Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector Release Notes

Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation

Customer Managed Applies to customer-managed instances of Alation

September 25, 2024

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector: Version 2.5.0

Support for Cross-System Lineage

The connector now supports cross-system lineage between:

  • Azure Power BI and Snowflake for parameters of the format &@Database_Name& in the dataset mashup expression. (AL-172707)

    For information on expressions supported by lineage, see the Expressions Supported by Lineage section in Configure Lineage.

  • Azure Power BI and SQL server when the table information is part of Filtered Rows in the dataset mashup expression. (AL-154346)

September 04, 2024

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector: Version Version 2.4.1

Enhancements

Improved UI Text

The UI text for the Extract all workspaces from Azure Power BI option in the Connector Settings section in the user interface is now improved for better clarity around selective extraction. (AL-170777)

August 28, 2024

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector: Version Version 2.4.0

Enhancements

Improved Workspaces Metadata Extraction

The connector now includes the Extract all the workspaces from Azure Power BI option under the Customize additional extraction scope section of the Metadata Extraction tab.

When Extract all the workspaces from Azure Power BI toggle is turned off, only those workspaces accessible to the service principal configured, will be extracted. This is the default behavior.

When the Extract all the workspaces from Azure Power BI toggle is turned on, all the workspaces from the Azure Power BI will be extracted, irrespective of the service principal’s access. (AL-168903)

Note

  • If you’ve previously configured the connector to extract all workspaces, then upon upgrading to version 2.4.0, Alation will automatically enable the new setting to continue extracting all workspaces, ensuring a seamless transition.

  • If you’ve previously selected specific workspaces for extraction, Alation will honor your existing selections.

Support for Lineage With Redshift Native Query-Based Datasets

The connector now supports lineage with Redshift native query-based datasets. For details, see the Expressions Supported by Lineage section in Configure Lineage. (AL-168903)

Support for Lineage With Snowflake-Based Datasets

The connector now supports lineage with Snowflake-based datasets. For details, see the Expressions Supported by Lineage section in Configure Lineage. (AL-168903)

SDK Upgrade

The Azure Power BI Scanner OCF connector is now upgraded to the latest SDK version 4.8.16. (AL-168903)

This upgrade addresses the following Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs):

CVE-2022-25647, CVE-2023-2976, CVE-2020-8908, CVE-2021-22569, CVE-2021-22570, CVE-2022-3509, CVE-2022-3510, CVE-2022-3171, CVE-2021-29425, CVE-2021-37136, CVE-2021-37137, CVE-2019-20444, CVE-2021-21290, CVE-2021-43797, CVE-2022-24823, CVE-2024-29025, CVE-2021-21295, CVE-2021-21409, CVE-2020-11612, CVE-2019-20445, CVE-2023-34462

OpenJDK Upgrade

The JDK is now upgraded to Temurin-11.0.23+9. This upgrade addresses the following Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs): CVE-2024-20952 and CVE-2023-20918. (AL-168903)

Support for Authentication Based on AWS Secret Manager Credentials

When installed on an Alation Agent, the Azure Power BI Scanner OCF connector supports authentication using credentials the Agent has fetched from AWS Secrets Manager. For more information, see Integration with AWS Secrets Manager for Data Source Authentication Using OCF Connector. (AL-168903)

Note

This feature applies only to Alation Cloud Service on the cloud native architecture.

August 07, 2024

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector: Version 2.3.3

Fixed Issues

Unable to View Cross-System Lineage with Snowflake

Unable to view cross-system lineage with Snowflake when using a dataset query containing the following attributes:

  • Multiline query

  • Comments

  • Multiple spaces

  • Double double quotes for column alias

This issue is now fixed. (AL-153785, AL-160777)

July 03, 2024

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector: Version 2.3.0

Enhancements

With Alation version 2024.1.4 and Azure Power BI Scanner OCF connector version 2.3.0. Alation has introduced an enhanced user interface for configuring the Azure Power BI Scanner OCF data source settings.

Note

The connector version is compatible with Alation versions 2023.3.2 or higher. However, you will view the old user interface with Alation versions prior to 2024.1.4

The documentation for the new Azure Power BI Scanner OCF experience is available at : Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector.

The enhanced user interface provides the following features:

Better User Experience

The enhanced Power BI Scanner OCF user interface provides better navigation and multiple visual cues, making it easy to configure and manage Power BI Scanner OCF data source.

There is an exclusive tab to configure Metadata Extraction.

Easy to Connect

The Power BI ScannerOCF user interface now provides a step-by-step process to connect to your Power BI Scanner OCF data source easily and quickly.

Additional Error-Prevention Checks

The Power BI Scanner OCF user interface now includes added checks to avoid obvious configuration mistakes. The user interface also includes text to assist and provide cues while configuring.

