Set up the visual
Add the visual and fill its fields
Add Smart Matrix to a report page like any other Power BI visual. It has three field wells:
| Well | Kind | What goes in |
|---|---|---|
| Rows | Grouping | The fields that make up the row hierarchy. The first field is the top layer (Layer 1), the second field the next layer, and so on. |
| Columns | Grouping | The fields that make up groups of columns, for example Year, then Quarter. Leave it empty for a table with only the measures as columns. |
| Values | Measure | The measures. Each measure becomes a column (or one column per column group). |
📷 Screenshot needed:
field-wells.png- the Fields pane of the visual with a Rows hierarchy of three fields, one Columns field and two measures in Values.
Drilling
The Rows well supports Power BI's drill buttons. When you drill down with Power BI's own controls, Smart Matrix opens the rows above the new layer for you, so the new layer is visible at once. The opened rows are saved with the report. Drilling up does not open or close anything by itself.
This only applies to a drill that you make with Power BI's controls. Rows that you open with the + icon, with the
Layer Toggles or with the preload are not treated as a drill.
The first time: "How should rows load?"
The first time a new visual is shown, it asks one question before it draws anything:
How should rows load?
| Choice | Meaning |
|---|---|
| On-Demand Row Loading | A row's children are fetched from Power BI only when the row is opened. Best for a very deep or wide hierarchy. |
| Lazy Loading | The whole hierarchy is loaded right away and then simply revealed as rows are opened. Simplest, but the first load of a very large hierarchy can take longer. |
You have to pick one; the question cannot be dismissed. You can change the choice later in Start tab > Loading. See Loading strategies for what each one does.
📷 Screenshot needed:
landing-page.png- the "How should rows load?" dialog with the two choices.
A new visual starts with the Default template
A visual that was just added to a report gets the Default template automatically. Nothing is set to anything unusual; pick another template or change single options whenever you like. A report that was saved before keeps the look it had.
Where do I change things?
All formatting is done inside the visual, in Focus Mode, with the ribbon and the side panels. Power BI's own Format pane only contains a Debug card with two switches for support purposes ("Highlight table (test)" and "Column Conditional Formatting debug logging"); you do not need it.