If the measures operate in a satisfactory manner, you can define more complex measures, but pay attention to performance. By default, datasets refresh every hour, but you can configure refresh between weekly and every 15 minutes as part of dataset settings. For multidimensional sources like SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW), you select only the source. I'm running an employee KPI report for my company and i'm getting the data via "direct query" from our databse. It's because each step of building a visual will send a query, and whilst it's possible to then make another change before the first query has completed, it still places unnecessary load on the underlying data source. If you determine that DirectQuery is the appropriate design approach, we recommend that you engage the right people on the project. You can switch off such totals by using the Format pane. A DirectQuery model can be optimized in many ways, as described in the following bulleted list. You should import data into Power BI wherever possible. However, the implications of combining Import tables with DirectQuery tables are not in scope for this article. For example, rather than dragging in the CountryRegion and Sales measures, and then filtering by a particular year, apply the filter on the Year field first. The Power BI Desktop Performance analyzer is a useful tool for identifying issues. For SQL Server, Azure SQL Database or Azure Synapse Analytics (formerly SQL Data Warehouse) sources, see SQL Server Index Architecture and Design Guide for helpful information on index design guidance. For DirectQuery SQL-based sources, Performance Analyzer shows queries only for SQL Server, Oracle, and Teradata data sources. You can more easily identify and diagnose these issues in the isolated Power BI Desktop environment, without involving components like an on-premises gateway. If you can identify a single sluggish visual on a page in Power BI Desktop, you can use Performance Analyzer to determine what queries Power BI Desktop sends to the underlying source. As you create or interact with a visualization, Power BI Desktop uses the imported data. It can also involve data architects, and data warehouse and ETL developers. An Introduction to Prehistoric England (Before AD 43) Prehistory is the time before written records. Como Funciona ; Percorrer Trabalhos ; This step results in a query that is not supported in directquery mode . Using bidirectional cross filtering can lead to query statements that don't perform well. Managing this feature Once you publish a report to the Power BI service, the maximum number of concurrent queries also depends on fixed limits set on the target environment where the report is published. To access these options in Power BI Desktop, go to File > Options and settings > Options and select Query reduction. Increasing this limit does result in more load on the underlying data source, so the setting isn't guaranteed to improve overall performance. If that query is complex, it might result in performance issues on every query sent. All DirectQuery data sources are supported from Power BI Desktop, and some sources are also available directly from within the Power BI service. If the column has meaning, introduce a calculated column that's visible and that has a simple expression of being equal to the primary key, for example: Examine all calculated columns and data type changes. You can use your current Windows credentials or database credentials. Each user who opens a shared report, and each dashboard tile that refreshes, sends at least one query per visual to the underlying source. When report users understand why performance degradation happens, they are less likely to lose trust in the reports and data. Reporting on longer texts results in an error. Defining column formatting, default summarization, and sort order. The limit can also occur while building a visual, on the path to a more reasonable final state. Using DirectQuery means that opening or refreshing a report or dashboard always shows the latest data in the source. On the contrary, our method has the best evaluation results on the four sub-datasets, especially the two datasets FD002 . The log might support other DirectQuery sources in the future. Try to isolate any issues to one visual, rather than many visuals on a page. This article targets data modelers developing Power BI DirectQuery models, developed by using either Power BI Desktop or the Power BI service. SQL Server Profiler displays all events from the current session. A filter that is applied from a data source to a table from another DirectQuery source can only be set on a single column. Power Query Editor defines the exact subselect queries. The great news is: you can use Composite models in Power BI. Publishing the report to the Power BI service as a .pbix file creates and uploads a dataset that includes the imported data. If the slowness of the source causes individual visuals to take longer than tens of seconds to refresh, the experience becomes unreasonably poor. A Composite model will consist of at least one DirectQuery source, and possibly more. In simple words, this means that you can combine DQ and Import mode within your data model, setting the preferred option for every single table! However, that dataset includes no data. You should use DirectQuery only for sources that can provide interactive query performance. https://www.gigxp.com/power-bi-import-vs-direct-query/, https://www.pbiusergroup.com/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?MessageKey=db1475c8-5c72-48b4-89c3-08d7b2bdaa0c&CommunityKey=b35c8468-2fd8-4e1a-8429-322c39fe7110&tab=digestviewer. This pattern restricts using query statements that use Common Table