Slicers - Blank Values when published - September 2016

[jude_expedio]

The September release seems to be adding Blank Values into Slicers when published.  They are OK in the Desktop version, and the workaround of creating a Table first and seting Visual Level Filters to Is Not Blank is no longer working when published.  I have only noticed the problem in this new version.  Has anyone else come up with a work around?  Thank you!

[Anonymous]

This (Blank) thing on slicers really bugs me but here's a silly and stupid workaround:

In Power BI Desktop.

Create a new table with "Enter Data". Name the table the same as the column you're slicing.

First column should have the same name as the column you're trying to slice. In that column, type in all the unique values manually. Then create another column for your desired outcome. It can be whatever values you want really, even the same as in the first column.

Load this table and mow make sure this has active relationship with the original column you want to slice.

Now slice the original column and drag the new table to 

Then drag the new table to the report level filters and uncheck (Blank).

Ps. If you have many unique values in the column you want to slice, consider creating another query for that instead of manually typing all results.

[KHorseman]

@Anonymous I get the blank item even in a table where it's just unique items for the slicer column. The Sales Rep table has two columns: Name and ID#. No blanks in either one. But when that's connected to another table and used as a slicer, (Blank) shows up again.

[Anonymous]

@KHorseman: did you drag the column to the Report level filters and unchecked (Blank) ?

[KHorseman]

@Anonymous yeah I can work around this but I have to do that with every slicer in every report. If there are no blank values in the column I'm using as a slicer there should be no blank value in the slicer, plain and simple. This is yet another blank bug in Power BI. They love to display blanks where they shouldn't. A new unnecessary and unwanted blank shows up with every monthly release.

[Anonymous]

@KHorseman: Agreed. However, this will probably not be a prob in the coming weeks/months.

[KHorseman]

Also every time I try to filter out blank from something that doesn't actually have blanks, I get an error message that says there was a problem rendering the report. If I close the filter dialog it still filters correctly but that error message still pops up every time. Probably because I'm trying to filter out blanks that don't exist. So this thing is broken in two ways: it shouldn't show the blanks in the first place, and you get a meaningless error message when you try to remove the nonexistent blanks.

[Sean]

They need to add in the Paint Brush (Format) Menu of the Slicer => On/ Off Switch for Blanks

Either there or in the Menu the 3 dots ... in the top right corner of the visualization itself!

[v-sihou-msft]

@jude_expedio

As I tested in Power BI Desktop (2.39.4526.362 64-bit), it always adds "Blank" item Slicer. But setting Visual Level Filters to "Is Not Blank" only works for numeric field. But for text field, it still shows black values in visual even you set Visual Level Filters to "Is Not Blank". I suggest you remove the blank rows in Query Editor or create a calculated table with blank rows filtered.

Regards,

[KHorseman]

It shows the blank item even if there are no blank rows in the column. For instance I have a Sales Rep table. It has four rows, zero blanks in the "Name" column. If I use it as a slicer, there is a blank item.

[laciodrom_80]

@KHorseman same problem: with previous version I was able to hidden blank value with filters workaround, but with september release I can't do it anymore 

Will be the problem resolved with october release?

[Seth_C_Bauer]

@laciodrom_80 The trick to start a visual in a table, apply filters and then change to a slicer was removed several releases ago. This "Blank" value topic alone is one of the main reasons I'm not happy it went away. You can vote this "hack" to be re-applied in the ideas section - here.

[KHorseman]

@Seth_C_Bauer ugh, I'd rather they just make the thing work correctly without any hacks. Like you do with software that people are paying money for...