powerbi-c-sharp-scripting

C# Scripting for Tabular Editor

Expert guidance for writing and executing C# scripts to manipulate Power BI semantic model metadata using Tabular Editor 2/3 CLI or the Tabular Editor IDE.

When to Use This Skill

Activate automatically when tasks involve:

• Writing C# scripts for Tabular Editor
• Bulk operations on model objects (measures, columns, tables)
• Creating or modifying calculation groups
• Managing model security (roles, RLS, OLS)
• Formatting DAX expressions
• Automating repetitive model changes
• Querying model metadata via TOM API
• Building interactive scripts with user input dialogs

Critical

• Every statement must end with ; (semicolon required by C#)
• Use double quotes " for strings and escape with \ when needed
• Use forward slashes / in DisplayFolder paths (auto-converted to \)
• Always add Info() statements for debugging - script stops at error point
• Test scripts on non-production models first
• Changes are undoable with Ctrl+Z in the Tabular Editor UI

C# Version Support

Environment	C# Version	Notes
Tabular Editor 2	Default compiler	Older C# syntax
Tabular Editor 3	Roslyn	Supports up to C# 12 with VS2022
TE2 with Roslyn	Configurable	Set in File > Preferences > General

To use newer C# features in TE2, configure Roslyn compiler path in preferences.

Default Imports and Assemblies

Auto-Imported Namespaces

Scripts automatically have these using statements applied:

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using TabularEditor.TOMWrapper;
using TabularEditor.TOMWrapper.Utils;
using TabularEditor.UI;

Pre-Loaded Assemblies

These .NET assemblies are loaded by default:

• System.Dll
• System.Core.Dll
• System.Data.Dll
• System.Windows.Forms.Dll (for UI dialogs)
• Microsoft.Csharp.Dll
• Newtonsoft.Json.Dll
• TomWrapper.Dll
• TabularEditor.Exe
• Microsoft.AnalysisServices.Tabular.Dll