Click here to change the language. This page is carefully and closely monitored. Any changes you make will be evaluated and then quickly accepted, refined, or reverted. Because this is a wiki, additions or refinements to these release notes might have been made by community members. To read the original release notes document, click here. This Release Notes document describes known issues that you should read about before you install or troubleshoot the Microsoft SQL Server Code-Named “Denali” CTP3 release of PowerPivot for Excel (download Denali CTP3 here). This Release Notes document is available online only, not on the installation media, and it is updated periodically.
For information about how to get started and install PowerPivot, see the PowerPivot Readme. The Readme document is available on the installation media and from the Readme download page. You can also visit PowerPivot Help, the PowerPivot "Denali" Forums, and the PowerPivot Wiki portal page.
2.0 Before You Install
3.0 Known Issues
4.0 How to Find More Support
For links to specific Help pages, see the What's New PowerPivot Help topic. The Microsoft SQL Server Code-Named “Denali”, Community Technology Preview 3 (CTP 3) release of PowerPivot for Excel includes the following new features:
Diagram View. The Diagram View is available on the Home tab of the PowerPivot window, and it enables you to view tables in a visually organized way and to easily add and change relationships and hierarchies. For more information, see the PowerPivot Window: Diagram View Help topic.
Hierarchies. A hierarchy is a list of child nodes that you can create from columns and place into any order you want, making it easier for reporting client users to select and navigate the common paths of data. For more information about hierarchies, see the Hierarchies in PowerPivot and Create a Hierarchy in a Table (Tutorial) Help topics.
Relationships in Diagram View. In Diagram View, you can easily create relationships between columns in separate tables. The relationships appear visually, which enables you to quickly see how all the tables relate to each other. For more information about Relationships in Diagram View, see the Create Relationships Between Tables (Tutorial) Help topic.
Multiple Relationships. We added the ability to import multiple relationships. The first relationship is active, and the other relationships are inactive and appear as dotted lines in Diagram View. For more information, see the PowerPivot Window: Diagram View and Create Relationships Between Tables (Tutorial) Help topics.
Measure Grid. The Measure Grid enables you to view measures in a grid pattern and to easily create, edit, and manage measures and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) within the model. For more information, see the PowerPivot Window: Measure Grid and Create a Measure and KPI (Tutorial) Help topics.
Advanced Tab. The advanced features are now available in a separate tab. The features include the ability to create or edit perspectives, summarize a numeric column by an aggregation function, and set reporting properties for a reporting client tool, such as Project Crescent. For more information, see the PowerPivot Window: Advanced Tab Help topic.
Reporting Properties. In the Reporting Properties area of the Advanced tab, you can set the table identifier, group values based on a table identifier, add table details, set the representative column, set an image URL, and set the representative image for reporting client tools, such as Project Crescent. For more information, see the PowerPivot Window: Advanced Tab Help topic.
New DAX Function. We added a new function to enrich the relationship feature:
USERELATIONSHIP Function. Specifies one or more relationships to be used in a specific calculation. For more information, see the USERELATIONSHIP Function (DAX) Help topic.
Sort by Other Column. If you do not want to sort your column alphabetically, you can now sort your column by another column. For example, you can sort by a month number column that assigns each month its number in order to sort the column in a natural way.
Add Values to Rows and Columns. You can now add values to rows and columns.
Blob Support. You can now import images and blobs. Blob data is now automatically detected and accepted as a binary data type.
Other Tab Changes. We moved the ribbon features around in the Home and Design tabs slightly, based on customer feedback and usability studies.
Home Tab. The Freeze and Column Width buttons were added to the Design tab. The View area was added with the Data View, Diagram View, Show Hidden, and Measure Grid buttons. For more information about the new Home tab, see the PowerPivot Window: Home Tab, PowerPivot Window: Diagram View, and PowerPivot Window: Measure Grid Help topics.
Design Tab. The Hide and Unhide button was removed and became the new Show Hidden button that was added to the Home tab. The Mark as Date Table button was added. When you switch to Advanced Mode, the Advanced area is no longer added to the Design tab (the Advanced tab is added instead). For more information about the new Design tab, see the PowerPivot Window: Design Tab Help topic.
In addition, the following features were added to previous SQL Server Code-Named “Denali” releases of PowerPivot:
Perspectives. With the Advanced Mode’s Perspectives feature, you can add, edit, delete, copy, and view perspectives. Perspectives are metadata layers that track different slices or sets of data. Perspectives are typically defined for a particular user group or business scenario and make it easier to navigate large data sets. For more information, see the Perspectives in PowerPivot and Perspectives Dialog Box Help topics.
Key Performance Indicators. A KPI is based on a specific measure and is designed to help evaluate the current value and status of a metric. For more information, see the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in PowerPivot and Key Performance Indicator Dialog Box Help topics.
Date Table Settings. You can mark a table as date table, which will enable you to leverage date filtering in Excel. For more information, see the Date Table Settings Dialog Box Help topic.
