Forum Discussion
Lineage Limitation on Wide Power BI Semantic Models & Built-in Classification Rule Sets
Hello everyone,
I’m evaluating the new Microsoft Purview Governance Portal for our finance data governance needs.
Previously with the Azure Purview classic version we had a couple of blocking issues such as it failed to scan wide semantic models.
But now we're migrating to Fabric and we'd like to try the new Microsoft Purview Governance Portal. I’d appreciate any insights or confirmation from the product team or the community.
- Lineage Limitation on Wide Power BI Semantic Models
Background:
When we first ran the Purview Data Map Scanner against our finance semantic model, it failed once the total column count across all tables exceeded roughly 500 columns. In our case, a single SAP table alone has about 450 columns—so the scan wouldn’t complete, and we couldn’t capture any lineage.
Questions:
Has Purview removed or raised any “hidden” column-count limits for Power BI semantic models?
Is there any official documentation on maximum supported column counts (e.g. 200, 500, or otherwise)?
Are there recommended workarounds for very wide models—such as splitting into sub-datasets, using incremental scans, etc. to get full lineage?
2. Built-in Classification Rule Sets
Background:
Purview ships with a set of Microsoft-provided “Sensitive Information Types” that appear in every scan rule set. In many of our scans these defaults aren’t needed, and they clutter the results.
Questions:
Can we delete or permanently disable the built-in classification rules?
If not, what’s the best way to ensure they’re not applied during a full scan?
Are there any APIs or PowerShell commands that let us automate the exclusion of Microsoft’s defaults from our scan rule sets?
Thank you in advance for any pointers, documentation links, or best-practice advice!
1 Reply
- AS1522
Microsoft
Hi Nai,
Regarding the column count limit, there isn't a specific limit set, but we have noticed issues when processing large amounts of data at once, especially when the count exceeds 200 columns. It is recommended to break down the data and try processing 150-200 columns at a time though 200 should work fine. You can create sub-datasets or rules to manage this.
Built-in Classification Rules Currently, it is not possible to permanently delete the built-in classification rules. However, you should create custom classifications according to your requirements.
Scan Strategies To avoid full scans and unnecessary filters, you can use scoped and incremental scans. Additionally, you can use exclusion methods to ensure that certain assets or classifications are not applied during a scan.
Automation details : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/data-gov-best-practices-automation#streaming-apache-atlas
Feel free to tell if it doesn't help or you need more information.