"Composite models on Power BI Datasets and Analysis Services models" refresh issue

[Sergiy]

The feature "Composite models on Power BI Datasets and Analysis Services models" is general available.

Since the announcement of the feature preview the models with calculated tables connected to external Power BI datasets could not be refreshed in Power BI service.
Two years have passed. The feature is GA. But it seems the limitation has not been lifted, has it?

The setup is as follows:
1. For a test I created a new Pro workspace.
2. I created a data model in Power BI Desktop and saved in as Main.pbix. Published this file to the service.
3. Then I created Remote.pbix file that had a connection to Main.pbix
4. In Remote.pbix I created a simple calculated table that referenced the Main.pbix data model. Here is its code:

Portfolios_Calculated = 
SELECTCOLUMNS(
    Portfolios, 
    "Id", Portfolios[Id], 
    "Name", Portfolios[Name]
)

5. Then I published Remote.pbix to the service and tried to refresh.

The refresh operation failed with the error: "Refresh is not supported for datasets with a calculated table or calculated column that depends on a table which references Analysis Services using DirectQuery."

What I'd like to know is it a transient issue that will be resolved in a couple of days or is it the expected behaviour?
If i did something wrong during my testing what could that be?

[v-yueyunzh-msft]

Hi , @Sergiy 

According to your description, when you connect to a dataset and create a calculated table . That can not be refreshed in Power BI  Service.

According to the search, Power BI Service does not currently support this feature.

The following limitations apply when working with DirectQuery for Power BI datasets and Analysis Services:

• Calculated tables aren't supported in the Service using this feature. Attempting to perform a refresh on a dataset with a calculated table or a calculated column that references a DirectQuery data source will result in a "Single sign-on (SSO) credential isn't provided" error message.

And this requirement has also been raised in Power BI Ideas, for this limitation , you can refer to this:
Use composite models in Power BI Desktop - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Thank you for your time and sharing, and thank you for your support and understanding of PowerBI! 

Best Regards,

Aniya Zhang

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

[Sergiy]

Hi, @v-yueyunzh-msft 

Thanks for your reply.

I read the documentation and saw the part that you quoted.

The error message the docs mentions is: "Single sign-on (SSO) credential isn't provided"

The error message that I get is different.

That's why I had doubts.

Two years ago when the preview of this feature was announced there were lot of admiration from the community: "game changer" and so on. It looked promising, indeed. Now the feature is GA, but main limitation that prevents me from using that feature is still not lifted.

What a pity. It really could have been a "game changer".

[v-yueyunzh-msft]

Hi , @Sergiy 

Yes, I think it's a limitation, I tested it with me, and whenever I use calculated Table, refreshing on Power BI Service will immediately report an error. But it works fine on Desktop.
For your question, if you're publishing to Power BI Service, creating a calculated table may not currently be supported, you can try creating a calculated column.

Thank you for your time and sharing, and thank you for your support and understanding of PowerBI! 

Best Regards,

Aniya Zhang

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