Expressions (CTEs) and stored procedures. To guarantee this consistency would require the overhead of refreshing all visuals whenever any visual refreshed, along with using costly features like snapshot isolation in the underlying data source. Specifically, focused on manufacturing, product, or technology companies. Instead, when you build a visual, Power BI Desktop sends queries to the underlying data source to retrieve the necessary data. Depending on the cardinality of the column involved, it can lead to performance issues (or query failures due to the 1 million-row limit). Regardless of improvements, the performance of the underlying data source is a major consideration when using DirectQuery. You can more easily identify and diagnose issues in the more isolated Power BI Desktop environment. Inside the workspace folder for the current Power BI session, the \Data folder contains the FlightRecorderCurrent.trc trace file. The following columns are also of interest: To capture a trace to help diagnose a potential performance issue: Open a single Power BI Desktop session, to avoid the confusion of multiple workspace folders. DirectQuery is feasible only when the underlying data source can provide interactive query results in less than five seconds for a typical aggregate query, and can handle the generated query load. Please advise. I followed all of the steps in this video . To open the trace file for the current session: During a Power BI Desktop session, select File > Options and settings > Options, and then select Diagnostics. You need to reimport to refresh the data. (It is usually the primary key column of dimension-type tables.) This limit is intended to prevent issues caused by overly long execution times. Limitations and implications of using DirectQuery. In particular, it's not possible to use a query with common table expressions, nor one that invokes stored procedures. Data sources like SQL Server optimize away the references to the other columns. Such traces can contain useful information about the details of how the query executed, and how to improve it. Feb 2020 - Feb 20233 years 1 month. If your using another connector that supports folding (e.g. The following DirectQuery data sources write all the queries that Power BI sends them to the trace file. You can also view traces and diagnostic information that some underlying data sources emit. The article also describes how to get detailed information to help you optimize reports. Any transformations must be applied on every query to the underlying source, rather than once on data refresh. For relational sources, you can still select a set of tables that define a query that logically returns a set of data. For a summary of the sources that support DirectQuery, see Data sources supported by DirectQuery. For an introduction, refer to the DirectQuery models in Power BI Desktop article. It's still best to hide such columns. No Data Tab in DirectQuery Mode Immediately after you publish a DirectQuery report, you must configure the credentials of the user to use. When delivering reports on volatile data sources, be sure to educate report users on the use of the Refresh button. This approach again sends two queries to the underlying source. There is one exception to this guidance, and it concerns the use of the COMBINEVALUES DAX function. Multi-select slicers: By default, slicers only allow making a single selection. The time it takes to refresh the visual depends on the performance of the underlying data source. Often the columns on which relationships are based are actually system columns, for example surrogate keys in a data warehouse. One or more pairs of DirectQuery Begin and DirectQuery End events, which represent queries sent to the underlying data source as part of evaluating the DAX query. By applying filters early, it generally makes those intermediate queries less costly and faster. For more information about DirectQuery, check out the following resources: Questions? The following data sources send queries to the log: You can read the trace files by using the SQL Server Profiler, part of the free download SQL Server Management Studio. You can use the ActivityID value to determine which events belong to the same group. For example, if you select 1999 on the pie chart, the column chart is cross-highlighted to show the sales by category for 1999. Table 3 1 Throwable s Constructors and Methods Method Description Throwable. It is important to understand that DirectQuery models impose a different workload on the Power BI environment (Power BI service or Power BI Report Server) and also on the underlying data sources. To avoid this, try adding the custom column in power query instead (the query editor). It can be helpful for them to understand the general data architecture, including any relevant limitations described in this article. I have used the same queries previously and it was all good. Renaming and hiding columns and measures. How to diagnose DirectQuery performance issues. You can set the maximum number of connections DirectQuery opens for each underlying data source, which controls the number of queries concurrently sent to each data source. The data load dialog in this connection mode will be much faster because there is no process of loading data into the memory. With DirectQuery such table cannot be built, and as a result, the built-in hierarchy doesnt work in DirectQuery. Power BI import and DirectQuery capabilities evolve over time. If you don't find the performance issues in Power BI Desktop, you can focus your investigation on the specifics of the report in the Power BI service. If there's a Date table available in the underlying source, as is common in many data warehouses, you can