How to update field names using XMLA for all visuals without power query?

[jaryszek]

Hello,

I am using Direct Lake over OneLake - how to rename columns using XMLA without power query possibilities which is disabled in Direct Lake mode? 

It is possible or fileds should be renamed only upstream? 

Best,
Jacek

[GeraldGEmerick]

@jaryszek Use SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

[jaryszek]

It is not possible in Tabular Editor 3? 

[v-dineshya]

Hi @jaryszek ,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.

Yes, it is possible to rename columns in Direct Lake mode using XMLA.

1.  Use Tabular Editor 3 (Enterprise Edition) to rename columns via XMLA, but ensure you first rename them in the web interface to prevent reversion during schema sync.

2. Rename columns upstream in the Lakehouse or Warehouse before adding them to the semantic model.

Please refer below link.

Power BI usage scenarios: Advanced data model management - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

I hope this information helps. Please do let us know if you have any further queries.

Regards,

Dinesh

[jaryszek]

1.  Use Tabular Editor 3 (Enterprise Edition) to rename columns via XMLA, but ensure you first rename them in the web interface to prevent reversion during schema sync.

Ok there is a displayName but after changing it i need to manually adjust fields on report visuals, how to avoid this?

Best,
Jacek

[Direct]

Hi @jaryszek ,
Before doing that, rename them first in the web interface to prevent the schema from reverting during sync.

Alternatively, rename them upstream in the Lakehouse or Warehouse so that the names stay consistent.

If you change only the displayName, you’ll still need to manually fix visuals that reference the old field name — Power BI doesn’t auto-map renamed fields in Direct Lake mode yet.

Happy to help!

Best regards,
Disha Shree | LinkedIn
If it worked for you, please mark it as Accepted and give it a Kudos 😊

[jaryszek]

Ok any tools for doing this without destroying visuals ?

[v-dineshya]

Hi @jaryszek ,

You can use the Fabric notebooks by using the PySpark code to change the column names of a table in Lakehouse. Please refer below PySpark code. to rename the column names.

spark.read.table("tableName")\
.withColumnRenamed("oldColumnName", "newColumnName")\
.write\
.mode("overwrite")\
.option("overwriteSchema", "true")\
.saveAsTable("tableName")

Please refer below example.

1. I have created sample data in Lakehouse.

2. Created a Notebook, and run the below sample PySpark code to rename the column names.

It will change the column names and save the Notebook. And then refresh the table in Lakehouse, it will reflect the changes.

I hope this information helps. Please do let us know if you have any further queries.

Regards,

Dinesh

[jaryszek]

thanks, let's do not close topic, maybe somebody will propsoe another tool also.

Best,
Jacek

[v-dineshya]

Hi @jaryszek ,

Thank you for the update, we will keep this thread open while continuing to look for alternative solutions.  If you discover any workaround , kindly post them here, as it could benefit other community members.

Regards,

Dinesh