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lnedeah's avatar
lnedeah
Regular Visitor
1 year ago

Refresh Error (Service only)

Hi there,   I keep getting this refresh error on Power BI service - Expression.Error: There weren't enough elements in the enumeration to complete the operation.. #table({"Content", "Name", "Extens...
Need Help
lnedeah's avatar
lnedeah
Regular Visitor
1 year ago

Hi, thanks. Yeah I've seen this explanation before but the table isn't empy, and I'm not getting this error in desktop. Do you have any idea why this error would only show in service? Thanks

  • Nasif_Azam's avatar
    Nasif_Azam
    Super User
    1 year ago

    Hey BhavinVyas3003 ,

    You're absolutely right to wonder why something that works fine in Desktop fails in the Power BI Service. That difference is often the key to solving issues like this.

     

    Why It Fails in Power BI Service but Not in Desktop?

    When you refresh in Power BI Desktop, the queries run in your local environment using your own permissions and network. But in the Power BI Service, the dataset is refreshed in Microsoft's cloud environment using saved credentials which may behave differently, especially for file access or authentication. Even though the table isn't empty in Desktop, here are a few reasons why the Service might still throw error.

     

    Common Service-Only Issues

    1. Power BI Service might detect the file but fail to read its content due to access limitations or temporary file locks.
    2. The Service may attempt to read a file before it's fully uploaded or synchronized, leading to incomplete data.
    3. Stored credentials in the Service may not have the same access as your local credentials, especially if tokens have expired or scopes are limited.
    4. If the files in the folder change or one is malformed, the Service may struggle to apply the expected structure during refresh.

     

    What You Can Do Next

    • Add a conditional check using Table.IsEmpty to prevent the query from continuing if no valid files are found.
    • Create a simplified test query that loads only basic file details to isolate whether the issue occurs in Service.
    • Use Table.Buffer() to avoid inconsistent behavior caused by lazy evaluation when referencing the same step multiple times.
    • Go to the Power BI Service dataset settings and re-authenticate the SharePoint connection using OAuth2 to ensure proper access.

     

    For Detailed Information:

    Troubleshoot Power BI Data Refresh
    Connect to SharePoint folder in Power BI
    Configure scheduled refresh - Power BI
    Power Query M error messages

     

     

    If you found this solution helpful, please consider accepting it and giving it a kudos (Like) it’s greatly appreciated and helps others find the solution more easily.


    Best Regards,
    Nasif Azam