I have a very large dataset. While working in Power BI Desktop, I want to be able to refresh it, and publish it to the Power BI Service, quickly.
So, I created an "EarliestDate" parameter; and I have filtered my large fact tables to include only activity after this date. While working in Desktop, I set the value of "EarliestDate" to, say, one week in the past. Great! Now, my .pbix file is small, and I can refresh and publish it quickly.
Then, after publishing, I can go into the Power BI Service, and change the value of "EarliestDate" to, say 1900-01-01 -- so that it includes ALL my data. Then I refresh the dataset in the Power BI Service, and now my reports show all the data, from all time.
The problem is: later, I make more changes in Power BI Desktop, and publish again. The parameter value from Desktop overwrites the parameter value in the Service! So, every time I publish, I have to go into the Service; and change the parameter value; and refresh the dataset again. (Or, in Desktop, I have to change the parameter value to 1900-01-01; refresh it; and then publish it.)
These extra steps slow me down! In Desktop, I want it to always include just a small subset of the data. In the Service, I want it to always include all of the data. I want the refresh with "all the data" to happen in the Service. Can I get the "best of both worlds," without having to take the extra steps every time I publish?
