Fabric Default Sematic model

[ravsha85]

In a scenario where I create a Custom Sematic model from the sql end point (Default) and build reports on top of it, any changes to the Default tables (Table name change/Column name change) do not reflect in the custom model and it errors out when it refeshes...this causes all reports built with the custom model to be rebuilt again with a new custom model....is there a workaround for this? is this behaviour expected?

[3CloudThomas]

Patrick from Guys in a Cube shows how to do this in a Lakehouse - Adding a column to your Lakehouse? Where is it in the Semantic Model??? (youtube.com)

[ravsha85]

Thanks @3CloudThomas  I see that when we add or delete a column from the default sematic model we can do a manual refresh to reflect it in the downstream Sematic models, However if I change a Table name Eg:Table1 to Table2 in my default and if I refresh the downstream models it errors out or dosent show the modified table model, Is this how it is?

[v-yaningy-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi, @ravsha85 

Thanks for @3CloudThomas reply. Changing a table name in the default semantic model doesn’t automatically propagate to the downstream custom models. The reason for this behavior lies in how semantic models are constructed. The default semantic model is closely tied to the physical structure of the data (tables, columns, etc.). When you rename a table, it affects the underlying metadata, but the custom models don’t automatically adjust to this change. As a result, when you refresh the downstream models after a table name change, they encounter errors or don’t show the modified table model.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a direct workaround within Fabric to automatically handle table name changes in custom models.
Workaround:
1. Manual Updates, whenever you rename a table in the default model, manually update your custom semantic model to reflect the new table name.
2. Scheduled Refresh, set up a regular schedule for refreshing your custom models. This way, you can proactively manage any changes in the default model.
Configure scheduled refresh - Power BI | Microsoft Learn
3. Explore scripting or automation tools that can detect table name changes and apply them to your custom models.

Best Regards,
Yang
Community Support Team

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