Web portal showing tiny numbers in scientific notation for Decimal(0) columns

[Anonymous]

Hi,

On some of our reports on the web portal, we're seeing tiny numbers in scientific notation:

whereas Power BI Desktop shows zeros:

which is what we would expect because the column is defined as "Decimal Number" with 0 decimal places:

We believe this behavior on the web portal only started recently without us changing anything in the reports.

Please note that these columns are coming straight from the data source (SQL Server), so they aren't calculated columns. They are just aggregated. We are using the Matrix visual.

Thanks, Christian

[v-qiuyu-msft]

Hi @Anonymous,

I'm not able to reproduce the issue on my side. The issue seems to related to Power BI service itself. I would suggest you create a support ticket to get dedicated support. 

Best Regards,
Qiuyun Yu 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Thanks for your quick reply. I created a support ticket. For your information, here's how you can replicate the issue:

1. Create a table in SQL Server (we're using 2012) & populate it with data as follows:

CREATE TABLE dbo.tiny_numbers_in_scientific_notation_on_power_bi_web_portal
(
group_col VARCHAR(10) NULL,
sum_col FLOAT NULL
)
;

INSERT dbo.tiny_numbers_in_scientific_notation_on_power_bi_web_portal
(
group_col,
sum_col
)
SELECT 'a', 1.53 + 2e-16
UNION ALL SELECT 'a', -1.53
;

2. Create a Power BI report from that table with a Table or Matrix visual. Define the data type of the "sum_col" as "Decimal Number" with 0 decimal places:

3. In Power BI Desktop "sum_col" will show as "0" but once you deploy the report to the Power BI web portal, it will display as "2E-16". We believe this behavior only started quite recently.

Regards, Christian