use the Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) time-intelligence functions as usual. However, best optimization results are often achieved by applying optimizations to the source database. Well, the answer is easy: All tables connected to both Sales Agg (our aggregation table, which is Import), and FactInternetSales (our big fact table, which is DirectQuery), should be set to storage mode of Dual. DirectQuery limits the data transformations you can apply within Power Query Editor. To connect to a data source with DirectQuery: In the Home group of the Power BI Desktop ribbon, select Get data, and then select a data source that DirectQuery supports, such as SQL Server. To do so, in Power BI Desktop go to File > Options and settings > Options, and in the Preview features section, select the DirectQuery for Power BI datasets and Analysis Services checkbox to enable this preview feature. Preferably, the RelativeYear column is materialized in the date table. The functions vary depending upon the exact capabilities of the source. These capabilities aren't necessarily harmful, but they result in queries that contain expressions rather than simple references to columns. Table 6 and Fig. Given that more than one query might be required for a single visual, for example, to obtain the details and the totals, even consistency within a single visual isn't guaranteed. It applies whenever using Count Distinct or Median aggregates, and in all cases when using DirectQuery over SAP HANA or SAP Business Warehouse. TopN filters: You can define advanced filters to filter on only the top or bottom N values ranked by some measure. For example, to retrieve to the sales orders that were created in the last year (relative to today's date). In publishing and sharing reports that have imported data, you must be careful to share only with users allowed to see the data, or you must define row-level security as part of the dataset. Instead, add materialized columns in the relational database source, and consider indexing them. Open SQL Server Profiler and examine the trace. There can be a large multiplier effect. I doubt it was caused by Desktop versionMaybe you could check the whole M query in Advanced Editor to find out if there are steps that are not supported in DQ mode. For example, if you import a table of sales orders that includes a column OrderDate, and you use OrderDate in a visual, you can choose the appropriate date level to use, such as year, month, or day. DAX Studio, VertiPaq analyzer, chained datasets, composite models, DirectQuery, query folding, dynamic RLS. The relationship columns contain product SKU (Stock-Keeping Unit) values. For more information, see Overview of single sign-on (SSO) for gateways in Power BI. Tiles that are based on DirectQuery datasets refresh automatically by sending queries to the underlying data sources on a schedule. You don't always have to import full detailed data. Is there some other way to see data, including my custom column? A timeout of four minutes applies to individual queries in the Power BI service. You can also download the PDF DirectQuery in SQL Server 2016 Analysis Services. If tables or columns are removed from the underlying source, it might result in query failure upon refresh. When you create a report that uses a DirectQuery connection, follow this guidance: Consider using query reduction options: Power BI provides report options to send fewer queries, and to disable certain interactions that cause a poor experience if the resulting queries take a long time to run. This approach makes it easier to interpret the trace file. This section provides high-level guidance on how to successfully use DirectQuery, given its implications. It's possible to define relative date filtering in Power Query Editor. When you connect to an online analytical processing (OLAP) source like SAP BW, you can't define any transformations, and the entire external model is taken from the source. Computed columns can be persisted (materialized) and, like regular columns, sometimes they can be indexed. To change the maximum number for the current file in Power BI Desktop, go to File > Options and Settings > Options, and select DirectQuery in the Current File section of the left pane. DirectQuery opens a default maximum number of 10 concurrent connections. For example, when you use import to connect to SQL Server Analysis Services, you define a query against the external SQL Server Analysis Services source, and import the data. When reviewing the data model for Tailwind Traders, you see that the query connected Power BI Desktop to the source data using DirectQuery. This workaround is reasonable for imported data, but for DirectQuery it results in a join on an expression. Dashboard tiles automatically refresh on a schedule, such as every hour. Make a note of the location. Gateway performance For information about troubleshooting gateway performance, see Troubleshoot gateways - Power BI. The email address field is formatted as Email Address in the table. . Include a few more actions, to ensure that the events of interest flush into the trace file. Creating a table in DirectQuery Mode The first thing is to ensure that my table is in DirectQuery mode is to follow the steps below. Recommendations for successfully using DirectQuery. If you can't meet your goals by importing data, for example if the data changes frequently and reports must reflect the latest data, consider using DirectQuery. Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support. Increasing the Maximum Connections per Data Source value ensures more queries (up to the maximum number specified) can be sent to the underlying data source, which is useful when numerous visuals are on a single page, or many users access a report at the same time. For example, including Customer and TotalSalesQuantity could hit this limit if there are more than 1 million customers, until you apply some filter. Under Crash Dump Collection, select Open crash dump/traces folder. If you connect live, you don't define a query, and the entire external model shows in the field list. You can split a complex operation into smaller steps by storing a number, a string, or a table into a variable. Validate that simple visuals refresh within five seconds, to provide a reasonable interactive experience. Even without traces from the source, you can view the queries Power BI sent, along with their execution times. The Power BI store ensures the query is fast, and that all changes to the visual reflect immediately. Different visuals, whether on the same page or on different pages, might be refreshed at different times. Avoid relationships on calculated columns. There's also a limit on the size of the trace file, so for long sessions, there's a chance of early events dropping. Therefore, it's best to limit the number of visuals on a single page, and instead have more, simpler pages. The source is a multidimensional source containing measures, such as SAP BW. DirectQuery requires no large transfer of data, because it queries data in place. To ensure the filter is applied based on the date at the time the report runs, apply the date filter in the report. Index creation generally means using column store indexes in sources that support them, for example SQL Server. You can use the Query reduction settings to disable cross-highlighting throughout your report, or on a case-by-case basis. The refresh of a visual is instantaneous if the exact same results were recently obtained. Cross-filtering two tables in a DirectQuery source by filtering them with a table outside of the source is a bad design and is not supported. The data remains in SQL Server. Each step of building a visual sends a query. The following sections list general implications of using DirectQuery, and limitations related to performance, security, transformations, modeling, and reporting. For more information, see How visuals cross-filter each other in a Power BI report. The following columns are also of interest: The preceding image narrows some of the less interesting columns, so you can see the more interesting columns more easily. Power BI, Power BI Premium, and Power BI Report Server impose different limits. Keep measures simple. This article primarily discusses DirectQuery capabilities. If you use row-level security, each tile requires separate queries per user to be sent to the underlying source. You can control refresh frequency depending on how frequently the data changes and the importance of seeing the latest data. Could you tell me if your problem has been solved? Prehistory stretches from then until the Roman invasion in AD 43. Note: When you switch from Import Mode to Direct Query Mode, you will not be able to switch back to Direct Query mode. If queries are slow, examine the queries sent to the underlying source, and the reason for the slow performance. It increases the time taken to refresh the entire page, and it also increases the chance that visuals may display inconsistent results (for volatile data sources). Launch PBD and navigate to File -> Options and Settings -> Preview features. You can use calculated tables when you use DirectQuery with composite models. You should start any diagnosis of performance issues in Power BI Desktop, rather than in the Power BI service or Power BI Report Server. It is important to educate your users on how to efficiently work with reports based on DirectQuery datasets. I'm investing myself into four major focuses:<br><br>(1) As a data, product, and strategy expert. It's still necessary to refresh. These columns are based on an expression, like Quantity multiplied by UnitPrice. You can edit those queries before loading the data, for example to apply filters, aggregate the data, or join different tables. For example, assume you have the following TPC-DS tables in a SQL Server relational database: In the Power BI visual, the following expression defines the SalesAmount measure: Refreshing the visual produces the T-SQL query in the following image. Simple files in Excel, JSON, and other formats. Create the appropriate indexes. Moving to a new page refreshes those visuals. This data presents issues for solutions based on data import. Almost all reporting capabilities are supported for DirectQuery models. Depending on the location of the original data source, it might be necessary to configure an on-premises data gateway for the refresh. The following screenshot highlights a group of events for a query. There are many functional and performance enhancements that can be achieved by converting a DirectQuery model to a Composite model. You can preview a representation of the actual SQL query statement for a Power Query applied step, by selecting the View Native Query option. Power BI Desktop resends the necessary queries for each visual, and updates the visual as necessary. Even for import mode, there's a similar problem of maintaining consistency when you import data from more than one table. This guidance generally improves query performance, although it depends on the specifics of the data source. Concatenating the country/region and city with a hyphen separator could achieve this result. Also, further actions in Power BI Desktop don't immediately appear. Open a text editor of your choice (like Notepad). For SQL Server or Azure SQL Database sources, see Create Indexed Views. The report pages are taking too long to load, and the tables aren't updating rapidly enough when