Tabular

  • Automate Power BI single table refresh using Azure Synapse Analytics and Power BI APIs

    In a blog I posted back in June 2022, I explained how you could trigger a Power BI dataset refresh via Azure Synapse Analytics. https://www.purplefrogsystems.com/2022/06/how-to-trigger-a-power-bi-dataset-refresh-via-azure-synapse-analytics-in-3-simple-steps/ However, what if you just wanted to refresh a select number of tables or objects rather than a full dataset? This might be the case if you are performing intraday loads in your ETL. There…

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  • Tabular Cube Processing Report

    I have created a Power BI report which provides detail on the state of processing in a Tabular Cube.The report uses the cube’s dynamic management views to provide information about the cube’s partitions. To use the tabular cube processing report, you need to insert the following information: Server Database (Cube Name) Once entered and assuming the connection is fine you need to accept some native queries. These statements are select…

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  • SSAS Tabular Calculation Groups – avoid using SELECTEDMEASURE or ISSELECTEDMEASURE

    Introduction: There is a very serious limitation in the behaviour of calculation groups when using the SELECTEDMEASURE or ISSELECTEDMEASURE functions, and we recommend not using them. Why? If a user creates their own custom calculations within their Power BI report (or composite model) then the value of SELECTEDMEASURE changes, breaking your calculation group logic. Let me explain with an example: In a tabular cube we may look to use calculation…

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  • Cube deployment error: Cannot resolve all paths while de-serializing Database

    I recently came across the following error while deploying a tabular cube using the Analysis Services Deployment Wizard: My updates for this deployment included removing a table from the cube. As part of the cube deployment options I chose to “Retain roles and members”. However the issue here was that an existing role was referencing the table I had deleted, for example the below image shows the Role Manager in Visual Studio and…

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  • SSAS Tabular String Imported as Integer

    Let me start by saying that I think the SSAS Tabular model is great. But…. there are a number of problems that Microsoft still need to get ironed out. Not least of which is being able to import data properly directly from CSV/Text files. Yes you can import directly from csv, but you are given absolutely no control over the process, and this can lead to some serious problems. One of these issues is the rather odd automated data type…

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  • Analysis Services Tabular or Multidimensional? A performance comparison

    Can SSAS Multidimensional be faster than SSAS Tabular for distinct counts on large datasets? We’ve all seen how fast the SSAS Tabular model can work – it’s an in-memory, heavily compressed analytics database. However you may have seen my previous posts on Tabular and NUMA, which show that at the moment Tabular is limited to a single CPU. This obviously limits its scalability and maximum performance. The situation A large…

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