Forum Discussion

janani80's avatar
janani80
Frequent Visitor
2 months ago

Free flowing text/date options

I want to build a dashboard where users can type department name and manager name manually and the table will populate all the colleagues falling under the manager in the mentioned department. I tried using power app dataverse but I dont have a dedicated environment. Is there any other option in Power BI desktop or Power BI app where I can create these textboxes and click enter will populate the required data?

3 Replies

  • BeaBF's avatar
    BeaBF
    Icon for Super User rankSuper User
    2 months ago

    janani80​ Hi!

    You can use Translytical Task Flows in Power BI to allow users to enter data directly from a report and trigger an action through a button.

    By combining user input controls with a Fabric data function, the values entered, such as the department and manager name, can be passed to a backend process. The function can then retrieve the relevant colleagues or write data back to a supported data source, and the report can be refreshed to display the result.

    You can find an overview and the requirements here:
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/translytical-task-flow-overview

    Please note that this is a Fabric capability and requires a supported Fabric capacity and data source; it is not a native free-text filtering feature available in a standard Power BI Desktop report.

    BBF

  • LumericVisuals's avatar
    LumericVisuals
    Icon for Resolver I rankResolver I
    30 days ago

    points them to the native slicer's search-box typeahead (List-format slicer → magnifying-glass icon) as the free, zero-setup fix, with the fuzzy-match limitation noted and a custom-visual pointer as the fallback.

  • jubinsoni's avatar
    jubinsoni
    Icon for Solution Sage rankSolution Sage
    12 days ago

    Hi janani80​,

    If the goal is only to find and show colleagues (nothing gets written back), you probably do not need Power Apps or a data function at all. Power BI now has a Text slicer (in preview in recent Desktop versions; enable it under File > Options > Preview features if you don't see it) where users type a value and press Enter, and it filters the report:

    Insert > Text slicer   (one for Department, one for Manager)
-> Field: Employees[Department] / Employees[Manager Name]
-> User types "Finance" + Enter, then "Smith" + Enter
-> Table visual with Employees[Name], [Title], [Email] filters to matches

    It matches on "contains", so partial names work. If you are on a version without it, a classic slicer with the search box enabled (slicer > ... > Search) gives a similar typed experience.

    If you also want the table to stay empty until both boxes are filled (so users never see the full list by accident), add a visual-level filter with a measure:

    Show Rows =
IF (
    ISFILTERED ( Employees[Department] ) && ISFILTERED ( Employees[Manager Name] ),
    1
)
-- table visual > Filters on this visual > Show Rows is 1

    So my overall approach would be:

    Read-only lookup -> Text slicers on Department + Manager
-> Measure filter so the table only shows after both are entered
-> Only use translytical flows / Power Apps if users must write data back

    AI-assisted drafting: AI was used to help structure and phrase this response. I reviewed and validated the technical content before posting.