Manually filling numbers in Power BI for visuals (Similar to What If Parameter)

[deepanwita25]

Hi All,

I need to understand if it is feasible to fill numbers manually in Power BI or if there is a plugin for it.

Say I have a table with 4 columns: SalesPerson, Sales, Sales Commission
Sales Commision is a % of respective SalesPerson's Sales. Ex: 5% of Sales for SalesPersonA

Now I have a form where I should be manually able to input sales comission % such that value for sales commission is calculated.

This is achievable with a What If Parameter. But in What If Parameter I will have to generate a series for the percentage and put that value in a slicer. I want to be able to fill it manually in a box and not select any thing from a slicer.

I want to develop a feature like this in my Power BI desktop. I am checking for feasibility. The example above is hypothetical.

Thank you

[Ritaf1983 · Accepted solution]

Hi @deepanwita25 

Power BI does not support direct manual entry of numbers into fields or visuals like Excel does. The closest alternative is using a What-If Parameter, which creates a parameter table with a predefined range of values that users can select from via a slicer. Unfortunately, there is no built-in functionality in Power BI for entering values manually into a box or field directly.

Here are some possible workarounds:

1. What-If Parameter Table: You can generate a parameter table where users can select a percentage from a slicer, though this requires defining a range of values beforehand.

2. PowerApps Integration: If you need more dynamic manual input, consider integrating PowerApps. PowerApps can be used to create a form that allows users to manually enter values, and these values can be written directly into a database rather than used for filtering purposes. This allows for a more interactive experience and real-time updates of your Power BI report based on user input.

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

[Ritaf1983 · Accepted solution]

Hi @deepanwita25 

Power BI does not support direct manual entry of numbers into fields or visuals like Excel does. The closest alternative is using a What-If Parameter, which creates a parameter table with a predefined range of values that users can select from via a slicer. Unfortunately, there is no built-in functionality in Power BI for entering values manually into a box or field directly.

Here are some possible workarounds:

1. What-If Parameter Table: You can generate a parameter table where users can select a percentage from a slicer, though this requires defining a range of values beforehand.

2. PowerApps Integration: If you need more dynamic manual input, consider integrating PowerApps. PowerApps can be used to create a form that allows users to manually enter values, and these values can be written directly into a database rather than used for filtering purposes. This allows for a more interactive experience and real-time updates of your Power BI report based on user input.

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

[deepanwita25]

Thank you so much for the solution. I had in my mind Power Apps. Can you help me on the following if you have any information:

I have a dashboard that is hosted on cloud. So, there are lot of people who access the dashboard. If I use Power App for manual filling of data as you suggested, will each people who access the dashboard need Power App license/Or there is no extra licensing requirement, my current Premium License will do?

[Ritaf1983 · Accepted solution]

Hi @deepanwita25 

To use a Power App embedded in a dashboard where many people will access it, each user interacting with the Power App does indeed need a Power Apps license. Unfortunately, a Power BI Premium license alone does not cover this; users would either need a standalone Power Apps license or a license bundled with certain Microsoft 365 subscriptions (like Microsoft 365 E5).

If it’s purely for internal users in your organization, you might consider whether Power Apps per-user or per-app plans fit better, as the per-app plan can sometimes be a more economical option if you’re only using one or two specific Power Apps in Power BI.

To get more information about this kind of integration please refer to the linked documentation of Microsoft :

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/example-scenario/data/power-bi-write-back-power...

and this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPHwjPRnRwE&t=18s

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

[ThomasWeppler]

Yeah you can type data in manual and it can be great for small tables.
Just press this buttom and it will allow you to make a new table.

Let me know if this helped you or solved your problem. 🙂

[deepanwita25]

Hi Thanks for taking time to reply to my query. But I am looking for manual data filling for a visual not creating a new data table manually