Bug: Can't Format "Specific column" for fields with same name

[jengwt]

Hello, I'd like to report a small bug where one can't format "Specific columns" where the fields have the same name.

Only the first field in the visual is actually modified, but it PBI behaves as if both fields are selected. The second field can't actually be selected or modified.

For instance, see the below screenshot in which I have a table with two sets of columns for values and quantities. I should not have to, necessarily, explicitly define two fields when visual context makes it clear what they are. Also, it's what my stakeholders want.

Notice that, in the Visualizations pane, I have "Pct of Inv" selected, and it has both of those-named fields selected. Yet it only center-aligns the first field.

Yes, changing the names of the fields does solve this problem, but that doesn't change that this is a bug with how this formatting function should work.

[Allen_R]

A workaround for this bug is to first ensure that each column has a unique name (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.).  Then format each column the way you desire.  Once formatted, change the columns names to whatever you want, including identical column names.  This seemed to work for me.

[jengwt]

I noticed that this bug is still in place. I also noticed a similar bug with the vanilla Buttons; their formatting options do not display consistently when selected. Sometimes, the formatting pane will just say, "there are no formatting options for this visual," or something to that effect. Pretty annoying when one is trying to set up button-controlled bookmarks.

[jengwt · Accepted solution]

I filed ticket 2208150040002516. They did find this to be a bug, and it was supposedly added to their backlog to fix, but was understandably low-priority. So we will just have to wait and hope they get to it eventually.

[lbendlin]

You can raise an issue at https://issues.powerbi.com . If you have a Pro license you can consider raising a Pro ticket at https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/support/pro/

[jengwt]

I haven't had great experiences with support in the past, but now I'm a tenant admin; I'll try filing a ticket that way. 👍

[lbendlin]

it sometimes takes a while to get to the right person, but so far all of our Pro tickets have eventually been resolved.