Publishing report built on DQ to AS still creates a new PBI dataset

[RMDNA]

Hi all, quick question here:

I built a report off an existing Power BI dataset via DirectQuery. The only datasource shows as "DirectQuery to AS - Power BI Dataset", so I know I haven't created any new tables. When I publish it to the PBI Service, however, it still generates a new dataset. I was under the impression that it would just reference the one it was built with - part of why we went this route was to cut down on the number of datasets in our workspaces. Thoughts?

[collinq]

Hi @RMDNA ,

I think this is working as expected.  I based that on this comment "When you're connected live to an Analysis Services source, there's no local model. To use DirectQuery for live connected sources, such as Power BI datasets and Analysis Services, you must add a local model to your report. When you publish a report with a local model to the Power BI service, a dataset for that local model is published a well."  (From this link: Using DirectQuery for datasets and Analysis Services (preview) - Power BI | Microsoft Docs)

I think that if you are trying to minimize the number of datasets then the way to go is to use a dataflow.  A dataflow will do the heavy lifting and then the local file's dataset merely points to the dataflow.