the data type of the columns as a new step in the query editor. The problem is that the same measure in SSAS can return numbers, text or dates, so I think Power BI may decide to import them as text just to be safe. That said I've just tested it and Power BI does set the correct data types for my measures.
I remember seeing an "Import measures as text" checkbox somewhere in Power BI or Power Query in the past but I can't find it now. However the option is still there in the M code. On the Source step for your query, do you see an expression like this in the Query Editor formula bar?
= AnalysisServices.Databases("localhost", [TypedMeasureColumns = false])
Does changing TypeMeasureColumns to true make a difference? For me, measures always seem to come out typed regardless of the setting but maybe there's something about your measures...
Chris