Power BI Formatting Report Visuals - Snack 16

You probably noticed a few things about the visuals added that you probably do not care for.  Or at least, whomever you are building the report will not want to see.

The little table has values that go down to the penny, which is usually not needed for financials.  The "Sum of Profit" visual says "Sum of Profit," which is not particularly descriptive.

The visual that we added last time is titled, "Sum of Sales, Sum of Gross Sales and Sum of Profit by Year and Quarter."  While that is relatively descriptive, it is not exactly what we want there.  Also, the titles on the X/Y axis seem a little redundant, displaying information that is already highly visible.

This is where formatting the visual comes in and can be very useful in making things look just the way our audience would rather it appear.

Let's slip into EDIT mode on your report and make a few changes.

There are few things to know first that will really help.

After selecting a visualization, when you choose "Format your visual" under Visualizations, there are two tabs under that, "Visual" and "General."

• Visual Tab is for adjusting just about anything related to the presentation of the graphics and the data displayed inside visualization.
• General Tab is for adjusting the overall appearance of the visual, such as its size, shape, color, and other effects.

Also notice that there is a Search box at the top of those two points. There are so many adjustments that can be made to visuals that it can be a little difficult to find the right setting sometimes.  Look for them using this search box.

I am not going to make you do that today.  For now ... 

• Click the Table visual to select it for modification
• Under the Visualizations panel, 
• Choose "Format your visual" (NOTE:  To adjust the decimal, we can go two directions
• Visual Tab (adjusts the decimal places for this specific column in this visualization)
• Choose "Specific Column"
• From the drop-down under "Apply settings to"
• Choose Series "Sum of Gross Sales"
• Expand Values
• Change "Value decimal places" to "0"
• General Tab (adjusts the decimal places for this data point anywhere it appears in this visualization)
• Data Format
• Under "Apply settings to"
• Choose "Sum of Sales"
• Expand Format Options
• Format = "Whole number"
• Turn ON the "Thousands separator"
• NOTE:  You might need to expand your visual now and/or expand the column size, lest the wrap themselves.  We already covered how to do that.
• Click the Card visual to select it for modification
• Double-click the column name under "Fields" 
• Rename to "Profit"
• Click on that Bar Graph visual to select it for modification
• Under the Visualization panel, 
• Choose "Format your visual"
• Visual Tab
• Expand X-Axis
• Turn "Title" off
• Expand Y-Axis
• Turn "Title" off
• General Tab
• Expand "Title"
• in the "Text" box, type "Gross Sales vs Sales vs Profit"
• FILE
• SAVE

Again, there are a multitude of settings under "Format your visual."

There is a safety net for each of these settings too.  

After making an adjustment on any particular setting, "Reset to default" will light up and that setting can be restored to its original state.  Try it out.  You can always exit and come back without saving.

That is all for this round!  See you next time.

Tao Verse 10

Hold fast to the Power of the One

Kong to Casper

An unexpected surprised greeted us in the morning at hotel the next morning.  The supplied breakfast consisted of much more than the heartbreaking "continental" variety.  A wealth of eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and waffles joined in the fray and in no time, with a fully belly, we bid farewell to our neighbor King Kong.

Rocketing down the ramp at Little Salt Creek, the interstate rolled out across the Platte River valley under blue skies and temperatures that would reach in the low 30s Celsius.  In as much time as it took to take a breath, it was clogged with high-speed traffic.  Everyone seemingly raced for the same destination, hoping to arrive first.  Construction threatened to foul the pace for all involved.  It certainly made for a more intense experience, if nothing else.  Side-by-side with unrelenting truck traffic at 120 kph can be quite daunting. Collapsing all of that into one lane, between concrete barriers can be disheartening.  One forgets about everything beyond self-preservation.

Ogallala offered two lanes and substantial relief, aiming straight for Lake McConaughy, as if this were the path of choice with many before.  It enabled a more windows down and music environment, skirting along the southern-most extent of the Nebraska Sand Hills without missing a beat The oppression and monotony of the interstate quickly faded from memory.

A miscalculation caused us to miss a return visit to Scottsbluff. Plans to take a quick tour to the top and break there for lunch went down in a fiery crash when a missed left turn found us on the north side of town.  While the view felt every bit worth taking the time to diverge, something told us to press on.  

Wyoming arrived shortly thereafter, unassuming and unannounced.  We hardly realized its presence until we were already well into the argument.  Fort Laramie, and our proximity to having join with the interstate again, turned the conversation towards taking a break.  It went flying by, though our maps indicated were barreling fast towards other points of interest noted during the planning process.  

