Welcome to the February 2023 update! This month, we’ve added TypeScript support in the developer playground sandbox, several new formatting features for reporting, and so much more. Continue reading for more details on our new features!

Reporting

Conditional formatting based on string fields

This month, you can now set conditional formatting rules based on string fields! We know that many of you have been asking for this feature, so we’re excited to be bringing you this feature and hope you find it a powerful new conditional formatting capability.

You can access this new capability in the same way other conditional formatting: through the dialog which opens up from selecting an option in the formatting pane. For example, in column charts, you can conditionally format column colors by selecting the fx button in the Columns card of the formatting pane.

In the dialog, select “Rules” through the Format style dropdown, then base these rules on a string field and select a summarization. Before, your summarization options were only numeric – Count and Count (Distinct). Now you’ll see First and Last options as well, which will give you strings to write logic around. In the example below, we add a simple rule to check that the value of the string is Audio, and if it is, we color the column red.

Then we hit OK, and the Audio columns of our visual will now be colored red!

We’ve added a variety of comparator options to the conditional formatting dialog, including “is”, “starts with”, “ends with”, and more. Keep in mind that these comparisons will check your fields against your inputs for exact character matches, including case-sensitivity.

As always, let us know what you think about the feature and ideas you have to improve this or any other aspects of Power BI!

Smart Narrative visual summary icon

Smart Narrative technology is already available within Power BI, and with this new feature we’ve added an optional icon to the visual header that triggers an on-demand summary of the visual contents. Our hope is that this is useful for Accessibility purposes. It will announce results to any assistive technology. You can enable it in the format pane for individual visuals or add it to your custom theme file for the visual types you choose.

Formatting image width in table and matrix

Image dimensions in table and matrix visuals can now be individually formatted. Prior to this release, there was only one control for image dimensions in table and matrix cells. Despite being labeled as “image height”, this setting in the formatting pane controlled both the width and height of images, causing them to take up square space regardless of their actual dimensions. This caused layout problems, especially when images were wider than they were tall, as rows then took up far more vertical space than necessary.

Now that you can change image height and width separately, you can adjust your cells to give your tables or matrices a lot more room!

Update your base theme in Power BI

We’ve now added an easy way for you to update your current theme in Power BI Desktop!

We ship many changes to visuals and reports, including new defaults for formatting settings, as a part of a new base theme so as not to disturb existing reports. These changes don’t propagate to some authors with custom themes, who may not see fixes to issues or updates to their reports without updating their base themes. In the present day, doing so involves opening up the theme gallery, switching to one of our default themes, then switching back to their custom theme, which is an unintuitive process.

Now, if you are using an outdated theme, if you enter the “Customize current theme” menu from the theme dropdown in the View tab of the ribbon:

You’ll find a banner at the top of your out-of-date themes encouraging you to update to the latest base theme! Click Update theme to see the changes, then hit Apply when ready.

Keep in mind that this change will update all of the default behaviors that we’ve changed since your current theme was created, so any specific behavior that your visuals were reliant on may change as well. Check to make sure your report still functions the way you expect after updating your base theme.

Report theme validation on custom theme import

Creating custom themes can be a daunting task, especially when there are so many visuals and formatting properties you can configure. Mistakes can occur when authoring the theme JSON, property names can change with time, or any number of other issues could render the custom theme file invalid when it’s imported into Power BI.

This month, we’re introducing a feature which will validate your theme file upon import to make sure we can successfully read its full contents. If Power BI finds fields it doesn’t understand, it will show you a message letting you know that the theme file is invalid, and invite you to re-import with a corrected theme file. We will also be publishing the schema Power BI uses to check your theme file in a public location, updating it automatically whenever we change it in Power BI, so that you can ensure your theme files are always current.

Text box visual indentation

This month, we’ve introduced new support for indentation to your text box visuals in Power BI!

Now, using the increase and decrease indent buttons in the formatting popup next to the text box, you can adjust the indentation of specific lines of your text boxes. You can also use the Tab or Shift+Tab keys to accomplish the same.

