Is there a possibility to have something similar like in Excel, where you have a drop down list on workbook then you choose specific folder, click refresh button and there you go...I mean there is parameter option in Power BI which is fine, but is there an option or some tweak or else, where you can have that drop down list (those parameters) visible on report page in Power BI, so I can simply and quickly choose certain folder and get the data?
I didn't upload any pictures, I guess it is quite understandable.
Thanks in advance!
The only way for the report author to change the folder path in a fixed PQ is through parameters.
In order for you to choose different folder paths from a list of paths would be authoring the parameter table with List of Values and select a single value as the Default value and/or current value.
When you load the query, it gets loaded with default path and when you need the query to be loaded data from a different folder, you can do home -> Edit Parameters and the drop down would be available to you.
Once you select a different path on the drop down, you need to refresh all the queries to have up-to-date data reflected.
Related
Is it possible to import or copy a table definition from one Power BI report to another report, within Power Bi Desktop.
So from one Power BI report copy the following to another report:
Source query which defines the table (i.e column types, data source etc.)
Any hierarchies defined within the table
Any Measures attached to the table
The contained data isn't important rather its the definition I would like to transfer.
Hopefully, this is all done without basically manually recreating each part.
I would be happy if this as simple copying a M-Query/DAX script between report and running it.
I have tried using a Power Bi templates, but this only seem to be useful as starting point in creating a report as it always creates a new report. I am looking for some way to transfer definitions between already created reports.
Until now (as far as I now) its just possible to copy everything what was done in the query designer to another report.
Go to Edit Queries click on your table on the left side, which you want to copy and go to Home > Advanced Editor. Copy the whole text.
Now in your other report add a blank query in your query designer, then go to the advanced editor and hit insert. If nothing changed (soure path, file name, etc...) you will have the same table with the applied steps as in the other report.
It's only a partial solution, but you can very easily copy/paste entire queries between reports. It doesn't get measures and DAX columns, though.
Source report -> Query Editor -> Queries pane on left -> Right click source query -> Copy
Destination report -> Query Editor -> Queries pane -> Left click -> Paste
Is there any possibility to show or hide the column in Table/Matrix visual in Power BI report by user dynamically?
For Example, I have a table view with columns COLUMN-1, COLUMN-2, COLUMN-3. Now I may have filter drop down to list all the column headers, so based on user selection (Multiple selections) Table view should get adjusted to show column values.
Since Power BI was developed based on Excel, curious to know if we are having Hide/Show column based on any condition or available in visual by default (Maybe by right-clicking on column header then show/hide it).
You can do this with the following workaround:
Create your page with the table showing both columns.
Create a bookmark, uncheck "Data"
Duplicate the page and remove the column you want to conditionally hide. Set the page as hidden.
Create a bookmark, uncheck "Data"
Add a button to the first page pointing to the 2nd bookmark
Add a button to the second page pointing to the 1st bookmark
Ensure your slicers are synced
The end user experience is they will feel like they are conditionally hiding and unhiding the column.
A bit crap and a lot of extra work but I have it working well in my implementation.
Currently it is not possible to hide columns in visual based on slicer selection, there is an idea about this issue, please vote it up.
https://ideas.powerbi.com/forums/265200-power-bi-ideas/suggestions/19435267-conditional-visibility-of-a-visual-based-on-slicer
Thanks!
This is now available in Power BI with preview feature "Field Parameter". Check the May 2022 update.
We are utilizing an excel monthly report in our power bi project that has added measure columns, and we keep the sheets the fields pull the data from in one folder. When we get each month's updated excel sheet, would we be able delete the old one, add the new report to the folder with the exact same name as the old, and refresh the power bi query to use the new updated data? All the column headers would remain the same, the only thing that would be changing is maybe the amount of rows and the data within them. If we were to keep all the names the same, the only thing changing is the data sheet itself (not the column headers just the data) would the added measure columns remain and work? The measure columns act as column data multipliers and filters, and it would be a pain to make new ones each month.
Thanks
Yes. If the file path and filename and sheet/table name all remain the same, Power BI won't know the difference and you shouldn't have trouble if the columns and headers stay consistent.
Additionally, if you don't want to rename the file or delete/move older files from the folder, you could do a Load from Folder query and sort by date created/modified and grab the top row instead of specifying the filename.
