Power BI Paginated Reports Optional Parameters

[BradRose]

Hi:

I have watched the cfinlan video on Power BI Paginated Reports Part 11 - More Parameters Tips and Trick.  We are going to use the URL function to send parameter from a Power BI Dashboard to the Paginated report.  What i need help with is there a way to make the paramater optional?  If the users does not make a selection for one of the parameter it is ignored or a all for that paramter is send to the Paginated Parameter.

Thanks

Brad

[d_gosbell · Accepted solution]

The easiest way to make a parameter optional is to set a default value for the parameter

[d_gosbell · Accepted solution]

The easiest way to make a parameter optional is to set a default value for the parameter

[BradRose]

I tried the recomendation the issue is the default list is too long and will exceed the URL max lenth of 1027 characters.  Are there any other solutions?

Brad

[BradRose]

Sorry I meant 2,083 characters

[d_gosbell · Accepted solution]

It depends on why you have such a large list. If it's just a "select all" for a multi-select parameter then your other option is to either allow nulls or add a special value (something like "<All>") then you can put an expression into your query or an expression that builds your query to handle nulls or "<ALL>". The exact implementation depends on the query language you are using for your report, but the basic logic that is often used is

WHERE  @Parameter = "<All>"  OR MyColumn IN @Parameter

If you build your query using an expression you can even dynamically exclude the filter condition all together (but you loose some of the query designer tools if you switch your query over to using an expression instead of using a static query.)