New accessible report themes

This month, to promote authors creating accessible reports with good contrast across their colors, we’ve added some new accessible report themes to the theme dropdown in the View tab of the ribbon:

You’ll find them in a new section labeled Accessible themes.

Customize visible pages in the Page navigator visual

You can now easily decide which report pages are visible within the Page navigator visual. If you want to exclude specific pages, all you need to do is expand the Show card in the Pages section of the formatting pane. Here you’ll see the list of pages that are not already hidden through the “Show hidden pages” or “Show tooltip pages” options.

All you need to do to hide specific pages is turn the toggle for that page to Off.

If you have many pages in your report that you want to hide within the Page navigator visual, it can be faster to instead just specify which ones you specifically want to show. To do this, turn the Show all by default toggle to Off in the Options card, which will immediately turn all pages within the Show card to Off.

From there, you can then go in and just turn back on the specific pages you want visible.

Sensitivity labels now supported in PDF export from Desktop

Power BI Desktop now joins the service in supporting sensitivity labels from Microsoft Purview Information Protection for export to PDF. Now when you export to PDF from Desktop, the sensitivity label on the PBIX file (if any) is applied to the exported PDF file, thus ensuring that your sensitive data remains protected even after it has left Power BI. Sensitivity label support in Desktop for export to PDF is currently a preview feature that is on by default.

Enhanced row-level security editor

Now you can quickly and easily define row-level security roles and filters without having to write any DAX! Select ‘Manage roles’ in the ribbon to use the new drop-down interface to create and edit security roles. If you prefer DAX or require DAX for your filter definitions, we support toggling between using the default drop-down editor and a DAX editor.

All changes made in either editor interface will persist when switching interfaces when possible. However, not all row-level security filters supported in Power BI can be defined using the default editor. Limitations include expressions that can only be defined using DAX including dynamic rules such as username() or userprincipalname(). When defining a role with these limitations in the DAX editor, if you attempt to switch to the default editor you will be prompted with a warning that switching editors may result in some information being lost. To keep this information simply select ‘Cancel’ and continue only editing this role in the DAX editor.

Try it today by going to Files > Options and Settings > Options > Preview features and turn on “Enhanced row-level security editor”.

Analytics

Quick Create SDK

We’re excited to announce a new form of Power BI embedded analytics that enables you to embed an interactive data exploration and report creation experience in your applications. With this solution, you’ll be able to provide your users a similar experience to our integrations in Dynamics 365 and SharePoint. Refer to our full announcement post for more details.

Modeling

New DAX functions: LINEST and LINESTX

This month, we are introducing two new statistical DAX functions: LINEST and LINESTX. These two functions perform linear regression, leveraging the Least Squares method, to calculate a straight line that best fits the given data and return a table describing that line. These functions are especially useful in predicting unknown values (Y) given known values (X).

Both functions return a single-row table describing the line and additional statistics. The resulting table includes columns such as slopes, intercepts, standard errors, and the coefficient of determination. The equation of the fitted line can be constructed: Y = Slope1 * X1 + Slope2 * X2 + …+ Intercept.

The difference between LINEST and LINESTX is that LINEST expects columns of known X and Y values to be provided, whereas LINESTX expects a table and expressions to be evaluated for each row of the table to obtain the X and Y values.

For the following examples, I use the following data, which includes Sales Amount and gross national product (GNP) per capita:

In the example below I use LINESTX to predict total sales based on GNP per capita:

LinestX_example =
VAR CountryGNP = SUMMARIZE(
Sales,
'GNP_Country'[Country],
'GNP_Country'[GNP_Per_Capita],
"Total Sales", SUM(Sales[Sales Amount])
)

VAR SalesPrediction = LINESTX(
'CountryGNP',
[Total Sales],
[GNP_Per_Capita]
)

VAR Example_GNP_Per_Capita = 50000

RETURN SELECTCOLUMNS(
SalesPrediction,
[Slope1]
) * Example_GNP_Per_Capita +
SELECTCOLUMNS(
SalesPrediction,
[Intercept]
)

This expression not only leverages LINESTX but also leverages the result to perform a prediction for a fictious country with gross national product per capita of $50,000. The result is a predicted total sales of $17,426,123.29. Of course this is a fabricated scenario and it’s rare to have a fixed value such as the $50,000 above as part of the expression.

