topic Re: power bi report builder - parameter property - "allow blank value" in Report Server

power bi report builder - parameter property - "allow blank value"

garythomannCoGC — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 06:18:08 GMT

Revisting Power BI Report Builder (SSRS in my case) after some years and wondering how the 'Allow blank value ("")' property works in Power BI Report Builder?

Had a play with a report I am tasked with fixing but the 'Allow blank value ("")' property does not seem to do anything.
The parameters to this paginated report are all multi-value. Values for these parameters are sourced via some with dax querys and some with direct values inputed.
I even tried entering a parameter value of "" as seemingly suggested by the ("") suffix to the property label 🙂 with no luck.

Any directions or pointers to articles that thoroughly detail its usage would be appreciated. I have tried but can not find as yet a good definitive article. Let alone an article highlighting the effects of combining 'Allow mulitple values' and 'Allow blank value ("")' parameter properties.

Re: power bi report builder - parameter property - "allow blank value"

garythomannCoGC — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 22:58:06 GMT

Note to self to cross check with these issues

Unable to use "Allow null value" on report builder 15.x version

Re: power bi report builder - parameter property - "allow blank value"

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 07:04:01 GMT

Hi garythomannCoGC ,

Power BI Report Server is based on SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), it brings the ability to work with Power BI reports completely on premises in addition to all the other capabilities of SSRS.

Regarding your question, perhaps you can refer to the following article to see if it can give you some help.

Your Reporting Services report has a multi-value parameter, but it does not display NULL in the parameter drop-down list along with other parameter values. in SSRS, multi-value parameters cannot contain NULL values, so the user cannot filter NULL values in the data.
However, sometimes user requirements indicate the need to be able to filter data for NULL values, so in this article below, the authors demonstrate in detail how to allow NULL values in multi-value SSRS report parameters.

Allow NULL value in Multi Value Report Parameter

Also，you can refer to some troubleshooting situations：

passing null values in reportviewer control parameters

Hope it helps,

Community Support Team _ Caitlyn

If this post helps then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Re: power bi report builder - parameter property - "allow blank value"

garythomannCoGC — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 07:04:34 GMT

Mmm somehow the only reponse got upgraded to 'Solved!' Hilarious, wasn't me.

Anyway still no answer to the 'Allow blank value ("")' property nor documentation. All my parameters have 'Allow multiple values' set. So maybe that is the issue, when not a multi-value parameter then the setting does something exciting :}

I have decided to as a work around to set

'All' to mean give me everything including blanks.

'NA' to mean 'blanks'.

'blanks' can be any of blank, null, 0, ‘Select’, ‘NA’, ‘Not Applicable’, "", " " as there is lots of interesting data :}

Re: power bi report builder - parameter property - "allow blank value"

Jhon_Smitrh — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 10:51:47 GMT

You might also consider adding a clear default or explanatory note when allowing blank values, as it helps reduce confusion for report users. In some cases, pairing blank options with conditional logic can prevent unexpected results in visuals. I’ve seen similar clarity approaches applied outside BI as well, such as how Property Search Palm presents optional data fields without affecting accuracy. A short description or validation rule often improves overall usability.