Query references other queries or steps, so it may not directly access a data source

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone,

I am facing the the following issue and hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I get the following error message each time when initially hitting refresh in a couple reports:

Query references other queries or steps, so it may not directly access a data source. Please rebuild this data combination. 

I then open the query in query editor, close it without making any modifications, and it is automatically resolved when refreshing again.

Where should I look to avoid getting the error message in the first place?

Thanks

[sp8]

Same. What do you mean "rebuilt"?

[jusTodd]

I only had about 7 steps, so I just manually rebuilt the second query.  I am sure there is probably a better way.

[AlexisOlson · Accepted solution]

This is related to privacy settings. For lots of details see here:

https://blog.crossjoin.co.uk/tag/formula-firewall/

If there are no privacy concerns with the particular data you're working with then the easiest solution is to ignore privacy levels entirely. This can be found under the options and settings as described here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/desktop-privacy-levels

[saivivekv25]

Hi AlexisOlson,

Like you mentioned here, I have ignored the privacy settings and tried to refresh. But when I do this, the columns in few tables changes its naming convention and also the data types. For Eg: If a table A has a column name Address and once I change the privacy settings to none and refresh, the column name changes to Addressname ...

[jasonhuebner]

I'm having the same issue.  While I'm able to get beyond query refresh challenges after ignoring Privacy settings, columns were renamed when I made this settings change.  Now, I'm trying to create a new Measure and can't use a column because it doesn't seem to think it exists. It is a column in a Table where another column was renamed by Power BI and now what I see in the Transformation Table does not match the Semantic Model Table.  Thoughts?

[jusTodd]

Check your "Sample File" in the Transformation query and ensure it is looking at the file it should be.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, seems to have resolved the issue!