I can do the same using LINEST assuming the required tables are all in the model, for example as calculated tables. In this example, I added the following calculated tables:

CountryDetails, defined as:

CountryDetails = SUMMARIZECOLUMNS(
'GNP_Country'[Country],
'GNP_Country'[GNP_Per_Capita],
"Total Sales", SUM(Sales[Sales Amount]))

SalesPredictionLINEST, defined as:

SalesPredictionLINEST = LINEST('CountryDetails'[Total Sales], 'CountryDetails'[GNP_Per_Capita])

Now I can use following measure expression to obtain the same result as above:

Linest_example =
VAR Example_GNP_Per_Capita = 50000

RETURN
MAX ( SalesPredictionLINEST[Slope1] ) * Example_GNP_Per_Capita
+ MAX ( SalesPredictionLINEST[Intercept] )

To learn more about these functions, see their documentation pages: LINEST and LINESTX.

Data Connectivity

Denodo (Connector Update)

The Denodo connector has been updated. Below are notes from the Denodo team.

Added option to the Denodo.Contents function to work around issues with relationship discovery in tables with a large amount of relationships.

Digital Construction Works Insights (Connector Update)

This connector’s Beta flag has been removed.

Profisee (Connector Update)

The Profisee connector has been updated. Below are notes from the Profisee team.

Updated error handling to support changes in the 2022 R2 release.
Removed the Beta flag

Cosmos DB V2 (Connector update)

This release contains an update to the Cosmos DB V2 connector that improves DirectQuery performance when a filter on partition key is specified.

Service

New ‘Get Data’ experience in the Power BI Service

As called out in the December blog, we have completed the process of removing the older ‘Get Data’ page in the Power BI service in favor of the new, comparable features available within workspaces. The change removed the entry points to the old ‘Get Data’ page as shown below.

From now on, you’ll be able to access comparable features within workspaces. If you want to upload a file to Power BI, such as a .pbix, .xlsx, or .rdl file to your workspace, you can use the Upload option that was released in November. This option lets you upload files from your local computer or connect to files on OneDrive or a SharePoint site. With this change, you’ll no longer be able to connect to files on personal OneDrive accounts.

If instead you want to create a dataset from Excel or CSV data, you can now access that functionality through the New > Dataset option in the workspace you want to create the dataset in.

We have also updated this Dataset option to take you to a new page with options to create a dataset off an Excel, CSV, or pasting in data. Once you select the file, the behavior used to generate the dataset is the same as previously used on the ‘Get Data’ page. Once the dataset is created, you’ll be taken to the dataset’s details page in the Data hub.

This month we are excited to release compact view and a few improvements to favorite and linked metrics.

Compact view

Scorecards were built for easy readability on larger screens, but they let you view only a few metrics at a time which led to a ton of scrolling when there were a lot of metrics. To make it easier to use we have released a denser version that doubles the number of metrics that can be viewed on the screen. By tightening the scorecard, removing the spacing between metric and the padding within a metric, we have designed a condensed view of the scorecard called the compact view in addition to the list (original) view.

You can switch to the compact view of the scorecard by using the view selector in the scorecard header.

The compact view is responsive, adjusting smoothly to various screen sizes and supports resizing of columns. You can do all the functionality that is available in the list view of the scorecard except editing and creating a new metric. This is disabled in the edit mode of compact view and can only be done in the list view.

In the next couple weeks, we will be adding two new settings in the column settings pane to customize the layout – text wrapping for metric name and horizontal scroll. Toggling on the horizontal scroll option will let you navigate left to right until you reach the final column. Whereas by setting to off, your view of this scorecard will leave off the columns that don’t fit on one screen without scrolling.