Show Details. Right-click a cell in a PivotTable in Excel, and then click Show Details. A new worksheet opens with the underlying data that contribute to the value of the specified cell. For more information, see “Show Details” in the Create a PivotTable or PivotChart Report Help topic.
New DAX Functions. We added several new functions to extend the language in areas that were requested the most by our customers:
Statistical Functions. For more information, see the Statistical Functions (DAX) Help topic.
DISTINCTCOUNT. Return a distinct count of cells (DISTINCTCOUNT()). For more information, see the DISTINCTCOUNT Function (DAX) Help topic.
Generate Cross Content. Statistical table functions to generate cross content (CROSSJOIN(), GENERATE(), GENERATEALL()). For more information, see the CROSSJOIN Function (DAX), GENERATE Function (DAX), and GENERATEALL Function (DAX) Help topics.
Rank. Rank a set of values (RANK.EQ(), RANKX()). For more information, see the RANK.EQ Function (DAX) and RANKX Function (DAX) Help topics.
Standard Deviation. These functions were added to calculate the standard deviation of the entire population or a sample (STDEV.S(), STDEV.P(), STDEVX.S(), STDEVX.P()). For more information, see the STDEV.S Function (DAX), STDEV.P Function (DAX), STDEVX.S Function (DAX), and STDEVX.P Function (DAX) Help topics.
Statistical Table Functions. These functions enable you to create aggregated table content (SUMMARIZE(), ROW()) or to temporarily add columns to existing tables (ADDCOLUMNS()), without having to create calculated columns. For more information, see the SUMMARIZE Function (DAX), ROW Function (DAX), and ADDCOLUMNS Function (DAX) Help topics.
TOPN. Select the top elements of a set (TOPN()). For more information, see the TOPN Function (DAX) Help topic.
Variance. Calculate the variance of the entire population or a sample (VAR.S(), VAR.P(), VARX.S(), VARX.P()). For more information, see the VAR.S Function (DAX), VAR.P Function (DAX), VARX.S Function (DAX), and VARX.P Function (DAX) Help topics.
Information Functions. For more information, see the Information Functions (DAX) Help topic.
LOOKUPVALUE. Informational search functions to look up a certain value from a table (LOOKUPVALUE()) or to assess whether a value or combination of values in a row exist in a table (CONTAINS()). For more information, see the LOOKUPVALUE Function (DAX) and CONTAINS Function (DAX) Help topics.
Parent-Child Relationships. Informational parent-child functions (PATH(), PATHCONTAINS(), PATHITEM(), PATHITEMREVERSE(), PATHLENGTH()). For more information, see the PATH Function (DAX), PATHCONTAINS Function (DAX), PATHITEM Function (DAX), PATHITEMREVERSE Function (DAX), and PATHLENGTH Function (DAX) Help topics.
SWITCH. Logical function to provide a multiple-choice selection of an option and action (SWITCH()). For more information, see the SWITCH Function (DAX) Help topic.
Filter Functions. For more information, see the Filter Functions (DAX) Help topic.
ALLSELECTED. Filter removal from columns and rows to have visual totals (ALLSELECTED()). For more information, see the ALLSELECTED Function (DAX) Help topic.
Context-Examination Functions. Filter context-examination functions (ISCROSSFILTERED(), ISFILTERED(), HASONEVALUE(), HASONEFILTER(), FILTERS()). For more information, see the ISCROSSFILTERED Function (DAX), ISFILTERED Function (DAX), HASONEVALUE Function (DAX), HASONEFILTER Function (DAX), and FILTERS Function (DAX) Help topics.
HASONEVALUE. Tells you what columns contain only one distinct value (HASONEVALUE()). For more information, see the HASONEVALUE Function (DAX) Help topic.
CURRENCY. Currency-casting math function (CURRENCY()). For more information, see the CURRENCY Function (DAX) Help topic.
Change Data Types. You can change the data type for a calculated column in the same way you can change the data type for all non-calculated columns. For more information, see “Changing the Data Type” in the Calculated Columns Help topic.
Number Formats for Measures. You can set the type of number format (such as Currency), enter how many decimal places you want to display, select a symbol you want to display with the numbers, and use a digit-grouping symbol (such as a comma) to separate the thousand place. For more information, see “Formatting Options” in the Measure Settings Dialog Box (Custom Aggregation) Help topic.
Formatting Persistence. Now when you apply formatting to columns in the modeling environment, the formatting persists as you add fields to value areas of a PivotTable.
Field List: Descriptions. Add descriptions to tables, measures, and key performance indicators (KPIs). When the user hovers over those tables, measures, and KPIs in the Field List, tooltips appear that feature your descriptions of the context of each field. For more information about the Field List, see the PowerPivot Field List Help topic.
Field List: Display Order of Tables and Fields. The Field List is now sorted alphabetically. For more information about the Field List, see the PowerPivot Field List Help topic.
