Tableau to Power BI: Viz in Tooltip

Tableau to Power BI: Viz in Tooltip
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Continuing the series on “translating” Tableau to Power BI, let’s consider Tableau’s Viz in Tooltip. The versatile Viz in Tooltip allows authors to embed content from one or more sheets into the tooltip of another visualization. When hovering over a mark, a filtered view of the tooltip appears.

The rough equivalent in Power BI is the Report Page Tooltip. If Tableau allowed you to build a dashboard and then insert the dashboard into the tooltip, that would more closely mirror Power BI’s approach. It’s helpful to know that a dashboard in Tableau is like Power BI’s report page. Power BI does not have the concept of a worksheet. Each individual visual (Power BI’s would-be worksheet equivalent) is directly added to a report page.

Power BI – Report Page Tooltip

Tableau – Viz in Tooltip

While the concept is nearly identical in both applications, the configuration differs substantially. In Tableau, setting up the Viz in Tooltip, defining size, and specifying filters is available by selecting Tooltip on the Marks card of the primary sheet. Tableau allows multiple worksheets added into a single tooltip, but there is not as much flexibility in layout as there is in Power BI.

In Power BI, the Report Page Tooltip is configured in the Format and Tooltip areas on the target tooltip page. An author in Power BI then switches to the primary page and specifies which tooltip page should be used in the Format area of any applicable visual.

Due to the nature of Power BI’s report page, there is more flexibility in positioning charts inside of Power BI’s tooltip. Since a page in Power BI may contain numerous visuals in whatever layout the author chooses, having the tooltip defined at the page level means that the tooltip displays a collection of multiple visuals with that same layout.

Configuration Summary

Availability – In Tableau, any sheet is available for use in a tooltip. You do not specifically allow or disallow a sheet or sheets. In Power BI, you need to explicitly define which page or pages should be allowed in tooltips under Page Information in the Format area of the tooltip page. Flip the Tooltip toggle to the On position, or else the page will not be available as a report page tooltip.

Size – In Tableau, the height and width of the embedded visual is configured in Edit Tooltip on the main worksheet. In Power BI, the size is defined under Page Size in the Format area of the tooltip page. There is a specific Tooltip option with a standard height of 320 pixels and width of 240 pixels. Choose the Custom option for more control though.

Filter – Tableau’s default filter is for All Fields, but authors may specify one or more specific fields for the filter as well. Custom filters are defined in Power BI by adding the desired fields in the Tooltip pane, and they can be further refined using anything applied as a visual level filter or page level filter in the Filters pane.




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