Linked metrics

In December we shipped linked metrics, that lets you show the same metric on multiple scorecards, across multiple workspaces. We shipped a few improvements to linked metrics this month. If you now link multiple metrics at once, the parent-child relationships and the metrics’ order from the source scorecard are preserved in the destination scorecard. And you can now use the “Set For All” option to apply permissions to descendant metrics on the source scorecard, even if there are linked metrics in between the parent and descendants.

Follow metric

Last year we shipped Follow metric functionality to quickly access metrics you’re interested in and stay up to date on the activity on these metrics through Teams notifications. Based on customer feedback we have changed the icon of follow metric to an alert icon for better association with notifications:

Paginated Reports

Paginated Reports Formatted Table authoring experience

In the last update, we introduced accessible navigation, move and resize as well as grand totals. This month we are introducing you to some improvements for paginated reports and additional capabilities when using formatted table.

Parameter Pane for Paginated Reports

Paginated reports are known for their use of parameters. Customers use parameters a lot, in fact, about 70% of all our user base uses parameters with paginated reports. We have made some accessibility improvements for better screen reader support and keyboard navigation. The date picker now has a “Go to today”, month, and year view to make it easier for date selection.

We made all dropdowns list values resizable, so you can drag and resize values with longer lengths. You will also notice performance improvements for parameters with long lists. To learn more about parameters, please check out our documentation.

Create a Paginated Report from a datamart

Customers can now create a paginated report directly from a datamart. There are two entry points:

Directly from the context menu of a datamart

Or from the Data hub when you click on the datamart to open datamart details.

Capacity Planning for Paginated Reports

For customers interested in migrating their enterprise on-premises Business Intelligence reports to Power BI, plan your Premium capacity to get the best performance out of your paginated reports. Review our capacity document before you decide which capacity to use. There are also links to other useful resources to check out in there as well.

With the announcement of support for paginated reports in Power BI Pro at the PASS Data Community Summit, we also published a migration guidance document for customers. Be sure to check out our new migration tool as well. If you want to continue the conversation and provide feedback to our team directly on ways we can continue to improve paginated reports, join our user research panel. We look forward to hearing from you!

Embedded

TypeScript support in the playground developer sandbox

We are excited to announce that Typescript is now available in the developer sandbox in the Power BI embedded playground! Until now, only JavaScript was available in the sandbox, and we’ve now made it possible to code in TypeScript as well.

The Power BI embedded playground is the go-to place for all things Power BI embedded, including the developer sandbox, showcases of different capabilities and sample scenarios, and resources for learning. The playground helps you experience Power BI embedded and gives you the tools you need to deliver compelling data experiences for your end users and empower them to take action based on the insights from your solutions data.

The developer sandbox gives you hands-on coding experience, allowing you to embed your own reports (or use our sample report) and interact with the Power BI client APIs. This means you can see instant results without having to build your own environment.

To switch to TypeScript in the sandbox, simply click on the new dropdown in the upper right corner and select your preferred language. If you are logged in and you choose to save your code in the playground, it will keep your selected language and load it the next time you visit the playground.

Visualizations (third party visuals)

Editor’s pick of the quarter

Balance Sheet Visual by K Team Solutions

Gantt Chart by MAQ Software

Supermetrics Charts – Tile grid map

Tachometer

valQ – Collaborate

Zebra BI Charts

New visuals in AppSource

Beeswarm Chart

Cumulative by sio2Graphs

DoubleYaxis

swUniaxialScatterPlot

swBoxPlot

sw3D_StackedBarDiagram

PictureThis

Milestone Trend Analysis Chart by Nova Silva

Based on your excellent feedback we have been able to further improve the Milestone Trend Analysis Chart.

Milestone Trend Analysis (MTA) is a simple method of early identifying deadline trends. It allows you to react in time with corrective actions. And it will raise the deadline awareness of all project participants and stakeholders.

