Bug: Management Dashboard .odc file is broken

OK, here is our first ‘bug’. As part of the PowerPivot Management Dashboard, we ship a .odc file that is used to point to the PowerPivot dashboard data workbook (the data you see in the dashboard reports). You can click on the .odc file and Excel desktop will popup pointing to the dashboard data. Unfortunately the file has a connect string property that you have to remove – i.e. the “;Embedded Data=False” at the end of the connect string.

To locate the file click on:

1. “All Site Content”, then
2. “PowerPivot Management” (under Document Libraries), then
3. a GUID subfolder (you should have one for each PowerPivot service application – normally there is only one)
4. You will see a series of subfolders with locales (1028-3082) and a “PowerPivot Management Data.xlsx” file. Click on your locale language (1033 is English (U.S.).
5. You will see a series of files which are the contents of this Reports web part. You want to edit the “PowerPivot Management Data.odc” file.

In the RTM bits, the .odc file contains an improper reference to a property on the connect string. Edit the file (I downloaded the file, edited it locally with Notepad and saved it back to the SharePoint document library with the name “PowerPivot Management (fixed).odc”) removing the “;Embedded Data=False” string:

<odc:ConnectionString>Provider=MSOLAP.4;Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=True;Initial Catalog=;Data Source=http://dwickert-rtm:55000/PowerPivot Management/6dac39ac-290a-4a2d-a41f-72a209ad01ce/PowerPivot Management Data.xlsx;MDX Compatibility=1;Safety Options=2;MDX Missing Member Mode=Error;Edit Mode=0;Embedded Data=False</odc:ConnectionString>

to:

<odc:ConnectionString>Provider=MSOLAP.4;Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=True;Initial Catalog=;Data Source=http://dwickert-rtm:55000/PowerPivot Management/6dac39ac-290a-4a2d-a41f-72a209ad01ce/PowerPivot Management Data.xlsx;MDX Compatibility=1;Safety Options=2;MDX Missing Member Mode=Error;Edit Mode=0</odc:ConnectionString>

(your server, ports, and service application guids will vary)

And now the .odc file works. Just click on the fixed .odc file. The net-net is that you just have to remove the “;Embedded Data=False” at the end of the connect string.

Enjoy!