Detailed Error Reports and Troubleshooting Support

The improved Power BI Scanner OCF user interface makes troubleshooting easier for metadata extraction, as you can now have a detailed error report. The report contains a detailed error description and steps to resolve the issue. (AL-136714)

June 19, 2024

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector: Version 2.2.4

Enhancements

Support for Extraction By Service Principal

The connector will now extract the metadata only from the workspaces to which the Azure Service Principal configured in the Connector Settings tab has access.

Refer to the community post to learn how this change could potentially impact your cataloged objects and what actions you could take to keep them cataloged in Alation.

The Enable Extraction For Service Principal option is no longer available in the Connector Settings section of General Settings tab as Metadata Extraction, by default, is supported only for Service Principal. (AL-154041)

Fixed Issues

Connector Fails to Populate the Cross-System Lineage When Using Parameter and Query-Based PowerBI Datasets

The connector fails to display the cross-system lineage due to the following issues:

  • Improper parsing of double quotes in queries: The connector fails to extract connection information from dataset expressions that contain double quotes in the table, schema, or database name.(AL-157978)

  • Unable to display the database name in the Connections tab of the PowerBI dataset: The connector fails to extract connection information when using M Query expressions in datasets and dataflows with blank spaces before the parameters.

    For example: let Source = Sql.Database(SourceServerName, SourceDBName) (AL-160724)

June 05, 2024

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector: Version 2.2.3

Enhancements

Support for Enabling and Disabling Report Field Extraction

The Azure PowerBI Scanner OCF connector now includes the Enable Report Fields Extraction option under the General Settings tab. This configuration allows data source admins to enable or disable the report field extraction. (AL-159408)

Note

The report field extraction could increase the overall MDE time depending on Azure Power BI API performance.

Fixed Issues

Metadata Extraction Fails Even for A Valid Token

MDE fails when the Power BI API incorrectly returns a 403 HTTP status code in the error response, even if the token has not expired.

Now, the MDE proceeds for a valid token. The connector will now rely upon the error code in the response body along with the HTTP status code in the Power BI API response. (AL-156098).

May 08, 2024

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector: Version 2.2.1

Fixed Issues

Lineage Gaps Between Power BI and Snowflake

Lineage gaps between Power BI and Snowflake due the following issues has now been fixed (AL-148070, AL-147313):

  • Table names containing a period (“.”).

  • Reserved keywords used as parameters. For example, Server and Database.

Lineage Gaps Between Power BI and SQL Server

There are lineage gaps in Power BI connector and SQL Server due to issues related to reserved keywords used as parameters, for example, Database.

The issue is fixed now. (AL-124119)

Out of Memory Errors Due to Incorrect Parsing of Dataset Parameter Expressions

Metadata Extraction resulted in out-of-memory errors due to incorrect replacement of integers in dataset expressions when integers are used as parameters.

This issue is now fixed. (AL-143205)

April 17, 2024

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector: Version 2.2.0

Enhancements

Support for Power BI Column-Level Lineage

Column-level lineage is available for reports created from table-based datasets and dataflows starting in Alation version 2024.1.2.

Fixed Issues

Lineage Not Visible for Datasets Created from Dataflows in Different Workspace

Lineage fails for datasets created from a dataflow present in a different workspace. (AL-149160, AL-141424)

December 06, 2023

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector: Version 2.1.3

Compatible Alation Version - 2023.3.2 or higher

Enhancements

Support for Plus Character (+) in Ingested SQL Queries

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector supports a plus sign (+) in the ingested SQL queries for dataset expressions. This enables the extraction of connection information from dataset expressions with queries having ‘+’ (plus character) to generate lineage.

Fixed Issues

Metadata Extraction Fails for Parameters with Same Name As Table Name in Datasets

In Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector, MDE fails if a dataset expression has a parameter with the same name as the table name and value as an expression. This is because the length of the object identifier exceeds the limit set by Alation.

November 22, 2023

Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector: Version 2.1.0

Compatible Alation version: 2023.3.2 or higher

Enhancements

Support for Cross-System Lineage Between PowerBI and Databricks Unity Catalog, Azure SQL, and Azure Synapse

Alation now supports cross-system lineage between PowerBI and the following data sources:

  • Databricks Unity Catalog

  • Azure SQL

  • Azure Synapse

To start using this feature, perform the following:

  1. Upgrade to Alation version 2023.3.2 or later.

  2. Set the following flag to True using alation_conf:

    alation_conf alation.resolution.DEV_bi_connector_returns_db_for_two_part_schema -s True
    
  3. Install the latest Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector.

For details, see Azure Power BI Scanner OCF Connector.