Long time "Evaluating..." for no apparent reason during data import. Can it be made faster?

[jordimr]

I am connecting to a SQL database through a Stored Procedure. As far as I know, there is no intelligence that needs to be applied during the query. It should simply ask SQL to run the sproc, and gather the results.

However, for some reason, PBI stays a good two minutes or more, simply "evaluating". What is it doing exactly? Is there any way this can be accelerated, so that it gets to the date faster?

I've read about folding, but since this is running an sproc, I don't think it applies.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

[asocorro]

Also check these that have worked for me, especially under expensive merges:

1- optimize the query steps.  e.g., do filtering as early as possible

2- combine filtering and change-type steps

3- make sure that merge columns have the same data types

[jdj]

Same issue here. What seemed to have resolved it for me was disabling privacy check, refresh file and re-enabling privacy check. First tests with files that used to stall on "Evaluating" are positive: stalling issue seems te be resolved... Strange, but happy for now.

I by the way also cleared the cache before doing the above but this action alone did not fix the issue for me. After some more testing and trying I found the 'solution' above but no idea if, in the end, clearing the cache had anything to do with it.

[SK05]

Adding to confirm if there is any solution to the long refreh or to be precise refresh stuck in PBIX. Facing the same issue- have tried using options like cache and increasing in memory processing. Nothing seems to work. 

[jairoaol]

he seguido los pasos indicados y me ha funcionado sin problemas:

- Borrar cache de Power BI

- Anular niveles de privacidad para  este reporte.

[Robson2020]

And the correct answer is?

[chaz2jerry]

Sharing my success in resolving this issue.  One of my PBIX dataset has many queries some of them are merge or reference queries.  Occasionaly I run into the issue of Report Refresh getting stuck in the initial "Evaluating" step, for all of my queries/tables, and this is stuck permanantly until I cancel the refresh.  Went through following solution ideas, and finally fixed it with the last one.

- Clear PBI Desktop cache: does not help.
- Refresh all queries in preview: also stuck.
- Clean cache then refresh all in preview: also stuck.

- Disable privacy check for the report: Success. Able to get past evaluation step immediately and refresh normally.

Reference article: https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/2017/05/24/data-privacy-settings-in-power-bipower-query-part-1-performa...

[kondado]

For me, it also seemed that the culprit was the "privacy check". 

[PBIDAX]

In addition to what @chaz2jerry  has listed, you might want to check other data source locations in the file for any broken links.

You can find them under "Data source settings" (current file)

If any of those paths are broken, Power BI will hang with message "Evaluating...", even if your accessing a competely new location.

You can test this by opening a new blank Power BI and trying to access the same location.

To fix, check every path/source to make sure none are broken and have correct permissions etc.

I've reported the issue to Microsoft, as I don't think Power BI should just hang under any of the below scenarios, but rather report something back to the user to help resolve.

-Clear PBI Desktop cache: might help.

-Refresh all queries in preview: might help.

-Clean cache then refresh all in preview: might help.

-Disable privacy check for the report: might help

-Check all your path locations under "Data source settings": a broken path can lead to PBI hanging

I've also posted this as an Idea referencing this forum.

[P3Sven]

Hi @chaz2jerry ,

best answer, you have saved lot of waitingtime of my live 🙂

Thank you!

BR,

Sven

[moesteez]

Mine takes hours.

Does anyone know if this also affects the scheduled refresh? Mine keeps timing out but comments in this thread are suggesting that the evaluating process might now happen on that end, so Im starting to think I might have another problem somewhere.

Thanks

[noumanqaiser]

Hello,

I am facing the exact same issue. Despite the fact that we use Power Bi Premium for Incremental refresh, it seems Power Bi is downloading the entire Datatable during 'Evaluating' when any changes are made in the queries. This makes making changes to queries very tiring and difficult when handling large databases. 

In a nutshell, this eliminates the usefullness of Incremental refresh fundamentally. Can you kindly confirm why PowerBI talkes ages at evaluating and what is done to ensure that Power BI desktop doesnt end up downloading entire database tables in PowerBI Desktop?

Regards,

Nouman Qaiser

[Anonymous]

Issue affecting me too.

Raised a ticket with PBI helpdesk, will keep you posted on response.

[dmac412]

@Anonymous  Did you ever get a response from the power bi team ?

[Anonymous]

Sorry for the late response. 

So after i raised the ticket, I came back over the weekend after shutting down my computer find that it was working correctly. I then recieved a call from MS and they advised to clear power BI cache and to then restart. 

Though I wasn't able to replicate this at that time that time, I ran into the same evaluation problem a few hours ago and after following the PBI team's advice - it appeared to have resolved the issue.

I followed the the steps in this link and just restarted my computer. 

https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/blogs/how-to-clear-cache-of-power-bi-desktop

Fingers crossed this works for you. 

[Anonymous]

 1+ for this, has it been logged as a bug?

[DataMountain]

This issue appears to persist with the September 2018 release. I have to kill the refresh at least one time in order to pass the "Evaluating" phase.

[Anonymous]

Found a workaround:

1.  Go to Edit Queries

2.  Refresh Preview on every table.

3.  Close and Apply

4.  Refresh Data

[ninos-shiba]

This worked for me!!! Thank you!

[jdogcisco]

This just started happening to me after upgrading to their August 2018 release.  So **bleep** annoying.  

**edit**

I just downgraded to June 2018 release to get past this issue.

[tyw214]

I just started having issue of this today with a couple reports that requires join tables within PBI.... these are actually mission critical reports... anybody have any idea if MS is aware of this probleM?

the refresh has been fine for the last couple months we've been using thsi...