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Before you install PowerPivot, read the following required actions.
You must install Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) 4.0 runtime before you install PowerPivot. You can download the VSTO runtime from this Microsoft Download Center page.
This is an issue for Office 2010 users only. When Office 2010 SP1 is released, a separate download of the VSTO runtime is not required.
If you do not have .NET Framework 4.0 on your computer, the SQL Server Code-Named "Denali" version of PowerPivot for Excel CTP3 installs successfully, but the PowerPivot tab does not appear in the Excel ribbon. You must install .NET Framework 4.0.
If you plan to use SQL Server Code-Named "Denali" features in a SharePoint environment, then SharePoint Server 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is required.
Workaround: You must install SP1 and fully patch the server farm before you add SQL Server features to the farm. This requirement applies to the following Denali features: using an instance of Database Engine as the farm's database server, configuring PowerPivot for SharePoint, or deploying Reporting Services in SharePoint mode.
When you upgrade your existing PowerPivot for SharePoint installation to the SQL Server Code-Named "Denali" version of PowerPivot for SharePoint, your existing PowerPivot for SharePoint workbooks are not upgraded automatically. However, you might be automatically prompted to upgrade older workbooks when you open them in Excel. The solution to automatically upgrade previous workbooks is currently planned for a future release.
Without an upgrade, workbooks can be used on SharePoint, but Data Refresh will fail until you upgrade the workbooks.
Workaround: You must download the workbooks from SharePoint, upgrade the workbooks manually by opening them in Excel, and then upload them back onto SharePoint. The usage workbook will fail refresh, and you must upgrade it manually as well.
The following known issues apply to Microsoft SQL Server Code-Named "Denali" PowerPivot for Excel, Community Technical Preview 3 (CTP3).
You cannot use calculated columns to mark a table as a Date table. For example, if you add a calculated column, click the Mark As Date Table button, and select the calculated column, then you receive the following error:
"The calculated column 'Table[CalculatedColumn1]' cannot be used as a primary key of the table."
If you copy a large amount of data to the clipboard or select many columns and rows in PowerPivot, then it stops responding.
Workaround: Copy only small data sets in PowerPivot.
If you launch the PowerPivot window, go to Diagram View, go back to the Excel window, click the Create Linked Table button in the PowerPivot tab on the ribbon, and then click Create Linked Table for the same table again. Then a duplicate table appears in the diagram, and the model is now corrupted.
Workarounds:
When you add a hierarchy as a Report Filter to a PivotTable, it might appear as a flat list after you rename the hierarchy name on the Excel sheet. Workaround: In Denali CTP3, we recommend that you do not rename the hierarchy on the report level when you add a hierarchy as a Report Filter. If you need to rename the hierarchy, then we recommend that you rename the hierarchy in the modeling window instead.
In Denali CTP3, we recommend that you rename the hierarchy on the report level when you add a hierarchy as a Report Filter. If you need to rename the hierarchy, then we recommend that you rename the hierarchy in the modeling window instead.
On a new installation of PowerPivot for SharePoint, the PowerPivot Management Dashboard does not load on a server that is also configured to run as a domain controller. When you attempt to open the dashboard, a SharePoint error message page appears, indicating an unexpected error occurred.
In the log files, you will see the following error:
“EXCEPTION: System.Exception: The account ‘<sid>’ could not be resolved via LookupAccountName. Error code ‘1332’ was returned. “
This error occurs because the built-in administrators group includes user or group accounts from external domains or it has same-domain group accounts that are not local to the machine.
Workaround:
When you are finished, only local domain group and user accounts are left. Close Active Directory Users and Computers, and then retry opening PowerPivot Management Dashboard. The dashboard should open. No restart is required.
In the PowerPivot Management Dashboard, the bubble chart control does not work when the regional settings of the SharePoint server are specific to following:
Affected format (bug shows up): day/month/year, year/day/month (Examples: European languages, Indian, etc.)
Non-affected format (no bug): month/day/year, year/month/day (Examples: USA, Japanese, etc.)
When you press F1, PowerPivot Help does not show localized content in the Chinese languages.
If you double-click a .atomsvc file locally or from a Web page, PowerPivot opens, and you can import the data. However, if the file size is greater than 64Kb, then PowerPivot does not import the data and does not display an error message. PowerPivot opens without the data.
With tabular models (DeploymentMode=1,2), Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) and Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) queries that involve arbitrary shapes with mixed granularity will fail with an error message that indicates such queries are not supported in VertiPaq mode. You see the following error in the PivotTable:
“The query requires the generation of a data request involving a slice that consists of an arbitrary-shaped set with tuples from different hierarchy levels, which is not supported when using Analysis Services in VertiPaq mode.”
You can join the SQL Server Community to share your experiences and learn from other people who are using the SQL Server Code-Named “Denali” of PowerPivot. For more information, see the PowerPivot "Denali" Forums, PowerPivot Wiki portal page, and the PowerPivot Community Web site.
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