Key updates in the Milestone Trend Analysis Chart are:

Zoom slider support to allow for easy navigation through time
Support for different marker icons
Direct labeling: allow the user to use series labels to replace the legend
Tooltip will include details of all overlapping markers
AppSource eCommerce transactability: purchase and manage your licenses like any Microsoft license
Dark mode support: all elements can be formatted to support a dark background

The Milestone Trend Analysis Chart makes use of the familiar standard Power BI user interface. No need to learn a new interface. Themes, interactive selection and tooltips are supported.

Don’t hesitate and try the Milestone Trend Analysis Chart now on your own data by downloading it from the AppSource. All features are available for free to evaluate this visual within Power BI Desktop.

Multiple Sparklines

New features were added to Multiple sparklines in Nov 22 update

1) Matrix format allowing you to display hierarchical data in rows

2) Multiple Axes for trend charts (sparklines, column chart, stacked column, combo chart)

Inforiver Charts 2.1 is now Microsoft Power BI certified

Inforiver Charts 2.1, the fastest way to visualize, explore and tell data stories, is now Microsoft Power BI certified. The latest version 2.1 features significant feature updates, user experience (UX) enhancements, and a new developer-only pricing plan that can be directly purchased from Microsoft AppSource. This new pricing plan allows for unlimited viewers and avoids license management & administration hassles.

What’s new in Inforiver Charts 2.1:

New visualizations

Executive Horizontal/Vertical funnel chart with secondary KPI
Stacked/paired breakdown waterfall charts
Slopegraph
Charts with integrated KPI card headers

New Use Cases

Banded bar and column charts for manufacturing and production KPI reporting
Create and display secondary KPIs on visuals (using ‘Others’ data field) with integrated formula engine.
Create stamp-sized, micro layouts and KPI spark cards

Enhanced User experience (UX) and productivity

For developers: Multiple toolbar modes (full or floating), quick feature search, on-canvas element interactivity, responsiveness, font scaling & more
For viewers: Increased reading mode options, contextual drilldown for exploratory analysis & more

Storytelling enhancements

Customizable legends, titles, KPI card headers, annotations, analytics and more

Themes

Choose between classic Power BI-like color themes, IBCS standards or custom themes matching your corporate branding.

See Inforiver Charts demos here.

accoPLANNING by Accobat

Enable writeback for any Power BI model. Use Power BI for planning and forecast.

With this visual you can now writeback numbers, text and dates on any existing or new Power BI model. Check out the new advanced features like leaf level shadow calculation. Enhanced copy and paste functionality and the direct purchase and maintenance of licensing through AppSource and Office 365.

Key new functionalities:

Shadow calculations:

Enables you to avoid performance overhead on your leaf calculations like Price * Quantity.
You will benefit from having the result of your calculations stored in the writeback table for use in other models or systems.
Realtime calculations while you are typing.

General enhancements

Optimized and extended functionality for copying and pasting of data from Excel, providing you with a fast and easy way to add data to your model.
Better handling of typing long comments and text with cell scrollbar and mouse over preview of text.

AppSource license handling:

You can now purchase license directly from the AppSource
Easy and flexible license allocation to relevant users though the Office 365 Admin portal

With the accoPLANNING visual, you combine the planning and reporting process in Power BI.

Drill Down Donut PRO by ZoomCharts

Drill Down Donut PRO for Power BI lets users create visually appealing donut charts for easy data exploration. All interactions take place on the chart itself using just the mouse, letting users enjoy intuitive interactions that guide the eye. Fully customize the look of your chart with advanced formatting options and even choose from different chart types

Main features:

Adjustable “Others” slice – set the number of visible slices and group the rest.
Cross-chart filtering – use the chart as a filter for the rest of the report.
Multi-level drill down – drill down up to 9 levels.
Full customization – customize slices, labels, and the legend.
- Desktop and mobile device navigation – explore charts the same way on any device.

Popular use cases:

Sales and marketing – measuring campaign performance and research results.
Human resources – staff composition, salary distribution, performance data.
Accounting and finance – income and expense analysis, billings, and debtors.
Project management – risk distribution, resource allocation.

Source: Power BI February 2023 Feature Summary

Power BI February 2023 Feature Summary