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sql-serverpowerbipowerbi-embedded

How Direct Query Report works

I have direct query report on Power BI service and setup on premises data gateway for it in order to access SQL Server database, it works perfectly but one thing I am a little confused is the refresh history table for direct query report (Settings-> Datasets) as below:

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It refreshs around every 20 minutes. I thought in direct query mode, when you change the data on database it will affect the report immediately. But based on that, even in the direct query mode, it has internal cache doing refresh 20 minutes (don't know this number can be controlled).

Please can someone explain in detail how direct query works and why this?

Also, is the direct query on Power BI Embedded works in the same way?

Solution

  • Direct Query in Power BI Embedded works the same way. However direct query does not mean realtime. If data is updated after your report loads the report will NOT automatically refresh with the data. If you reload the report then you should see the new data as it is directly querying your underlying datasource.