Forum Discussion
onedrive refreshWITHOUT gateway
Burningsuit Your rule of thumb info is helpful. I am wondering about Cloud Based Data: if you do your modeling in Desktop - and so have imported data sets into desktop to work with and make your reports......
and then move it up to PBI Service for Dashboards
does one reset those data connections to be direct between PBI Service and Cloud Based Data - - - or must the linking always be a 2-step process of Cloud connected to Desktop and then moved up to BI Service? - - - or does one need to avoid using Desktop altogether??
CahabaData, would that it were that simple. You'll need to use Desktop (or excel) to create a Data model. This may contain data from Cloud-based and on-premise files. That then is published to Power BI service. If you've only used Cloud based data, refresh is (relatively) easy and won't need a gateway. If you've used any on-premise data you'll need a gateway to refresh that data.
However if you connect to data through Get Data in power BI service, and choose a Service, that will connect to the cloud-based service and set up the data model for you along with the refresh. So you don't need desktop here.
I guess that if you only ever want to access cloud based data as provided in Services, you can do without Power BI desktop, but if you want to access on-premise data, you'll need to use Desktop.
Stuart
One more related question: Do you feel BI Service can model the Cloud Based Data as robustly as Desktop? Maybe that question is too open ended and relative - let's try it again:
Right now I don't think of the need to use Desktop as being due to the type data source but rather due to a need for more elaborate data modeling (Query Editory) regardless of the data source. Or to say this another way - that Service doesn't offer as comprehensive modeling. Is that much true?
So IF it a Cloud Based Data source and IF one must use Desktop to get the modeling right in order to produce the Visualizations - then it still is a little unclear to me once you move the PBI Report up to Service - - how does that refresh get automated.....
Like you i believe Desktop is needed only to do advanced modeling and to save time by accessing "local" files stored on Onedrive or elsewhere.
As to the refresh, it is true that it works well in all cases once a gateway is installed, but i would like to avaoid it since i am only using Excel files and i am still struggling to make it work.
jmdh
When you say "If you've used any on-premise data you'll need a gateway to refresh that data" do you include Excel files stored on OneDrive for business?
If so your information contradict what i understand from others and from what i read here:
Question: What if my Excel workbook just has rows of data I typed in?**
Answer: A gateway is not required. You only need to install and configure a gateway if your workbook uses Power Query or Power Pivot to query and load data to the data model from a supported on-premises data source
From <https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-personal-gateway/>
jmdh A couple things:
You are correct, if the Excel file is stand alone in the One Drive it does not need a gateway, because you aren't refreshing any data in the file from an on premises source.
To your previous post:
When you reference the Excel file in the One Drive location you need to use the external facing link. Details here
Thank a lot: this is the first time that i can have a refresh working without a gateway as it should.
The link you sent was very useful since i had tried using a Onedrive link before as a source of data , but without success, when with your link it was a pleasure.
So i am left with : can automatic refreshes work when i use the same data file in PowerBI Desktop , but i access it with Get Data Excel insteadof Get Data Web (that has never worked for me)
