Paginated URLs encoded differently depending on display language

[filip_ai]

I have a PBI report that generates URLs for Paginated reports depending on slicers etc. However, it seems like the PBI service encodes URLs for rdlreports differently depending on selected display language in PBI Service.

E.g., the measure that generates the URL looks like this in the PBI report (removed the https:// part):

app.powerbi.com/groups/[workspaceid]/rdlreports/[paginatedreportid]?rp:fiscalyear=2020-07-01 - 2021-06-30&rp:selectiontype=Ej%20till%C3%A4mpligt&rp:paramwithSwedishletterä=Ej%20till%C3%A4mpligt

If I have display language set to English, the URL is automatically encoded as the below when opened through an action button in the PBI report:

app.powerbi.com/groups/me/rdlreports/[paginatedreportid]?rp:fiscalyear=2020-07-01%20-%202021-06-30&rp:selectiontype=Ej%20till%C3%A4mpligt&rp:paramwithSwedishletter%C3%A4=Ej%20till%C3%A4mpligt

This works fine in the Paginated and it loads as expected.

If I change the PBI display language to Swedish (or browser default, which is also Swedish), the same URL is converted differently:

app.powerbi.com/groups/me/rdlreports/[paginatedreportid]?rp:fiscalyear=2020-07-01%2B-%2B2021-06-30&rp:selectiontype=Ej%2Btill%C3%A4mpligt&rp:paramwithSwedishletter%C3%A4=Ej%2Btill%C3%A4mpligt&language=sv

This does not work in Paginated, since the "%2B" is interpreted as a "+" in the Paginated report, rather than a space. Also, note the extra parameter at the end.

I think this is inconcistent behavior. I understand that I can work around it by replacing the space/"%20" with another character in the measure, but I still wanted to highlight this behavior to the community.

Perhaps anyone else has come up with a solution to handle this and keeping the space/"%20" in the measure.

Thanks!

[CSrikanth_21]

Hi @FilipAi 
Apologies for the inconvenience caused. I recommend raising a support ticket so that our internal team can thoroughly investigate and assist you in resolving this issue as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience and are here to help.

Note: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/support/create-support-ticket 

Thanks and regards,
Cheri Srikanth

[FilipAi]

Ok, ticket raised.

[CSrikanth_21]

Hi @FilipAi 
Power BI behaves differently when switching to another language due to regional settings and encoding rules that vary based on the selected display language.

• Power BI automatically encodes URLs to handle different language-specific characters.
• Some languages (like Swedish) interpret spaces as +( %2B in URL encoding) instead of %20 (which is the standard space encoding in English).
• This behavior can cause issues when parameters in URLs are read incorrectly by the Power BI service.

Test in Different Browsers and Clear Cache:

• Sometimes, browsers handle encoding differently.
• Try running your Power BI report in Edge, Chrome, or Firefox.

If the above information helps you, please give us a Kudos and marked the reply Accept as a Solution.

Thanks,
Cheri Srikanth

[FilipAi]

I think it is an oversimplificatiopn to say that "Some languages (like Swedish) interpret spaces as +( %2B in URL encoding) instead of %20 (which is the standard space encoding in English)".

I noticed space is converted to a plus sign when opening the URL from a PBI report (both in Chrome and Edge). What happens next depends on display language in PBI and browser. If display language is set Swedish, the plus (converted space) is converted to %20 in Chrome, but to %2B in Edge. If set to English, both browsers convert it to %20.

I am not sure this is a browser issues, I see it rather as a PBI service inconsistency. Thus I am a but reluctant to mark it as solved.

[CSrikanth_21]

Hi @filip_ai 
We haven't heard from you since last response and just wanted to check whether the solution provided has worked for you. If yes, please accept as solution to help others benefit. If not, feel free to reach out.
Thank you.

[CSrikanth_21]

Hi @filip_ai 
Thank you for being part of the Microsoft Fabric Community.
I appreciate your efforts in addressing this behavior in paginated reports.
Instead of relying on Power BI’s automatic encoding, force the space character (%20) in your measure by using Substitute:

Measure_URL = SUBSTITUTE(
"app.powerbi.com/groups/[workspaceid]/rdlreports/[paginatedreportid]?rp:fiscalyear=2020-07-01 - 2021-06-30&rp:selectiontype=Ej tillämpligt",
" ",
"%20"
)

Thanks and Regards,
Cheri Srikanth

[FilipAi]

HI,

As I state in my original post, this has already been done, e.g. for the param selectiontype=Ej%20till%C3%A4mpligt, which (also stated) is converted to selectiontype=Ej%2Btill%C3%A4mpligt.

I.e. %20 is converted to %2B when using Swedish as display language. This in turn is interpreted as a plus sign by the Paginated report.