Introduction to OLS

In Chapter 11, Row-Level Security, we learned how to restrict data access for end users using RLS. In this section, we look at object-level security in Power BI. With OLS, we can hide the model objects based on the usernames and their roles, such as hiding an entire table or hiding some table columns for specific users. Therefore, if users use the Analyse in Excel feature to connect to a dataset, they can see only the tables and columns they have permission to see.

Notes

At the time of writing this book, OLS has just been released for public preview. Therefore, it is subject to change.

At the time of writing this book, we cannot create OLS within Power BI Desktop. Instead, we have to use Tabular Editor.

We cannot control the data's visibility to developers within Power BI Desktop with OLS or RLS. This is something that must happen within the source system. Regardless of whether OLS or RLS is in place or not, developers have access to all data available...