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Option to FORMAT () values as numbers (not strings)

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Clara on 06 Nov 2018 20:57:37

The FORMAT () function should be extremely flexible for conditionally formatting measures based on slicers and so on. But right now not even chart visuals agree with it. Please fix it? Pretty please?

Comments (24)
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f3c30ce6 ea17-4dd3-a41a-0d746304f07a on 06 Jul 2020 00:07:50

RE: Option to FORMAT () values as numbers (not strings)

Yes, in addition, in Excel, negative number like -12345 can be formatted as a bracketed number (not text) as " (12,345). After formatting negative as bracketed number, it right align with positive numbers as Excel gives a space on far right of positive number to match the closing bracket of negative number. Thanks PBI team for great work but pls PBI team help to achieve this same formatting capability as this is a basic need of any table/matrix visual otherwise it is useless.

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a3309361 99be-ea11-a812-000d3a8ddfb2 on 06 Jul 2020 00:07:12

RE: Option to FORMAT () values as numbers (not strings)

This is definitely need. At the moment I have to create 3 additional measures for each KPI; MTD %. MTD $, MTD std

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fca255ba 8e3a-41c7-89ef-8651f59f8549 on 06 Jul 2020 00:04:31

RE: Option to FORMAT () values as numbers (not strings)

I support it, too. In MDX you can do it.

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4fac86c1 1577-4d69-ab9c-430f5c0f2c61 on 06 Jul 2020 00:04:00

RE: Option to FORMAT () values as numbers (not strings)

Yes please, it would enhance reports a huge amount for the format on charts to work dynamically.

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2628eb46 7d1a-48a5-af5c-358d244c6014 on 06 Jul 2020 00:02:14

RE: Option to FORMAT () values as numbers (not strings)

Very basic function in other BI tools! I support it!

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45dfc621 e0f2-4a0d-a882-01ebb77b2db0 on 05 Jul 2020 23:58:18

RE: Option to FORMAT () values as numbers (not strings)

I support it.

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ff3e3141 1205-4035-9530-254216ebc1d6 on 05 Jul 2020 23:56:35

RE: Option to FORMAT () values as numbers (not strings)

Hi, I definitely support this feature - I expected this to be basic functionality and I was quite disappointed to find out it does not work. Please, fix it. Thanks

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768795b3 6102-441a-afde-764bce02438d on 05 Jul 2020 23:53:11

RE: Option to FORMAT () values as numbers (not strings)

I am currently developing a Sales report for a multi-national company who has shops from around the world. The Headquarters in Europe wants to see Sales reports in EUR as that's what makes sense to them. However, a big share of the retail revenue is coming from Australia in transaction currency in AUD. Headquarters also fixes the exchange rates that we need to use for reporting purposes. The daily currency market movement is irrelevant as financially reporting is done only monthly. I didn't want to create two different measures like Actual MTD and Actual MTD (EUR). I preferred to use only one measure called Actual MTD.

When we deal with currencies, we always talk currency value and symbol to make sense. So naturally I had to add two parameters and control the calculation and DISPLAY of the Actual MTD:

ShowEuroCurrencyValue = TRUE
ShowEuroCurrencySymbol = TRUE

But the second parameter would expose this Power BI limitation in formatting (converting numeric to text). The solution I came up is instead of changing the format on the measure itself, I had to add a Card on the page at the top to show viewers either AUD or EUR.

Scott

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d0a862d5 e8d6-4cd1-854f-b5a6eed10f2a on 05 Jul 2020 23:51:28

RE: Option to FORMAT () values as numbers (not strings)

Being able to dynamically set the datatype of a measure is key for formatting a column with multi data types. For example, I have a field filled with answers to survey questions. These answers can be anything from dates, text, currency, number, or percentage. I want these values to be displayed in a matrix visual as one column with the appropriate formatting (e.g. $, %, etc)

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ffa775a5 744c-4c03-80f4-b8fb61e2d506 on 05 Jul 2020 23:50:29

RE: Option to FORMAT () values as numbers (not strings)

I need this so much as well..