Report Builder - how to hide columns, *but* have them still show up in the Excel export?

[mmace1]

In Power BI Report Builder, I want some columns to be hidden, but have them show up when exporting to Excel.

So far I've tried:

• Right Click the column > Visibility
• Show or hide based on an expression
• =ucase(Globals!RenderFormat.Name) <> “IMAGE”

And that hides the columns from the report. But then when exported to Excel - those columns stay hidden / aren't exported, when I do want them to appear in the export.

[TomMartens]

Hey @mmace1 ,

I'm wondering if this expression will change anything:

=IIF(UCase(Globals!RenderFormat.Name) <> "IMAGE",true,false)

Hopefully, this provides what you are looking for.

Regards,

Tom

[mmace1]

@TomMartens Same behavior - that formula also hides the columns, but those hidden columns still don't show up when exporting to Excel.  

[TomMartens · Accepted solution]

Hey @mmace1 , this is odd.

This is a very simple table without groups (just columns):

The little text box on the right contains this expression (consider it a sanity check):

= Globals.RenderFormat.Name

As I want to hide the column Color Name if I do not export to Excel, I select the column

I change the visibility of the column

The option

The Expression

=iif(Globals.RenderFormat.Name = "EXCELOPENXML", false, true)

Maybe this is important

This how the report looks inside my workspace:

And this is how the Excel file looks after exporting (of course the screenshots show just a fraction of rows)

Hopefully, this helps to tackle your challenge.

Regards,

Tom

[mmace1]

@TomMartens I don't know what in your instructions is different from what I was doing, but it works now - thanks!

I'm apparently at the "Instructor: Now click the start menu" "User: It doesn't do anything when I click it" stage of report builder. 

[TomMartens]

Ha, I exactly know what you are talking about.

Nevertheless, it works now 👍