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Define default selection for a column in the model

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Marco Russo on 21 Jul 2020 16:13:16

Create a property that defines the default selection for a column in a table. It is very needed in Calculation Groups, but all the tables/columns of a model could benefit.
If that column is not referenced in the report, it should be filtered by default.
Ideally, the default is defined by a DAX expression, so that it could be adapted to the user connected to a data model dynamically.
It is acceptable that there should be a single selection, it is not necessary to support multiple selections for this feature.
If a slicer is applied to a report, it should provide the default selection, even though the user can make a different choice. This is the only change required to the report user interface layer of Power BI.
This feature should be similar to the "default member" property in a multidimensional model.

Comments (14)
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Anders Tranholm on 18 Sep 2024 12:27:07

RE: Define default selection for a column in the model

Missing this feature a lot.In the OLAP cubes we have, a script is running at time of update, to default the date-dimension to yesterday. This making all time-intelligence measure work without having to select the next date manually in all reports.

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Katrin Röder on 03 Sep 2024 15:44:32

RE: Define default selection for a column in the model

I would really need this options

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Jürg Jenny on 28 Mar 2023 09:35:51

RE: Define default selection for a column in the model

very much needed

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Keith Dunn on 24 Jan 2022 20:35:08

RE: Define default selection for a column in the model

Absolutely right on the mark. Easily the most frustrating limitation of tabular cubes, especially when working with time intelligence and period calculations. This is the one hole I have found in tabular that I just can't work around.

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Christophe PASSUELLO on 03 Aug 2021 15:52:32

RE: Define default selection for a column in the model

This feature is so much needed. I miss this MD cube feature

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Pär Adeen on 06 Apr 2021 20:16:32

RE: Define default selection for a column in the model

Also... or am I steeling this tread...
Applying this on calculation groups, we would like to secure that the users only selects one item. In the GUI you can configure most of the slizers as "Single select" or "Requires singels selections". Specifically for calculations groups you would like to enforce this from the model so that the GUI can pick this up and pre-configure the slizers.

Is it needed to create a separate thread for this, or can it be handled within this case (if Marco agrees)

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Pär Adeen on 06 Apr 2021 19:04:52

RE: Define default selection for a column in the model

This is very good for enforcing calculation groups to always step-in, giving my vote for this.
But it also creates some questions for me.

1) Will this setting within the data model be imutable. Imutable in the way that it can be overwritten by filtering other values, but it can never be fully released. Or can it be released by adding a slicer with nothing selected (by unselecting the default selection). This is how I understod Marco.
But will this also be true for the sidebar filters (visual level filters, page level filters, and report level filters)?

2) Does cross-filtering count as beeing filtered? I.E. if the column is cross-filtered, will the default filter be released or not

3) Another question is what behaivour we would like to have if we add another visual to the page with the column having a column with a model based pre-selected column as a category in this visual. Shall the default filter setting then be released or not.

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Ellen Grantz on 31 Aug 2020 14:09:41

RE: Define default selection for a column in the model

This is a great idea -- and I applaud all the Power BI Product Team's efforts to make Power BI easier to use - they will pay off in market share and leadership in the analytics space. As more students look to corporations to gain new skills, many will gravitate to tools that are easier to learn. And small businesses need to take a very hard look at the TCO of Power BI - for us it meant coming "back to the garden" with an Azure / Windows VM, rolling out Power BI and then far more training than expected. The learning curve is unnecessarily steep and repetitive tasks such as Marco is pointing out should be high on the list for improving. Consider how many students are looking to corporations like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Tableau for skills training - this is a huge opportunity for Power BI and it fits with Microsoft's ethos of empowering people.

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John Tunnicliffe on 18 Aug 2020 15:41:17

RE: Define default selection for a column in the model

Well overdue in Tabular!

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Jani Zajc on 15 Aug 2020 12:16:09

RE: Define default selection for a column in the model

Agreed!