excel powerpivot update error "object was not found in the cube"

Question

I have an PowerPivot file that pulls data directly from a SQL data warehouse. Next it is fed into pivot tables. When I try and update I get the following error:

Query (20,3916) The level '&[Desktop]' object was not found in the cube when the string, [OfficeFlatFile].TopicLevel2Name]&[Desktop], was parsed.

I checked my data source and found that the member "Desktop" was no longer available (no surprise there). But I can't get the file to update now. I tried updating the PowerPivot data connection first but that didn't work either.

This is the most recent info I could find, and it doesn't help. https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/details/756691/powerpivot-data-could-not-be-retrieved-from-the-exteral-data-source

Does anyone know a solution apart from rebuilding the file?

Answer 1

Removing the "." in the column's name worked for me.

Answer 2

Remove the . in column names that are in the join. Reference.