Incremental refresh with SAP BW datasource

[nilimarodrigues]

Hi All,

I am trying to implement "Incremental Refresh" approach for Power BI dashboard based on SAP BW data source.

Our SAP BW system is based on a Non-HANA database. 

I applied the steps given below:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-premium-incremental-refresh#query-folding

however it looks like, for SAP BW, Query folding option is not available. Based on the reference link given above, its recommented not to use "Incremental Refresh" when query folding is not applicable.

Note that I have no custom columns or formulas added in my datasource but still I am seeing the above warning while setting up Incremental Refresh.

Has someone tried to perform "incremental refresh" with SAP BW as datasource? What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

[mahesh_powerbi]

I tried implementing incremental refresh manually using following steps.

1. Import data till yesterday in Master Table. Disable its "load"
2. Extract last_date from Master Table (in my case, it is yesterday's date) as a query.

3. Use last_date query to import data till today in a New Table
4. Append New Table to Master Table -> This where it throws Circular expression error

Creating reference to Master Table and appending New Table to it removes the error. However, it doesn't update the last_date query. 
Any help is highly appreciated. Thanks!
@GilbertQ @v-xuding-msft @luisDamyller @pacofq @nilimarodrigues 

[mahesh_powerbi]

Hi all,

@nilimarodrigues @v-xuding-msft ,

I am facing the same trouble. Request you all to share if a valid solution is available.

Thank you,

Mahesh

[luisDamyller]

i'm with the same problem...

[pacofq]

I have the exact same problem. Even though query folding seems enabled on my Bex BW query in PowerQuery, it seems that the incremental doesnt work because of the text data type on date fields from BW.

[v-xuding-msft]

Hi @nilimarodrigues ,

Based on the thread, it seems it is actually possible to use incremental refresh for SAP BW. 

The blog suggested by the user:

Tips & Best Practices when using SAP BW and SAP HANA Connectors in Power BI  

Best Regards,

Xue Ding

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

[nilimarodrigues]

Hi @v-xuding-msft ,

As I mentioned in my original post, not having "Query Folding" on dataset is a problem for me.

I tried to create one more test dataset based on SAP BW. Simply drag three fields - Posting Date, Amount and Currency Type.

Now in SAP BW, posting date is of type "DATE" format but when the data is imported it comes up as "TEXT" format. The moment, I change the type from "TEXT" to "DATE", query folding is simply gone for my SAP BW based dataset.

Incremental refresh ONLY works for date or date/time based fields as well as when "Query Folding" is possible.

How am I supposed to achieve "Incremental refresh" when meeting both of these requirements is conflicting with each other?

Thanks,

Nilima

[v-xuding-msft]

Hi @nilimarodrigues ,

After researching, I find that many users encounter the problem of Query Folding broken when change data type from TEXT to DATE. I don't know if it is by design or it is a issue. I think you could create a support ticket to get an exact answer and get help about incremental refresh with SAP BW.

Best Regards,

Xue Ding

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

[GilbertQ]

Hi there

What I would suggest is to make sure you do not use a custom query to query the data from your source.

You would need to get the data via the navigation. This would then allow it to Query fold back to the source database?

[nilimarodrigues]

Hi @GilbertQ 

My dataset is not based on a custom query. I am simply utilising Power BI's SAP BW connector to connect to a BEx query. My dataset doesnt have a custom column or formula at all.

Thanks.

[GilbertQ]

Hi there

And you can confirm that it has got the configuration correctly done for the table to be used?

[nilimarodrigues]

Is there any document that talks about what configurations are required?

I am not sure if there is a way I can check or enable query folding for my BW based dataset.

[GilbertQ]

It could be that currently the BW dataset is not supported for incremental refreshing?

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/service-premium-incremental-refresh#limitations