Schema refresh in the service

[com]

I have a semantic model that pulls data from a PostgreSQL database. Sometimes, I change table schema, i. e. add (or remove) a column. So, I need a schema refresh for these tables in my semantic model. I understand that this doesn't happen with a refresh in the service and is not available according to the documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/refresh-data

However, is there a way to refresh the schema (of a single table) in the service with e. g. the PBI Rest APIs or tabular editor? I used tabular a few times to (data) refresh a a single table like described here: Data Refresh in Tabular Editor (elegantbi.com)

And if not, my only option is to refresh the schema with PBI desktop und republish the model? Should I submit a request to https://ideas.fabric.microsoft.com?

[v-xuxinyi-msft]

Hi @com 

After my testing, the PowerBi service does not support table mode refresh now. Currently it can only be refreshed via desktop and then republished. I think your idea makes sense and you can submit an idea for it at: Home (microsoft.com) and wait for users with the same needs as you to vote for you to help make it happen as soon as possible.

Hopefully this will be possible in a future release.

Best Regards,
Yulia Xu

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[lbendlin]

@v-xuxinyi-msft Yulia, I unmarked your post as it is clearly not the solution.

[lbendlin]

ALM Toolkit is the tool that's mostly used in such scenarios.  You can also run your XMLA scripts manually.

[com]

Could you elaborate on how that would be done? Let's say I have a table in my database and load it into PBI (import mode) without doing any transformation. Then I add a column to the database table. Now this column won't be loaded if I do a refresh in the service (only with PBI desktop). What exactly can I do now without using PBI desktop?

[lbendlin · Accepted solution]

- refresh the Power BI Desktop with the new column. Don't publish.

- use ALM toolkit to connect to both the local and service semantic models

- push the meta data change without refresh

- use the XMLA endpoint to selectively refresh the affected partitions.