Running office script with Workbook.refreshAllDataConnections() does not work when called from Power Automate

[joachimmoens]

Hello,

I use Power automate to refresh an excel table that is connected to Power BI every day.

This is via a 'Run Script' prompt that refers to a script containing Workbook.refreshAllDataConnections().

As of wednesday may 10th I receive the below error message:

Office JS error: Line 4: Workbook refreshAllDataConnections: There was an internal error while processing the request. clientRequestId: a7b48e93-4b3b-4db6-93a2-56378d34dd67

-> the script does work within excel (or excel online) itself.

I had priorly had a similar problem as now. This was then resolved, but I think the issue has come back.

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Using-Connectors/Running-office-script-with-Workbook-refreshAllD...

Do others have this issue as well?

EDIT:

AS OF MONDAY 15TH MAY I HAVE NO ERROR MESSAGE ANYMORE. HOWEVER THE REFRESH SIMPLY DOESN'T PERFORM A REFRESH. THE SCRIPT DOES WORK FINE WHEN IT IS NOT CALLED FROM POWER AUTOMATE.

Thank you for the help.

[joachimmoens]

I have now done some additional testing and have noticed the error only pertains if I want to refresh multiple connections at once. This was no issue before though.

[joachimmoens]

The 'refresAllDataConnections' is definitely not a stable script to call from Power Automate. Now I have no errors anymore in Power Automate, the script also works perfectly in excel online, but when called from Power Automate the script doesn't perform a refresh (without error message now).

[Yutao]

Hey @joachimmoens , sorry to hear you are running into issues using the refresh API in Office Scripts with Power Automate. Refreshing data connections is a complex task and there are some limitations and gaps that we are still trying to address. Thanks for your patience!

For the data connections you are trying to refresh, are they all Power BI connections?

Also, I took a look at the logs based on the client request ID you shared in your first post. I wasn't able to see the details, but the error seemed to be timeout. Do you know how long it would normally take your script to finish?

[joachimmoens]

Hey @Yutao, my entire flow in the past always ran in less than 7 minutes, including a 6 minute Delay. The troublesome script runs in 16 seconds. If I perform the script itself it normally takes less than 2 minutes for excel to do all necessary recalculating.

I did manage to have no errors anymore in the flow by not refreshing one of the queries triggered by the script anymore. However, despite not having errors, the script does not always perform the refresh somehow...

Thank you for your help!

[retrohead]

Same issue here however the refresh seems to work if the resulting Excel workbook is less than 5MB in size which is a conflict with the maximum file size of 25MB for the Excel Online (Business) connector.

[joachimmoens]

Downsizing my excel file to below 5MB unfortunately doesn't do the trick for me. The flow still runs without error message but doesn't perform the refresh.

[retrohead]

Your Office script has refresAllDataConnections or refresAllDataConnections() with parenthesis at the end?

I have seen a lot of comments online saying to remove the parenthesis but this is simply not true.

[jimbolongo]

Hi @joachimmoens - have you found a solution or a workaround? 

Thanks!

[joachimmoens]

Unfortunately not

[joachimmoens · Accepted solution]

The problem has solved itself by reducing the size of the file under 3MB

[TravisCB1]

@joachimmoens has anything changed for you?

I don't understand how this or any of the threads around this are marked solved.  
1. Reducing the size does not resolve it. The error does not show up, but the refresh does not happen. 

2. Removing the () won't do anything.  The error does not show up, but the refresh does not happen. 

3. There is no Refresh function in power automate for Excel. 

4. My mind is blown at the moment because my script was working up until this weekend.  I noticed on the MS learn page, that today several people were posting about it.  I am curious if whatever was happening in June stopped happening and over the weekend something changed?

Either way, I have tried all the above methods and they all failed.  I can't think of a more needful and basic for power automate to be able to do for Excel than refresh the data for you.  

@Yutao can you look into this or have someone else follow-up?    Also please check out the MS Learning link below, as I was surprised to see other people posted today as well. And today was the first time I noticed it not working ever. 

Here are other posts for the same issue with no resolution: 
Workbook.refreshAllDataConnections() is not supported in Power Automate. - Microsoft Q&A
Solved: Re: Running office script with Workbook.refreshAll... - Power Platform Community (microsoft....

[joachimmoens]

Hi, for me it is working at the moment. Could you check if in your authentication settings (under connection properties) you do not have 'Use a stored account'. I think this might be an issue as well. You need 'Use the authenticated user's account'.

[retrohead]

I'm still having issues with this too. Some of my smaller workbooks work every time (5mb file) but retrieving more data from the exact same dataset is failing (7mb file).

I'm not sure if it's the file size or how long it takes to refresh that is causing it to fail?

This is a really nice feature it's a shame it is so unreliable.

[TravisCB1]

file 1 680K

file 2 240k

I am pretty sure the file size is not an issue. 

[retrohead]

Agreed, file size 408kb is failing here too now.

[TravisCB1]

Verified "Use the authenticated user's account'." is set. 

Stil no go. 

[TravisCB1]

If anyone is following this, should I start yet another thread on this and reference this and the others, since I believe this is being ignored as it is marked "solved," even though there is no solution?

[Yutao]

Hi all, apologize for the late reply. Supporting refreshing data connections in Office Scripts is a very complex task and there are many hurdles along our way. But it has always been one of our top priorities and we are actively working on it. I'll make sure to update back with any progress in the future.

For the time being, as the Office Scripts documentation points out, `workbook.refreshAllDataConnections()` only works when Power BI is the source: Troubleshoot Office Scripts running in Power Automate - Office Scripts | Microsoft Learn. Thanks to @retrohead for calling this out and sharing a workaround: Solved: Re: Running office script with Workbook.refreshAll... - Page 2 - Power Platform Community (m...

Thanks for your patience and understanding!

[TravisCB1]

Best news I have had all week. Please advise us if you need anything.