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Eric7
Resolver I
Resolver I

Connector Power BI dataflows (Legacy) vs Dataflows

We have a lot of dataflows, some are in Power BI Service, others are in Power Platform.

 

In the last month or so, the connector name "Power BI dataflows" was changed to "Power BI dataflows (Legacy)", which we are using a lot. So we tried to change all our references to dataflows using the new connector "Dataflows", as we fear that the one named Legacy will be phased out. Now, this attempt caused us A LOT of problems, so we had to change back.

 

We have realised that the new connector "Dataflows" is able to connect to dataflows both in Power Platform and in Power BI Service, but once a datasource using connector "Dataflows" is connected to Power Platform, it is impossible to add another datasource using the same connector to Power BI Service, and vice versa. 

 

So, why don't we just place all our dataflows in Power BI Service instead of having some in Power Platform, you probably say. The answer is: We cannot, because Power Platform supports dynamic datasources (loops in M code connecting to databases from a list of server names), and Power BI Service still does not support this (there has been a lot of requests for this)! Dynamic datasource is a feature we cannot live without.

 

So, why don't we just move all our dataflows to Power Platform then? No, because we are using a premium capacity (Embedded premium) for Power BI Service, and the refresh times in Power BI Service are much better than in Power Platform, for one thing.

 

  • Is the connector "Power BI dataflows (Legacy)" really going to be phased out? When?
  • Do you have any suggestions as to what we should do when this happens?
  • Is there any chance you will consider to

EITHER leave the connector "Power BI dataflows (Legacy)" in place,

OR to allow two datasources use the connector "Dataflows" to connect to Power Platform AND Power BI Service dataflows simultaneously?

 

Cutting the possibility to have datasources to Power Platform and Power BI Service dataflows simultaneously seems to be a drastic limitation imposed on us!

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
Eric7
Resolver I
Resolver I

Alright, after a lot of trial and error, we found out that we CAN have two datasources both using the new connector "Dataflows", one datasources connecting to Power Platform dataflows and the other connecting to Power BI Service dataflows, and at the same time.

The trick turned out to be to remove all original datasources involving dataflows everywhere (what a chase it was…), and recreate a lot of the dataflows from scratch again. I have to say that it is really diffcult (if possible) to comprehend what needs to be recreated and why. It seems as if some references to old datasources cannot be removed without a complete recreate of the dataflow in the following way (talking about Power BI dataflows now):

 

  1. Copy all queries from org. dataflow
  2. Create new dataflow
  3. Add a new query based on a datasource with the new Dataflow connector
  4. Then paste in the queries from the original dataflow

     

Spent 3 days!

View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5
tamnm1601
Advocate I
Advocate I

I cannot even sign in the neith the Legacy and the Dataflows as used to before. Ikn, the Service refreshes successfully but the Desktop just refuses me to sign in under PBI Dataflows Legacy nor Dataflows.

Please help.

Tammy

Thanks

DemoFour
Responsive Resident
Responsive Resident

@Eric7 

Did you ever get a resolve to this. 

I have Dataflows set up that all flow into a workspace called Shared Tables (We have a premium capacity) for Date and Time Tables, so that developers can just use these (we have Finance, Long and Short Form tables depedning on usage) and any changes are made once. 

I have also built dataflows for source systems, for the same reasons. We have data from API's as well as Dataverse and some of our CRM and ERP systems. 

Am I reading this right, that I am going to have to rebuild all of these and then let people know that they will have to chnage data sources. Not a problem, but obviously time consuming. . .  

I get that this is an old post, but some of the other (Legacy) Dataflows have now gone, and I have seen the new Dynamics 365 (dataverse) connector. 

Any further reading or updates @v-zhangti  would be really appreciated, as it could be that we need to rework a lot of our source data. 

Thanks 

marciotex
Regular Visitor

Hello @Eric7 . You said: "So we tried to change all our references to dataflows using the new connector "Dataflows", as we fear that the one named Legacy will be phased out. Now, this attempt caused us A LOT of problems, so we had to change back." Can you say what problems type rised? Or suggest some references for research? Thank you in advance. Regards.

Eric7
Resolver I
Resolver I

Alright, after a lot of trial and error, we found out that we CAN have two datasources both using the new connector "Dataflows", one datasources connecting to Power Platform dataflows and the other connecting to Power BI Service dataflows, and at the same time.

The trick turned out to be to remove all original datasources involving dataflows everywhere (what a chase it was…), and recreate a lot of the dataflows from scratch again. I have to say that it is really diffcult (if possible) to comprehend what needs to be recreated and why. It seems as if some references to old datasources cannot be removed without a complete recreate of the dataflow in the following way (talking about Power BI dataflows now):

 

  1. Copy all queries from org. dataflow
  2. Create new dataflow
  3. Add a new query based on a datasource with the new Dataflow connector
  4. Then paste in the queries from the original dataflow

     

Spent 3 days!

v-zhangti
Community Support
Community Support

Hi, @Eric7 

 

You can submit an idea for it at   https://ideas.powerbi.com/ideas/   and wait for users with the same needs as you to vote for you to help make it happen as soon as possible.

 

For reference:

Solved: Power BI dataflows vs Power Platform dataflows - Microsoft Power BI Community

Dataflows in solutions - Power Query | Microsoft Learn

 

Best Regards,

Community Support Team _Charlotte

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

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