Return an icon that links to a value

[Anonymous]

In some of my dashboards, I am reading from a database table and returning a large character value or large binary value (i.e VARCHAR(MAX) or VARBINARY(MAX)). I would like to return an icon in place of that value, so that the reader could click the icon if they wanted to see the output of that column. Has anyone done this in Power BI?

Examples:

• I return a SQL Server graphical query plan. The icon would open the plan in a new window or new tab.
• I return XML or JSON. The icon would open the XML or JSON in a new window or new tab.

[v-jingzhang]

Hi @Anonymous 

To my knowledge, there is no such feature in Power BI currently. The closest thing I think of is report tooltip pages and hyperlinks in table/matrix visuals. 

You could add a column e.g. Keywords or Descriptions to describe the large character value or large binary value in your data source table and bring it into Power BI too. Then create a report tooltip page. On this tooltip page, put the large character value into a visual (e.g. Card visual) and hide this tooltip page. In your dashboard page, add Keywords column into a visual and use this custom tooltip page to replace its default tooltip. When you hover over a keyword, it will display the pop-up tooltip and show what you have set up there. 

Another option of tooltip is the new preview feature modern visual tooltips. With this preview feature, you could combine tooltip and drillthrough feature. Create a drillthrough page and put the large character value there. When you hover over the keyword, click Drill through on the tooltip and drill through to the destination page to view the details. 

In addition, Power BI Desktop doesn't support binary data type currently. You need to transform data type for binary values in advance. Maybe you need to export these binary values into files and store them in some cloud platform, then use hyperlinks to access them. Perhaps there are better methods to deal with large binary values but I missed them. 

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Jing
If this post helps, please Accept it as Solution to help other members find it.

[Anonymous]

I tried out the tooltip, and I'm having two issues.

1. The visual on the main tab is a table. When I create the tooltip, the value shown is the query plan for the last row of the table. Each row has a unique query plan.
2. I would like to be able to either export the value in the tooltip page to a file or be able to copy and paste its contents into Notepad or the equivalent. I can't do that with the tooltip window

Is there a way I could place a button or a hyperlink in a table cell and use that to open the other tab? That would work for me.

[lbendlin]

You have multiple options. You can create a hyperlink that doesn't actually link anywhere and contains the query plan string instead.  You could use SVG to construct whatever graphical representation you may want.  You could use page links or drillthrough features.  Really depends on what your ultimate goal is.  If your ultimate goal is an extract then Power BI may not even be the right hammer for your nail.

[Anonymous]

I think I'll drop this for now. It's not a requirement for what I'm working on so I can't spend a lot of time on it. Thanks for the ideas.

[Anonymous]

I like this idea. The main point to provide a means to view the content in a separate screen, so that the main screen is not cluttered. I'll work on this and let everyone know how it turns out.

[lbendlin]

Would a link (url) work too? it comes with free icon.

[Anonymous]

It might. I'll try this as well as the "tooltip" solution provided by v-jingzhang and see which I like better. Thanks.