report refresh not working for SharePoint Online data source

[mr_wizard]

I have a report created in Power BI Desktop that sources from a SharePoint Online list.  I successfully published it to the Power BI service and have set up a refresh schedule for it.  The refresh history indicates that it successfully refreshes, but, from a visual inspection of the report in the service, that appears to not be true.  The data is stale; it's not actually refreshing, despite what is displayed in the refresh history logs.  How can I resolve this?

Moreover, after refreshing the report in Power BI Desktop, re-publishing to the Power BI service, and updating the app, the report looks refreshed.  However, when I log out of the Power BI service and log back in, the report appears to not be refreshed again.  This is really weird.  It's like the report keeps reverting back to its original state of data.  Is this a known bug?

[whatifMSworked]

Has anyone found a reliable solution to fix this? Would love to update the report I have in PowerBI with the latest data from my sharepoint list, given it seems like such a simple ask and something that this product is advertised as being able to do.

[mr_wizard · Accepted solution]

I figured out the cause of my problem.  I'm helping out a colleague in this report, i.e., it's not mine.  I wasn't aware of a piece of code in it that is dependent on a field that is behaving differently in PBI Service than in PBI Desktkop.  The SPO list that this report sources from contains file attachments.  The report tests for the presence of attachments.  When the list is read in, it pulls the Attachments metadata field from SPO, which is a logical (TRUE/FALSE) data type in SPO.  My colleage didn't explicitly cast it.  So, it gets implicitly cast to a text data type in PBI.  PBI Desktop maps TRUE to True and FALSE to False in that casting.  But, PBI Service maps TRUE to -1 and FALSE to 0 in that casting.  This behavior difference between Desktop and Service was resulting in the report appearing as though it wasn't refreshing.  So, it's not a SPO-PBI problem after all.  Rather, it's a code problem, which resulted from the unexpected behavior difference between Desktop and Service.

[mr_wizard]

I just noticed something very interesting about the refresh not "sticking".  When I refresh in Desktop and re-publish, it automatically triggers a refresh of the dataset.  Prior to the dataset being refreshed, the report looks refreshed.  However, once the dataset is refreshed, the report looks stale.  So, it's like the dataset is pulling in old data somehow, and it's overriding the data in the report.

[GilbertQ]

Hi @mr_wizard 

it should work and show the latest data after you uploaded the dataset.

What happens if you upload the report to a new app workspace and let it refresh does that show the new data?

[FarmingBA]

I have exactly the same issue. My reports will not update unless I perform a manual refresh from the Desktop App and then Publish.

My data source is a SharePoint list. I've created a report in PowerBi desktop and published online. Users update the SharePoint list but the PowerBI report online does not update. I have done three things which have not helped:

• Scheduled refresh (8x a day) - doesn't work
• Created a Power Automate flow which refreshes the data-set everytime the list is edited - doesn't work
• Created a "Power Automate" button on the report which users can click to manually fresh the data-set - doesn't work

Why is it so hard to get the report to update based on what the SharePoint list looks like? At this stage, I'd even take an hourly or even daily update!! Am I doomed to have to refresh the data-set in the desktop app manually and re-publish each time? 

[mr_wizard]

Hi @FarmingBA 

I think my situation is even worse than yours.  When I refresh in Desktop and re-publish, the refresh doesn't "stick".  It seems to work at first, but when I close the window or log out, it reverts back to its original state.

[GilbertQ]

Hi @mr_wizard 

What I would suggest is to try and refresh to default button and then see if that solves the issue? It could be that there is a filter causing the data to appear stale?

This is what the reset to default button looks like

[mr_wizard]

Hi @GilbertQ 

Clicking on that "reset" button doesn't resolve the issue, nor does clicking on the "refresh visuals" button.  I've never seen this happen in a report.

[FarmingBA]

@mr_wizard I have the same experience, alas.