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bchager6
Super User
Super User

When to save a .pbix versus republish

Hi everyone...

 

I'm hoping someone can provide guidance or point me to documentation that describes when we need to republish changes to a .pbix file, to the workspace, and update an app versus when we can just save the changes to a .pbix that's saved in a SharePoint folder that's connected to the Power BI service, and then just update the app.

 

Also, does anyone know how to do the latter; connect a SharePoint folder to a Power BI Workspace?

 

Kudos to anyone who can provide clarity here! 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
v-zhenbw-msft
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @bchager6 ,

 

Please refer to the following two posts, we hope to help you.

 

https://powerbi.tips/2019/09/updating-pbix-files-in-sharepoint-dos-donts/

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/Does-SharePoint-Online-support-PBIX-file-storage-if-not-whe...

 

Best regards,

 

Community Support Team _ zhenbw

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

View solution in original post

6 REPLIES 6
v-zhenbw-msft
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @bchager6 ,

 

Please refer to the following two posts, we hope to help you.

 

https://powerbi.tips/2019/09/updating-pbix-files-in-sharepoint-dos-donts/

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/Does-SharePoint-Online-support-PBIX-file-storage-if-not-whe...

 

Best regards,

 

Community Support Team _ zhenbw

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

Thank you. This is helpful.

TomMartens
Super User
Super User

Hey @bchager6 ,

 

I assume that you are looking for this document:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/service-desktop-files

 

If you have to change something in your pbix, make sure that you open the pbix from the sharepoint folder.

 

If you are sharing the content of the pbix with your users using a Power BI App, you have to manually update (after the initial publish) the app with the new content. Updating an app keeps existing links. Re-publish, means first un-publish the app, will create new links.

 

The content of the workspace will be updated automatically, but not the content of the app.

It is recommended to share the content with the consumers using an app (the dining room) and not the workspace (the kitchen). For this reason, this feature is rarely used. I never met someone who is using this feature.

 

Regards,

Tom 

 



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Greg_Deckler
Super User
Super User

@bchager6 - I've never heard of anyone saving a PBIX to a SharePoint list and then exposing that PBIX into the Service. That sounds really weird to me.

 

If you update a PBIX file, you almost always want to republish it. But, if it is an import model that is being refreshed then you have to be careful to first get the lastest PBIX from the Service, update it and then publish it back otherwise you can overwrite newer data.


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@Greg_Deckler  The .pbix files are saved in a SharePoint folder, not to a list. I may have been mislead, but someone once told me that if you connect a .pbix that lives in a SharePoint folder, to the service, there are some changes that once made to the .pbix only need to be saved, and then the app. updated, as opposed to republishing each time. The reason I'm raising this questions is because each time I republish a .pbix, users are losing their App. bookmarks.

@bchager6 - I could be mistaken but its seems you have been mislead. I am not aware of the functionality you speak of regarding PBIX files in SharePoint folders. Early, early on (we're talking like 5 years ago) there was some really weird, awful interface for Power BI that involved SharePoint. Microsoft ditched that and went to the stand alone Power BI Service. Maybe that's where that is coming from? But that hasn't been around for like 4 years or so.

 

Anyway, I'm also not aware of the losing the bookmarks thing for an App, that seems strange to me so I will investigate that.


@ me in replies or I'll lose your thread!!!
Instead of a Kudo, please vote for this idea
Become an expert!: Enterprise DNA
External Tools: MSHGQM
YouTube Channel!: Microsoft Hates Greg
Latest book!:
Mastering Power BI 2nd Edition

DAX is easy, CALCULATE makes DAX hard...

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