Forum Discussion
Drill Header Icons Not Working
In Power BI Service, a matrix using a field parameter for rows (with only certain fields chosen via slicer) shows drill header icons (Drill up, Show next level, Expand next level), but they don’t work. They function correctly in Power BI Desktop.
Hi v-hashadapu, thanks for taking the time to answer my question.
I'm not sure why you say that this is the expected behavior rather than a bug.
The columns that you use on the rows of the matrix visual don't have to have any relationship, set up, or hierarchy.
The numbers might be off, but the drill down (and up) will still work.
Now, the reason for a field parameter is as follows.
Let's say you have a true hierarchy with three or more levels.
Let's use a simple example, country (where the item was sold), product category, and product.
You add them to the matrix as the rows, and a simple product quantity measure as the value.
But sometimes your end users just wanna see the products broken out by category but not by country, or they wanna see per product (or product category) how many were sold in each country.
Now, you could create a separate perspective and turn on the personalize visual option, but a simple slicer is better for the less tech savvy end users.
It used to work, then it didn't, I opened a ticket and they fixed it.
7 Replies
Hi v-hashadapu, thanks for taking the time to answer my question.
I'm not sure why you say that this is the expected behavior rather than a bug.
The columns that you use on the rows of the matrix visual don't have to have any relationship, set up, or hierarchy.
The numbers might be off, but the drill down (and up) will still work.
Now, the reason for a field parameter is as follows.
Let's say you have a true hierarchy with three or more levels.
Let's use a simple example, country (where the item was sold), product category, and product.
You add them to the matrix as the rows, and a simple product quantity measure as the value.
But sometimes your end users just wanna see the products broken out by category but not by country, or they wanna see per product (or product category) how many were sold in each country.
Now, you could create a separate perspective and turn on the personalize visual option, but a simple slicer is better for the less tech savvy end users.
It used to work, then it didn't, I opened a ticket and they fixed it.
v-hashadapuCommunity Support
Hi DataAnalyst5 , Thanks for the update and the information. Sorry for the inconvinience. Happy to know your issue is fixed. Can you please share the answer or any insights that helped solve your issue here, It will help others with similar issues.
If you have any other queries, please feel free to start a new post. We are always happy to help.
Thank you.
- FBergamaschi
Super User
are you in direct query?
No, it's import.
No, it's import.
- v-hashadapu
Hi DataAnalyst5 , Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.
This is expected behaviour, not a bug. Field parameters let users dynamically swap unrelated fields, so there's no consistent drill hierarchy for Power BI to follow. The matrix visual still shows drill icons when it detects multiple levels, but with field parameters, there’s no underlying structure to actually drill into, so the actions don't work.
This happens regardless of whether you're in Import or DirectQuery mode in Power BI Service. In Power BI Desktop, the icons might seem to work in limited scenarios, but even then, they're not performing true drill-down, just swapping the selected field.
If you need actual drill functionality, you should use a defined hierarchy (from your data model or nested fields in the visual) instead of a field parameter.
Use report readers to change visuals (preview) - Power BI | Microsoft Learn
Drill mode in the Power BI service - Power BI | Microsoft Learn
- v-hashadapu
Hi DataAnalyst5 , Hope you're doing fine. Can you confirm if the problem is solved or still persists? Sharing your details will help others in the community.
