Desktop vs Service and data refresh from source files in OneDrive for Business

[Anonymous]

I use Power BI desktop to create my reports. I have a Power BI Pro subscription. I have the data gateway running on my server.

I store all of my source data in OneDrive for Business (and the PBIX files, too, for that matter). My source files are a mixture of CSV, Excel, and MDB database files.

When the report is done, I publish it up to the service and then publish them to the web as needed.

I'm having trouble getting the reports to refresh based on updated data as I expected. I export new up-to-date source data files and overwrite the existing files in the OneDrive for Business (OneDriveFB) folders.

I'm using OneDrivFB explicitely because it supports better data refresh options, but I don't seem to be getting those benefits. Per this doc: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-refresh-data/#local-files-and-files-on-one...

I suspect it's because I'm using PowerBI Desktop > Get Data > File to navigate to the file I want and bring the data into the report and Power BI Desktop treats it like any other file source without recognizing that its in OneDriveFB.

In order for the sweet frequent refreshes to work with OneDriveFB, do I have to create my reports in the Power BI Service and use Get Data > File > OneDrive for Business as shown in this doc? https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/guided-learning/powerbi-learning-5-4-connect-onedrive-for-busine...

In looking at my options in the Schedule Refresh settings, I see signs of this issue but am not sure what to do about. See screenshots:

I guess, at the end of the day, my question really is: What is my workflow supposed to be to enable the best options for frequent data freshes using .CSV, Excel, and MDB files? Do I need to be creating creates online using the Power BI Service, or can I still use PowerBI Desktop?

As you can probably tell, the whole Power Bi Desktop/Service issue has been extremely confusing and frustrating for me.

I also just found this link which is very much on subject but I still haven't gotten a clear answer from it: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-refresh-desktop-file-onedrive/