PDF attachment in dynamic subscription filters data only partially

[Maricla]

I have set up a dynamic email subscription to a Power BI report of 10 pages, that includes a pdf export of the report. The pdf attachment shows problems in 3 pages and I cannot see anything in the report that could trigger this specifically in those 3 pages and not in the others. In fact 2 of the pages with problems are identical in structure to some other pages that work well but just with different measures. In the affected pages, data is filtered dynamically only partially. For example, all sites are shown in the list (including sites that should not be listed in that subscription, whose names I covered in black) but data is populated only for the sites mapped in the subscription (whose names I covered in green), leaving blank cells or graphs for the non-subscription sites.

[Maricla · Accepted solution]

I found a workaround to this problem. The measures used for water usage gave zeros (instead of blanks) for the sites that are not in the subscription. Although I think they should be omitted anyway, converting the measure to give blanks instead of zeros, solved the way the report is displayed in the Service. As mentioned, the report in Power BI desktop worked anyway.

[Anonymous]

Hi johnbasha33 ,thanks for the quick reply.

Hi Maricla ,

Regarding your question, you said that the issue only occurs with dynamic subscriptions, and since the issue is specific to dynamic subscriptions, you can refer to the following article to see if there is an issue in the setup, especially the part that defines the mapping between recipients and parameters.

Create a dynamic subscription for a paginated report (Preview) - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

[Maricla]

Thank you.  I have read the equivalent report more specific to Power BI rather than paginated reports:

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/dynamic-subscriptions-are-now-available-for-power-bi-report... 

as well as this one https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/collaborate-share/power-bi-dynamic-report-subscriptions 

What striked me is that data is not shown for the non-relevant sites in the subsription but you still can see their names (and the problem is only on 3 pages out of 10, the other 7 work perfectly).

[Maricla]

Thanks, but I have checked everything and still don't see why those pages are not filtering out the site names that should not be included but they are filtering out all other data (so you see blank rows or graphs with only the site names visible). I have also tried to export in another format (ppt) and the problem is the same. I have also tried to duplicate the pages that work and then change the metric in the graph (water instead of electricity). But this didn't work either. I have checked all settings and mapping. The report works very well on all visuals on all pages and filters everything correctly when done manually in Power BI Desktop and in the Power BI Service. It is just the dynamic subscription that doesn't work.

[johnbasha33]

@Maricla  

It sounds like you're encountering issues with dynamic email subscriptions for a Power BI report, specifically with PDF exports of certain pages. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially resolve the problem:

1. Review Filters and Data Visibility: Double-check the filters applied to the problematic pages in your Power BI report. Ensure that the filters are correctly configured to display only the relevant data for the subscription recipients. Verify that the data visibility settings are consistent across all pages, especially for those pages exhibiting issues.

2. Check Data Mapping and Visualization: Review the data mapping and visualization settings for the affected pages. Ensure that the data mapping is correctly configured to display the desired information, and that the visualizations render as expected in Power BI Desktop and the Power BI Service. Pay attention to any differences in data mapping or visualization settings between the affected pages and those that are working correctly.

3. Test Different Export Formats: Experiment with exporting the problematic pages in different formats (e.g., PNG, JPEG, PowerPoint) to see if the issue persists across all export formats or if it's specific to PDF exports. This can help isolate whether the problem lies with the PDF export functionality in Power BI.
   
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