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BI in SQL vNext

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Drill-through, actions & parameter passing - just make it work

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Paul Turley on 05 Feb 2015 01:56:52

A truly functional BI solution requires every dashboard, report or navigation UI to work together. This means that we need the ability to define actions and pass context information from one report interface to another - and there are far too many ways to do this in limited ways that don't work consistently across the products in the "integrated" BI arsenal.
In my perfect world, I define a cube action in SSAS (multi or Tabular) and that action gets surfaced in whatever reporting tool we choose to use (Excel/Excel Services, SSRS, Power View or Power BI dashboard). Through whatever action/parameter mechanism, the user is able to click, hover, hold and tap and use the action to navigate to another (SSRS/Excel/PV/web) report in the context of their filter and selection choices.

Comments (18)
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03daa632 76a8-4518-9cb6-fbdfb2221059 on 05 Jul 2020 23:07:24

RE: Drill-through, actions & parameter passing - just make it work

I see the 'SSAS Action' functionality as a core SSAS feature.

The Microsoft SSAS multi-dimensional tutorial at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/analysis-services/lesson-8-defining-actions starts off by stating;

"An action is just a Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) statement that is stored in Analysis Services and WHICH CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO CLIENT APPLICATIONS and started by a user.".

That page was published in July 2017.

I'd expect '3rd party' client applications like Tableau to struggle to seamlessly incorporate this functionality into into their client application; but it's a surprise to learn that Microsoft's own 'rising star' client visualisation technology/app still can't do this. Sorry, but it feels a little like false advertising in a way.

Microsoft, I've previously read you invented self-service BI in 2008. Chop chop please Microsoft.

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a92640e2 9aa9-4bbe-ac79-fd46e98c9402 on 05 Jul 2020 23:06:10

RE: Drill-through, actions & parameter passing - just make it work

Really, build it! Current Drill-through implementation in PowerBI is sorely lacking. Needs to be able to pass context of more than just the item being drilled through, but other context that is applied to filter the dataset.

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d5e74759 fb5b-4ea5-9dd8-1ca6da1ca913 on 05 Jul 2020 23:04:20

RE: Drill-through, actions & parameter passing - just make it work

Build it!! :-)

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4a8b57ab dcb7-45bf-b862-fe07e3c07ae8 on 05 Jul 2020 22:45:05

RE: Drill-through, actions & parameter passing - just make it work

This would really be a good feature to have.

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e0c2e491 186a-425e-9d48-a9e027d3ef53 on 05 Jul 2020 22:39:21

RE: Drill-through, actions & parameter passing - just make it work

Another bit of functionality lacking in Power BI that's making it difficult to move away from Tableau

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68037e63 66fa-4adb-baca-5e4043edbdba on 05 Jul 2020 22:37:44

RE: Drill-through, actions & parameter passing - just make it work

Any updates on this? This is such a fundamental feature to be able to build a professional, user friendly BI solution.

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038af28e 5cf2-412e-b257-5920539c061d on 05 Jul 2020 22:35:35

RE: Drill-through, actions & parameter passing - just make it work

Could not agree more, we have tools in the same tool set but aren't quite there based on the lack of the integration between them, like passing between Power BI and an SSRS report.

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68037e63 66fa-4adb-baca-5e4043edbdba on 05 Jul 2020 22:34:04

RE: Drill-through, actions & parameter passing - just make it work

Please could you provide an update on this - this really fundamental feature for any interactive visualisation application.

Thanks

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203f6281 b2ec-423f-8c06-1de616e3ccbf on 05 Jul 2020 22:29:14

RE: Drill-through, actions & parameter passing - just make it work

Is this dead, or did everyone just get discouraged and give up. I am on the verge of recommending Tableau because of "Action Filters" alone.

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40300149 bb0a-43cd-88f3-322b4547038f on 05 Jul 2020 22:19:00

RE: Drill-through, actions & parameter passing - just make it work

The lack of Drill-Through capability is a major limiting factor for moving to PowerBI from our current provider. I want to be on PowerBI, and this would make it happen.