Until now, it was only possible to edit your data models (data sets) in Power BI Desktop or third-party software, but now you can also edit data sets in the Power BI service.
Enable Feature
Currently, editing data models is still a preview feature that must be enabled on a workspace-by-workspace basis. This feature can only be enabled if it has been turned on at the tenant level. Once enabled, any dataset in the workspace can be opened in the online editor via the dataset’s context menu by clicking [Open Data Model].
Functionality
Editing the models is actually most similar to the model view in Power BI Desktop. You can:
- Adding and Editing Measurement Values
- Adding and Editing Calculated Columns
- Defining calculated tables
- Manage Relationships Between Tables
- Editing Field Properties
- Managing Row-Level Security
The functionality is very intuitive and very similar to Power BI Desktop.
Power BI Premium
It is possible to edit datasets in a Power BI Premium workspace, but once a dataset has been edited using an external tool via an XMLA endpoint, it can no longer be edited in the Power BI Service. This also applies to Power BI Desktop, so that’s actually what I assumed.
A model that has been edited in the Power BI Service is compatible with Power BI Desktop.
Conclusion
For smaller datasets, it’s a great feature to be able to quickly edit them online. For larger datasets, which are typically edited via XML, it’s not practical to use. Furthermore, when using this feature, careful consideration must be given to version control, for example. For larger environments with multiple developers, the added value of this functionality is therefore significantly lower.
