Let’s look at a simple use case.

Imagine you have a report that displays Cost, Revenue, Margin% and Average sales for each product. Now, you want to highlight the products whose Average sales exceed the Total Average Sales in green and show the remaining values in red. You want this comparison to update automatically whenever a user changes the month filter.

To achieve this, follow the below steps.

1. Go to Home tab -> Conditional formatting -> click on Create rule.

2. In the ‘Apply to’ field select the measure that you would like to highlight.

3. Under Format by choose Rules (If Condition).

4. In the Conditions section, configure the rule by setting Average sales to Greater than or equal to, and choose Data selection from the dropdown. This option allows you to use a cell value in the condition.

5. Next, click inside the Select value from field and choose the Grand total cell that corresponds to Average Sales in your report.  The selected cell value will automatically populate in the rule configuration.

6. I have also set the highlight text color to Green.

7. Click on ‘Apply’

As shown in the screenshot below, for the month of January, any product whose Average Sales value exceeds the Grand Total value is highlighted in green. In this example, Home Appliances and TV and Video are highlighted.

Similarly, let’s create another dynamic conditional formatting rule to highlight the Average Sales values in red when they fall below the Grand Total value.

As shown in the screenshot below, the values that fall below Grand Total are now highlighted in red.

Now, when the Month filter is changed from January to December, the values are dynamically highlighted based on the updated Grand Total cell value, as shown in the screenshot below.

Thus, incorporating dynamic conditional formatting not only enhances visual clarity but also ensures that insights remain relevant as users interact with filters in the report.

Frequently asked questions:

Is it possible to apply conditional formatting based on a selection during runtime?

Yes, it is possible. In the Conditions section, configure the rule by selecting ‘User selection’ from the dropdown, as shown below.

You can find more details in our User Guide here.

How to use Time Intelligence functions in Power BI

YTD – Year to Date

The Year-To-Date calculation is fundamental for tracking cumulative performance over the course of a year. It aggregates a metric from the start of the year up to a specified date. It is useful for analyzing metrics such as sales, revenue, or any other metric within the year, especially to track the cumulative performance over time.

To calculate YTD sales, we sum up the sales from January 1st to the Max date. We use the DAX Expression – TOTALYTD. Here is an example,

Example: Below shows Actual values from Jan to December.

Once you apply PowerBI TOTALYTD DAX, you will get the cumulative sum for the Actual value.

Inforiver enhances the capabilities of Microsoft Power BI through its advanced visual features.

The TOTALYTD function in Inforiver calculates the year-to-date YTD value of a measure within the current filter context (similar to Power BI’s TOTALYTD function). It should be used together with an aggregation function such as SUM or AVERAGE.

Inforiver also provides a YTD function that retrieves data from a specified measure for the current year. If an offset parameter is supplied, the function can return values from previous years as well.

For example, if the current year is 2026 and the current month is March, YTD will return the aggregated total from January through March, as illustrated below.

With an offset of 1, the YTD function returns data for the same period in the previous year.

For example, if the current year is 2026 and the month is March, applying an offset of 1 will return the cumulative total from January through March 2025.

Similarly, Inforiver also provides TOTALMTD, TOTALQTD, MTD, and QTD functions to calculate month-to-date and quarter-to-date values, offering flexible time-based analysis within the current context.

For more information, refer to Time-Intelligence Functions

Frequently Asked Questions

1.      Difference between YTD and TOTALYTD

Ans.Inforiver TOTALYTD works the same way as the TOTALYTD function in Microsoft Power BI. It returns a cumulative running total that evaluates the year-to-date value of an expression, calculating the total from the start of the year up to the maximum date in the current context.

In contrast, YTD in Inforiver computes a single aggregated value for the specified period, rather than producing a running cumulative total.