Over last two hundred years or so, everyone passing through took some time to register themselves upon the nearby soft and chalky limestone formations that rise above the North Platte River Valley.  We arrived at Register Cliff State Historic Site to ensure we were properly registered but found no place left to make our mark.  Prior trappers and pioneers had consumed nearly every square inch of space available, leaving only enough room for folks through to the 1980's.  There had been a lot of traffic.

Most of that traffic occurred between 1841 and 1869, as the masses migrated along the Oregon Trail, searching for that promised land in America.  Their wagons etched an impression on the surrounding limestone cutting deeper than any of their signatures.

It is a quiet place now, atop a hill overlooking the North Platte River.  It seems odd finding these old wagon tracks up high, when a wide and flat river valley lie just below.  They were either missing the mark completely, avoiding something down there, or the landscape must have been decidedly different.

Lucindy Rollins might have been able to explain the situation, except that she passed on earlier than anticipated on these bluffs.  Her name is forever immortalized upon an obelisk dedicated to her memory here.   She never made it her appointment or to whatever it was that coerced her into making the long trek across the forbidding outback of the United States at that time.  

Intent on making our appointment to arrive in Casper prior to dusk, we turned our full attention to that task. I-25 assisted in that process, as well as a speed limit suitable to crossing distances in a short amount of time.  They should post these signs everywhere!  

We were successful in our goal.  Our camp host greeted us under a quickly darkening sky, and by the time we arrived at the recommended J's Pub & Grill, darkness had consumed what was left of it.  We survived a mediocre meal there and returned to collapse into bed without further incident.  Tomorrow would be a bit less harried, undoubtedly.

Sunset and Cookies

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry," and the start of the expedition out to the Yellow Stone proved no exception.  Plans to arrive in Lincoln for sunset were quickly derailed by a need for sustenance.  We could have forged ahead but maintaining amicable relations among our crew felt more important.

Approaching Tracy, a prior recommendation came to mind, and the Country Cafe happily supported the previously mentioned effort with a quick and delicious meal that surpassed expectations.  Fat and happy, nobody cared that the last 100 or so kilometers of the day would be under cover of darkness.

A pause for fuel on a bluff near Rock Port in Missouri enabled an opportunity to momentarily admire the ongoing descent of the great ball of fire in the sky.  The situation left little time for any other diversions, though that was understood to be a facet of this leg of the journey.  Indeed, we hardly even noticed passing through Iowa.

Lincoln appeared shortly after without incident, and any concerns related to our first host quickly evaporated.  Bridgepoint Inn & Suites offered a friendly, clean and well-kept establishment.  While nothing fancy, those three points go a long way towards supporting the proper state of mind on any expedition.   

Dusting ourselves off and settling in, a celebratory walk across the street enabled acquisition of a dose of hot chocolate and cookies.  That put the day in perspective, readying the soul for the coming stretch across Nebraska and Wyoming in our quest to reach Yellowstone.

Power BI Report Chart Visual - Snack 15

That last visual proved interesting.  Let's add something a bit more interactive.

Jump into EDIT mode on your report.

Ensure you do not have anything select by clicking in the blank space.

A quick double-check is to look at the "Build Visual" section of the Visualizations pane.  "Values" should display nothing more than "Add data fields here."

Let's do that.

1. Drag-and-Drop the date field to that little box.
1. A new visual should appear with the date
2. It is broken out by Year, Month, Quarter, Day.
1. That is good.
2. Do the same and Add Sales.
1. You should be able to Drag-and-Drop it just below the Date portion.
3. Add Gross Sales.
4. Add Profit.
1. We are back to a boring table.
5. Under the Visualizations pane, 
1. click on the icon for "Line and clustered column chart."
1. The boring table should change to a fancy bar chart.
1. If it does, great!
2. If it does not, and only a new blank visualization appears, that means your table was not selected when you clicked that icon.  Select your table visual and try again.
1. You can also select the other blank visual, hit that little ". . ." menu and choose to remove it.
6. Stretch out your new visual so you can see more of it.
1. It is probably only displaying 2 years columns, and how come there is a line on the icon and none on the chart?
7. Return to the Visualizations pane,
1. click and drag "Sum of Profit" down to where it says, "Add data fields here" in the section beneath that for "Line-y axis."
1. Ta-Da!  We have a line!
2. Still a little boring though.
8. Hover over the visual.
1. Click the icon that looks like two down arrows that split into two.
9. Save.

That's better.  Your screen should look relatively similar to the screenshot.

Make absolutely sure you saved before reading on.

Did you SAVE?

Are you sure?

You should probably exit and come back into the report to ensure you do not muss anything.

There is no exit.  I am not sure why.  Close the tab.

Access the report again.

Now, about the arrows ... 

The arrows enable you to interact with the visual, as well as set the default appearance.

When I first started helping folks out with using Power BI, I made a little cheat sheet for these little icons that shows up below.

Play around with the arrows to better understand how they work.