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tommy_g's avatar
tommy_g
Icon for Helper V rankHelper V
4 years ago
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Linked Dataflows - no option to add linked entity to a Dataflow

I am attempting to link to a Power Platform Dataflow. I've done it previously but it no longer works.   According to the official documentation "A connection window for the selected data connection...
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  • mllopis's avatar
    mllopis
    4 years ago

    Hi folks,

     

    This is Miguel from the Power Query & Dataflows team at Microsoft.

     

    First of all, I wanted to apologize for the disruption and confusion that this issue has caused to all of you.

     

    Our long term plan (hopefully only a few weeks in the future), is to have a single "Dataflows" connector that can be used not only to import data from dataflows in other workspaces and environments, but also to create Linked/Computed Entities in Power BI Premium enviornments.

     

    Looks like the “Power BI Dataflows” connector was accidentally removed from the Power BI Dataflows UX a few days ago – We have an internal ongoing thread to deploy a fix this week, which will bring back to previous state (“Power BI Dataflows” connector to author Linked/Computed Entities, either via the Get Data UX or with the direct shortcut from the “Link to entities in other dataflows”).

     

    In the interim, modifying your M query scripts to leverage the PowerBI.Dataflows() function is the only workaround.

     

    I will share another update on this thread as soon as the fix is deployed to production later this week. Sorry again for the inconvenience that this change has caused.

     

    Thanks,
    M.

  • mllopis's avatar
    mllopis
    4 years ago

    Hi everyone,

     

    Wanted to share a quick update that a fix for this issue has been now fully deployed to Production - You should be able to access the "Power BI Dataflows" connector via the Get Data UX (and the "Link to entities in other dataflows" entry), and create your Linked/Computed Entities as usual.

     

    As mentioned in my previous post, in the future this will be reconciled and achieved via a single "Dataflows" connector, but we'll more broadly communicate that when available. Of course, any existing dataflow entities using the Power BI Dataflows connector will continue to work after this transition without any further action needed on your end.

     

    Thanks and have a great weekend!

    M.

mllopis's avatar
mllopis
Icon for Community Admin rankCommunity Admin
4 years ago

Hi folks,

 

This is Miguel from the Power Query & Dataflows team at Microsoft.

 

First of all, I wanted to apologize for the disruption and confusion that this issue has caused to all of you.

 

Our long term plan (hopefully only a few weeks in the future), is to have a single "Dataflows" connector that can be used not only to import data from dataflows in other workspaces and environments, but also to create Linked/Computed Entities in Power BI Premium enviornments.

 

Looks like the “Power BI Dataflows” connector was accidentally removed from the Power BI Dataflows UX a few days ago – We have an internal ongoing thread to deploy a fix this week, which will bring back to previous state (“Power BI Dataflows” connector to author Linked/Computed Entities, either via the Get Data UX or with the direct shortcut from the “Link to entities in other dataflows”).

 

In the interim, modifying your M query scripts to leverage the PowerBI.Dataflows() function is the only workaround.

 

I will share another update on this thread as soon as the fix is deployed to production later this week. Sorry again for the inconvenience that this change has caused.

 

Thanks,
M.

tommy_g's avatar
tommy_g
Icon for Helper V rankHelper V
4 years ago

Miguel - it's been years since I had a significant difference of opinion with any Power BI behavior. I took a long time for me to even entertain this issue was a bug, rather than me being clueless or crazy 😁. Thanks for the validation and promise of a fix. Anything further you can do to clarify the distinction between PowerPlatform Dataflows used in Power BI and PowerBI Dataflows used in Power BI would be greatly appreciated. For my own internal taxonomy, I believe "Analytical Dataflows" fits the bill and matches my recollection of Amir's original White Paper.

 

Understanding Dataflows in Power BI.docx (live.com)

 

  • mllopis's avatar
    mllopis
    Icon for Community Admin rankCommunity Admin
    4 years ago

    Thanks Tommy - Appreciate the feedback.

     

    You can think of the Power Platform Dataflows connector (going forward simply named "Dataflows") as the superset of functionality - This connector allows users to "compose" new dataflows on top of outputs from Analytical Dataflows created across their (Power BI) workspaces and (Power Apps) environments.

     

    Once we complete the work to support Linked/Computed Entities through the "Dataflows" connector and can settle on a single connector exposed everywhere ("Dataflows") this should all become more clear.

     

    As a side note that will be of interest to many folks on this thread - we're also bringing the single "Dataflows" connector to Power Query in Excel over the next few weeks / ~month, to enable consumption of Analytical Dataflow entities (across workspaces and environments) for users in Excel.

     

    Appreciate the feedback and sorry again about the confusion - I will share a new update once the fix to (temporarily) bring back the "Power BI Dataflows" connector is deployed to Production, later this week.

     

    Kind regards,
    M.