Forum Discussion
Hide/Show Column in Table Visual Matrix on Report
Not to sound too harsh or bitter, but I have basically stopped using PBI. Not just because of this, but this and countless other things that "couldn't be done" and/or required "workarounds", etc.
I'm defintely not a newb when it comes to this but I feel PBI isn't ready for primer time. I decided to wait a while (long while, it seems) until is more mature.
What things can't you do without "work arounds" that have caused you to walk away?
It is now possible to have columns with different formatting - it was released last month.
Not trying to be flip about it, but there were too many to count. You should understand that, initially, I really liked PBI and spent significant amounts of time and effort to learn it; so walking away wasn't done lightly.
If you want something, take for example the problem presented in this very thread- the thread is more than 3 years old! The problem, it seems, still is out there.
For another example, I just happened to receive (conincidelntally, I believe) a few hours after I have received this thread update, an update from another thread I was involved with. . That one is also more than 3 years old and despite the fact that it's marked as "Solved" it is still open and not solved! It may be entirely possible that this particular thread was the final straw for me: the fact that I could not just click an option to "prevent sorting" automatically was, and still is, absolutely astounding to me.
This is just off the top of my head. Just check in this forum and in other PBI-related forums and you'll see how many times the word "workaround" is being used. This isn't an emoji app on a cell phone - we should have to resort to tricks like that.Everyone needs to make their own call if a product is right for them. But surely if there are too many issues for you to count, you should be able to mention, say just 2 more in addition to this thread. The one you posted above is not a work around. The default sort of every column is alpha numeric. There is a clearly defined and robust process to change the sort order - you simply specify the order you want, and then it will use that sort order. I'm not sure how else it could work. Power BU cannot just "know" the sort order you want.
I'm just trying to understand what it is that makes the tool unworkable for you.
I've been out of the loop for about two years, and since then a lot of water flowed under a lot of bridges, so I think I should be to be excused for not being able to come up with more examples.
But just to focus on the problem in that other thread: I always believed the product has to serve the user, not the other way around; so while I appreciate the fact that the "default sort of every column is alpha numeric" - the default is a problem for me as a user. So the product needs to either change the default to "not sorted", or offer a simple check-the-box option of "no sort". Please take look at Message 15 of that other thread and tell me if you sincerely believe that what is described there consititues "a clearly defined and robust process to change the sort order".
It's strange to me that, after all the time that has passed, I still feel greatly annoyed when I read that exchange...