changes are made. Performance Analyzer is a useful tool for identifying performance issues throughout the troubleshooting process. Similarly, creating or editing a report requires queries to be sent for each step on the path to produce the final visual. Selections on the Query reduction screen let you show an Apply button for slicers or filter selections. For long sessions, there's a chance of early events being dropped. Remove milliseconds data from your source columns. Let them know also that it may be possible to see inconsistent results, and that a refresh of the report can resolve any inconsistencies on the report page. However, the first query will return all categories from the underlying source, and then the top N are determined based on the returned results. The earliest known humans arrived in these lands around 900,000 years ago. I'm running an employee KPI report for my company and i'm getting the data via "direct query" from our databse. After you download and install SQL Server Management Studio, open SQL Server Profiler. As long as the underlying source offers a suitable level of performance, you can use the same set of visualizations as for imported data. Once the maximum number of connections is reached, further queries are queued until a connection becomes available. These folders are named with an integer suffix, such as AnalysisServicesWorkspace2058279583. This approach causes two queries to be sent to the underlying source: This approach generally works well if there are hundreds or thousands of categories, as in this example. The following screenshot highlights a group of events for a query. These filters can result in degraded performance for some data sources. The subfolder names have integer suffixes, such as AnalysisServicesWorkspace2058279583. For these reasons, it's recommended to limit the number of visuals on any page, and instead have more simpler pages. TopN filters: Advanced filters can be defined to filter on only the top (or bottom) N values ranked by a measure. For example, live connections always pass the identity of the user opening the report to the underlying SQL Server Analysis Services source. Once you provide the user credentials, Power BI uses those credentials for whoever opens the report, the same as for imported data. You can switch a model from DirectQuery mode to import mode if you import all the necessary data. When you import data, Power BI connects to the data source by using the current user's Power BI Desktop credentials, or the credentials configured for scheduled refresh from the Power BI service. Cross-filtering two tables in a DirectQuery source by filtering them with a table outside of the source is a bad design and is not supported. If it is, kindly Accept it as the solution. Navigate to the parent folder and then to the AnalysisServicesWorkspaces folder, which contains one workspace folder for every open instance of Power BI Desktop. It's possible to disable cross-highlighting and cross-filtering by default, though it can be overridden by editing interactions. Click on the bottom query while holding down the Shift key; this will select all questions. There is no gateway error for DirectQuery to Power BI dataset To solve this error, go to the setting of the dataset. Connecting to Power BI datasets and Analysis Services in DirectQuery mode always uses SSO, so the security is similar to live connections to Analysis Services. Until you configure the credentials, trying to open the report in the Power BI service results in an error. As the number of visuals increases, some visuals refresh serially, which increases the time it takes to refresh the page. However, it's not true for Median, as this aggregate is not supported by the underlying source. However, some modeling capabilities aren't available or are limited with DirectQuery. There's no restriction on how frequently the data can be refreshed. No data is imported, and the underlying data source is queried to refresh visuals. To support the known time-based filters in your organization, create a table in the source database, and ensure it is loaded with a range of dates encompassing the fact table dates. 1) Sales Must be Refreshed in Near real time so "Direct Query" 2) Sales Aggregate is once per week so "Import" (performance also required) 3) Both Date and Customer has relationship with both Sales and SalesAggregate tables so "Dual" because to support performance for DirectQuery (Sales) and Import (SalesAggregate) You have a project management The query fails if there are more than a million categories. A lot of the problem has to due with, while the query by itself might fold, the additional dax queries on top of it might not. Performance issues or query failures can arise if the cardinality is large because of the one-million row limit. Performance can degrade, however, if the number of categories is much larger (and indeed, the query will fail if there are more than 1 million categories meeting the condition, due to the 1 million-row limit discussed above). Unless the underlying data source uses SSO, a DirectQuery report always uses the same fixed credentials to connect to the source once it's published to the Power BI service. The trace file is in the Power BI Desktop folder for the current user, in a folder called AnalysisServicesWorkspaces. If your using SQL try right clicking a step and see if "View native query" is not grayed out then it is folding just fine. This section describes how to diagnose performance issues, or how to get more detailed information to optimize your reports. Often, optimizations need to be applied directly to the data source to achieve good performance results. At least initially, limit measures to simple aggregates.