How to add a theme (json) to a Power BI report created on semantic model directly from warehouse?

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I want to import a theme (json) to my power BI report created on a semantic model directly from warehouse. It doesnt seem like this is supported. Is there any way around it, and is it in the pipeline?

Thanks!

[anmolmalviya05]

Hi @Anonymous, Hope you are doing good !

We can only import json theme in Power BI Desktop, below are the steps

Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution! Appreciate your Kudos !!

[Anonymous]

Hi, thank you for your answer.

When I download the report I loose my connection to the semantic model. It just makes a new semantic model when I publish or upload the report from desktop. I want my reports to all be based on the same semantic model which is based directly off the warehouse. If I need to make calculations or add another column or table I want to do that in the same semantic model. Is there any way use desktop and keep the connection to this semantic model? Also, when I did publish and upload my report now from desktop I get an error "Cannot load model. Couldn't load the model schema associated with this report. Make sure you have a connection to the server, and try again."

Is there a way to have one semantic model, based on views in a warehouse, where I can download the file to desktop, make changes, and then publish with the updates and still be connected to the same semantic model?

Thanks again for your help.

[Anonymous]

Hi, thank you for your answer.

When I download the report I loose my connection to the semantic model. It just makes a new semantic model when I publish or upload the report from desktop. I want my reports to all be based on the same semantic model which is based directly off the warehouse. If I need to make calculations or add another column or table I want to do that in the same semantic model. Is there any way use desktop and keep the connection to this semantic model? Also, when I did publish and upload my report now from desktop I get an error "Cannot load model. Couldn't load the model schema associated with this report. Make sure you have a connection to the server, and try again."

Thanks again for your help.

[ibarrau · Accepted solution]

Hi. Open an empty Power Bi Desktop. Make sure to be logged in to the correct account and tenant. Then download the pbix file live connected and open it. The error is expressing that the logged account can't access to that semantic model.

Once logged it should work. If you publish that one that works and creates a second report (not overwriting), then you can remove the first one and keep this second deployment that will overwrite itself the next time. Store pbix in a repo for future developments.
Sadly if you can't make it match the model, you might need to start from scratch. Open an empty desktop, live connect the semantic model. Copy paste the visuals and keep your file in a repository. That will keep it safe for future developments.

I hope that make sense

[Anonymous]

Thank you, this worked 🙂 

[ibarrau]

Hi. The only way of importing a json as a theme is using Power Bi Desktop. It's a good practice to build your reports with Power Bi Desktop. It doesn't matter the way you connect to data, but using Desktop will let you the major data visualization features and UX.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/desktop-report-themes

I hope that helps,