Let's continue where we left in the last blog. As we are quite familiar with the concept of parameters in Tableau Public (Creating Parameter in Tableau). In today's blog, we are going to create parameters in Power BI. Parameter is one of the most used features in Power BI as it saves time and makes the dashboard more dynamic in nature. You can easily create parameters in Power BI just by selecting the transform data and on top of that window you can see "Manage Parameter".
In this blog, the main objective is to see how parameter works and how it can improve the reports. To start off I am taking the Global Sample Superstore data into account. Before using parameters if we select regions and sales together we get a simple bar graph. Along with it if I add states then you can see all the states and their sales in the bar graph.
It looks great as a method of representation but if your focus is data visualization then it looks really primitive in nature and not easy to read as it has a lot of states and you need to scroll every time. To make it a plain sailing process we will introduce parameters. To do that we will switch to the transform data tab and click on manage parameters where you can find create parameter.
This tab will pop up once you add a parameter. Let's take a closer look at what this pop-up has to say. Starting with the name it suggests what name you are going to provide to the parameter. The type reflects the nature of your data in the current scenario we are dealing with regions so I selected text. For suggested values, we have 4 different regions so we added them. Once you click the ok you will see that the regions column reflects the same values as it was before.
In the above images, one in yellow represents the region just after creating the parameter. That's the reason it still shows the same region because you haven't applied the parameter after creating it. Once you applied the parameter to your table you can see it will select the current value i.e. "South". Let's see how to apply parameters to your column.
To do so select the drop-down option available on the regions tab. You can find the text filter option(first picture) and select equal. It will lead you to another pop-up (second picture)where you need to select the parameter. After applying it you will get "South" as the value in the regions column as it was your current value. After exiting the transform tab you get the graph only for south states.
Let's make it more user-friendly by providing the user an option to select the region every time when they open this report. To do so we need to go back to the transform section and remove the filtered rows which we added previously. You can get that on the right side under the applied steps. After that go to the regions column and right-click you will get a drop-down menu where you need to select add the query.
After selecting the add a new query option it will take you to the pop-up(second picture). All the entries will be the same as before the only change here is in the suggested values you need to select the query. It will take the region available as a query. After clicking ok you can select the region and you will get the graphs accordingly. For instance, I have selected west and I will get sales for every west state. Whenever you open this report Power BI will ask you which region you want to select.
Parameters prove out to be a great help and in the above example, we can see how it makes the data visualization so intuitive in nature and gives your end-user a better understanding of your data.
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