Steps to create and use Calculation Group

1.      Create a Calculation Group in Power BI

Use case:

We have TotalSales and TotalQty in the model and need to build time intelligence calculations for Previous Year (PrevYear), Month-to-Date (MTD), and Year-to-Date (YTD).

Using the traditional approach, you would typically create three separate DAX measures for each metric (TotalSales and TotalQty), resulting in multiple individual measures.

Instead, we can simplify the model by creating a single Calculation Group that handles PrevYear, MTD, and YTD calculations for all relevant measures, as illustrated below.

2.      Now this Calculation group can be integrated into Superfilter

For more information about SuperFilter, refer Introduction to Inforiver Super Filter | Super Filter | Inforiver

and for Calculation Group , refer Calculation groups in Analysis Services tabular models | Microsoft Learn

Instead, we only want to display the Hyperlink Icon Column as shown in PBI Table as this makes our report look cleaner and more concise:

We can achieve something similar in Inforiver Reporting Matrix/Writeback Matrix/Premium Table visuals.

1) First, we have to set our URL link column as Text (Format) and Web URL (Data Category) as shown below:

2) Secondly make sure that the URL link column is located under Values (AC) Field:

3) Next let us disable the Enable Canvas Rendering option under Display tab so that we can add the Hyperlink icons:

4) To display only an icon for the URL column, we first need to create an Insert Formula measure and reference the URL text column within that measure:

Next to get the URL icon, first we add a single quotation mark ('') and within that single quotation mark ('') press the Windows key + Semi colon key (;) and select the Hyperlink icon from the given options:

5) Finally, when we click Create, we can see our Hyperlink Icon column:

6) If needed we can hide our original URL text column by using the Hide feature so that we only display the Hyperlink Icon column:

FAQs:

Can we add other icons?

Yes, we can add other icons.

Is this feature available in Analytics+ visual?

No, it isn't.

Webinar: Migrate Tableau, Qlik, Cognos, and SAP Reports to Power BI
Date & Time: Wednesday, Feb 11, 2026, at 10 AM CT

What you’ll learn

• Key considerations for migrating large BI estates to Power BI

• Why recreating reports element by element often increases effort, complexity, and risk

• A more effective approach focused on migrating analytical stories, not rigid report layouts

Live demo highlights

• Paginated reports, financial statements, and management reports migrated from Cognos and SAP BOBJ

• Modern dashboards rebuilt from Tableau, Spotfire, and Qlik inside Power BI

• Visual-level calculations, no-code interactivity, and formatted exports to Excel and PDF

You’ll also learn about the key updates delivered in 2025 across Inforiver Reporting Matrix, Analytics+, and Premium Table, and get a sneak peek at what’s next on the roadmap.

Pre-Session Resource:

If you want to get a head start on the technical side, we’ve put together a guide on 30 Power BI Performance Best Practices. It covers everything from optimizing DirectQuery at the source to disabling Auto Date/Time to prevent model bloat.

Register for the session here

We’d love to know: what is the single biggest "workaround" you’ve had to build so far while migrating a legacy report? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

For more information about how to create data source connection , refer to the Getting Data into EDITable | EDITable | Inforiver

Two types of user role can create the data source connection.

1.      By a Report User – In this case, the "Manage" option is visible within the report interface.

2.      By an Administrator via the Editable Admin Portal – In this scenario, the "Manage" option is not available in the report. The connection can only be managed through the Admin Portal by the Administrator.

Go to the Admin Portal using Inforiver console from the login screen, Admin Portal & EDITable Console | EDITable | Inforiver

Select the Settings-> Connections option from the Admin Portal and Edit the connection details.

For more information about Connections, refer Writeback Settings | EDITable | Inforiver

Let us understand with an example.

In the below chart we have three Legend values:

1) First, we go to Settings -> Legend as shown below:

2) Under Legend we can go to Data selection and under the dropdown we can select the 'Include' option:

3) Now we can go to Reading View in Power BI Service and test this out (this feature only works in Reading View and does not work in Edit Mode):

FAQS:

Can we Filter by Legend values in Edit Mode?

