Forum Discussion

Smintee's avatar
Smintee
Regular Visitor
9 years ago

Salesforce Report PowerBI Web Update Salesforce Report

Hi 
If I have a Salesforce Report as daaset and I change the report in salesforce (for example add a column) The dataset no longer refreshes.  I'd like to either refresh the report/dataset, or pont the PowerBI report to the new dataset.  How would one do this?  I have googled and read posts on this forum.  It looks like every time you make a change to the Salesforce report, you have to reconnect tot the data.  Then completely rebuild the report in PowerBI.  Am I missing something?

Need Help

4 Replies

  • v-sihou-msft's avatar
    v-sihou-msft
    Microsoft Employee
    8 years ago

    Smintee

     

    Since SalesForce is a cloud source, when you open live connection to this source, we can't manually refresh the dataset on demand. We can only configure the schedule cache refresh with smaller interval. 

     

     

    For more details, please refer to: Data refresh in Power BI

     

    Another workaround is including an on-premise data source in your report. Then you can install a personal gateway to refresh the entire dataset. 

     

    Regards,

    • Smintee's avatar
      Smintee
      Regular Visitor
      8 years ago

      Hi Simon

      I think you are misunderstanding my problem.  If I connect to a report, it refreshes on demand, as well as scheduled.

      That is not the problem.

       

      If I add a new column to the salesforce report, it does not update to my PowerBI datasource, also, the dataset no longer refreshes on demand or on schedule.  It shows the triangle with the ! in the middle next to it, indicating an error.

      The only way I found to remedy this is to connect a new dataset to the changed report.

      Problem is that then the dashboard/s and report/s cannot be pointed to the new connection?!

      The reports and dashboards need to be rebuilt from scratch, using the new dataset as reference.

       

      I'd like to update the dataset and keep using the existing dashboards and reports

      • ReportMaster's avatar
        ReportMaster
        Post Partisan
        2 years ago

        Hi Smintee were you able to find a solution? As a workaround, maybe you can try to test your connection with a 3rd party connector, which pulls data directly from the SF objects API. I've tried windsor.ai, supermetrics and funnel.io. I stayed with windsor because it is much cheaper so just to let you know other options. In case you wonder, to make the connection first search for the Salesforce connector in the data sources list:

         

         

        After that, just grant access to your Salesforce account using your credentials, then on preview and destination page you will see a preview of your Salesforce fields:

         

         

         There just select the fields you need. It is also compatible with custom fields and custom objects, so you'll be able to export them through windsor.  Finally, just select PBI as your data destination and finally just copy and paste the url on PBI --> Get Data --> Web --> Paste the url. 

         

  • metrica's avatar
    metrica
    Post Prodigy
    24 days ago

    Hi Smintee 

     

    Adding or removing report columns changes the source schema and can break the existing Power BI dataset.

     

    Power BI Connector for Salesforce can build the source from the underlying objects and fields instead, reducing dependency on the Salesforce report layout.

     

    AppExchange and 30-day trial:
    https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=31526f0e-abd8-4cb5-bd1a-3bd56b5c0577

     

    Docs and support:
    https://metricasoftware.com/docs/salesforce/
    https://metricasoftware.com/docs/salesforce/contact-support/

     

    Cheers,
    Metrica Team