Power BI Dataverse Connector – July 2022 Update
In the July 2022 Power BI update, they updated the Dataverse connector. The connector now uses the display names from a Dataverse table. Dataverse columns have internal name and display names and previously the display names were not available.
YouTube Version
For those who prefer a video version.
New Connection
Let’s start with a brand new Dataverse connection. When you click on the Dataverse button the dialog appears as before. When you select a table it still shows the internal names of the columns.
When you click Transform and Power Query opens it still shows the internal names. So I select a few columns and then click Close and Apply. When the data appears in Power BI desktop it now shows the display names. If a column does not have a display name such as statecodename it shows the internal name.
When I experimented I found that even if you renamed the columns within Power Query the name within Power BI desktop did not change. And if you changed the name in Power BI desktop it did not push back into Power Query as it does with other connectors.
Exploring with Tabular Editor
Opening the model in Tabular Editor 2 we can see that the column has two names. So the source column has a different value to the Name property.
Updating an Existing Model
I created a Power BI model in an earlier version of Power that used the old Dataverse connector. It contains the Account table with columns renamed in Power Query and a measure to count the Account table records.
When I opened the file in the July 2022 version of Power BI with the new Dataverse Connector, it looked unchanged. When the report is refreshed in Power BI desktop the connector is updated. The column names change and measures update and still work.
Exceptions
If the table from Dataverse is transformed using a reference the display names do not come through. I have not explored all the combinations as to which break the new update so please be aware.
Conclusion on Dataverse Connector
The update to the dataverse connector makes this connector work differently to other connectors. This update works well if all the transformation does is reduce the columns and filter the rows. This will work for many reports.
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