I have always been able to create drop-down list parameters within SSRS that allow the user to dynamically filter their reports based on one or more values selected from the drop-down list box of multiple values.
Translating now over to Power BI I cannot find any documentation to achieve the same functionality.
I've found a method of turning the slicer into a drop down list box. But it only allows for the selection of 1 value at a time. So it essentially seems to me to be more of a drop-down list of radio buttons.
In SSRS I could create a stored procedure that accepted a value and returned a record set filtered on a specific value(s).
I can see how to do this with Power BI as well but the method I've seen demonstrated, forces the user to select a value before the report is loaded and subsequently loads a pre-rendered report template. Which isn't the same.
So how does one go about creating a report that implements a true drop-down list box allowing for selection of 1 or more values to dynamically generate the result in the report?
Reference links are welcome if a simple answer isn't possible.
This is an out-of-the-box feature in PowerBI
Create a slicer visual and, as you've already discovered, set it to Dropdown type using the upside down carrot icon on the slicer header. The dropdown list is multi-select by default. Hold down [ctrl] while making the multiple selections. However, you can control Multi-Select behavior under the 'paintbrush.' When the visual is active, click the paintbrush icon under visualizations, expand 'Selection Controls' and you will see several options to manage your slicer's behaviors.
Additionally, you may want to explore the new filter experience, which is still in beta. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/power-bi-report-filter-preview
Otherwise, The behavior in SSRS where the report loads from data sources using parameters chosen by users either as parameters in stored procedures or incorporated into dynamic SQL is not replicated in PowerBI. It's true that there are parameters that can be incorporated in that way with the data set refresh - but these are controlled on the data set, not the report, and are not convenient (or appropriate, really) for report viewers to manipulate.
I am new to Power BI, doing some work.
I have millions of records in SQL Server database, what i want to achieve is..
whenever my colleagues open the report on Power BI, it must ask for the date parameter.
Once the date is submitted, then it must go to the SQL Server and fetch the data and then it must display the report.
Is it possible?
If it is, could some one please show me how to achieve it?
If you define a parameter in your report and use it for filtering data, when you load the report, the data matching the filter will be loaded. You can provide a default value, that you know will return no data (e.g. date in the future, if you are showing the data on or after some date).
You can declare a parameter (in your case of date data type) and use it to filter the data. To declare it, open your report in Power BI Desktop, go to Power Query Editor (by clicking on Edit Queries button in the ribbon) and define a new parameter in Manage Parameters dialog:
Make sure the data type of the parameter matches the type of your data, i.e. if your data has time, define Date/Time parameter. If your data is Date, define Date data type parameter.
Then go to your query, which you want to filter and click on the button in the header of the column you which to filter. In Date/Time filters menu choose how to filter the data, e.g. to fetch the data that is on or after some date:
Then you can close Power Query Editor and return to the report. You can change the parameter's value from the drop down under Edit Queries - Edit Parameters.
If you want to avoid loading data for the default value of the parameter, you can save this report as template (File -> Export -> Power BI template), and then send this template to your colleagues. When they open it, they will be prompted to enter values for the defined parameters, and only after that, the report will connect to the data source and fetch the matching data. This means that first, you didn't use Power BI Online, but shared the report as a file, and second your colleagues has access to the data source to be able to load the data.
If you must publish the report to Power BI Online, then you can use completely different technique - instead of defining a parameter, pass the filter in the report's URL. When the report is loaded normally (e.g. you go to the workspace and open the report), it will show all the data (it will not be filtered). However, you can prepare a special URL for your colleagues, by appending ?filter=MyTable/DateColumn ge 2019-02-04 to the report's URL that you see in the browser's address bar. Replace MyTable with the name of the table you want to filter (e.g. SalesData) and DateColumn with the name of the field on which you want to filter (e.g. SalesDate). If there are spaces in these names, you must replace them with _0x0020_, but if possible, just avoid them. After that the filter defines an operator for filtering, e.g. ge means greater than or equals. And at the end is the value (the date in your case).
You can make a web page, where the user can select a date, and this page will generate the appropriate URL for your report. Or you can make another report, where the URL is constructed as a computed column or a measure based on some conditions (e.g. selecting a date from a slicer) and the user can click on the hyperlink, which will load the actual report, but filtered.