No, we cannot filter by Legend values in Edit Mode in PBI Service. It only works in Reading View in PBI Service.

Can we Filter by Legend values in Power BI Desktop?

No, we cannot. It only works in Reading View in PBI Service.

This is a one-time setup that will apply to all destinations configured for a particular report page. While configuring the first writeback destination, you will see a pop-up as shown below, to configure the decimal precision.

If you require high precision, you can configure Inforiver to write back numerical data with up to ten decimal digits. Any digits beyond 10 will be rounded off.

The precision that is set in the destination configuration is displayed in the Decimal Precision section.

Learn more about configuring writeback destinations.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can we edit or set the precision after the Writeback table is created?
Ans. No. Precision is a one-time setup configured only during the initial creation of the table. If you need to change or set the precision later, you must drop the existing table and create a new one.

Note: This Option is available only for On-Prem Users

Managing multiple report subscriptions is easier with the Priority option - you can control which subscription takes precedence.

1. Subscription Priority Levels

   • Define and support the following priority levels:

     • High Priority

     • Medium Priority

     • Low Priority

   • Each subscription will have an associated priority level. If no priority is explicitly set, assign a default priority (e.g., Medium).

2. Priority-Based Scheduling

   • Subscriptions will be scheduled based on their priority level.

   • High-priority subscriptions should always be scheduled ahead of medium or low-priority subscriptions.

3. Priority-Based Execution

   • During execution, subscriptions must follow the priority order:

     • Execute all high-priority subscriptions first.

     • Then process medium-priority subscriptions.

     • Finally, execute low-priority subscriptions.

   • Within the same priority level, maintain the order based on the time of subscription creation (FIFO—First In, First Out).

4. Dynamic Priority Adjustment

   • Allow priority levels to be updated dynamically for a subscription (e.g., upgrade a low-priority subscription to high priority).

   • Updated priorities should take immediate effect, ensuring the subscription is re-ordered in the scheduling queue accordingly.

5. Error Handling

   • If a high-priority subscription fails, it will be retried before moving to lower-priority tasks.

   • Maintain retry attempts in accordance with existing retry policies.

6. Monitoring and Reporting

   • Provide visibility into the current queue of subscriptions, categorized by priority levels.

   • Include metrics such as:

     • Number of subscriptions at each priority level.

     • Current execution order.

7. Scalability

   • Ensure the system can handle a high volume of subscriptions across all priority levels without degradation in performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

1.      Priority option is available for Reporting and Enterprise Matrix?

Ans. No, it's available only for Writeback Matrix (Enterprise Matrix) for On Prem Customers.

2.      Will highest priority run even under high load?

And. Yes, the system must schedule and execute high-priority subscriptions with minimal delay, even under high load. Also, this ensures priority-based execution operates consistently and adheres to the defined priority levels under all scenarios.

You can activate it by turning on the ‘Enable dynamic row height’ toggle located under Settings -> Canvas -> General.  This option is disabled by default.

Once enabled, cell heights automatically adjust to wrap lengthy text and data labels, ensuring your chart stays neat, compact and easy to read as shown in the screenshot below.

Activating this feature unlocks two more settings as follows:

Outside Label width – This defines the width used to wrap the data labels placed outside the row. The default value is 100, with a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 1000.

For example, setting the ‘Outside label width’ to 40, reduces the width of the data labels, and the cell height adjusts accordingly as shown in the screenshot below.

Dynamic row height threshold - This setting lets you define the maximum row height in pixels, ensuring rows don’t become excessively large.

For example, setting the Dynamic row height threshold to 39 px, reduces the row height, and wraps the text accordingly. The maximum value allowed is 300 px.

Hence, this simple feature ensures long text is neatly wrapped, making your Gantt Charts clear and easy to read.

Want to learn more about Gantt Charts? Click here.