How to Render Multiple Power BI Reports on a Single HTML Page: A Comprehensive Guide
Introduction
Embedding Power BI reports into web applications provides valuable insights directly within the user interface, enhancing decision-making processes. However, integrating multiple Power BI reports on a single HTML page can pose a challenge, notably due to conflicts with Power BI access tokens. This guide walks you through a solution to render multiple reports seamlessly on one page by managing individual access tokens for each report, with an emphasis on ASP.NET MVC HTML Helpers and the Power BI JavaScript SDK.
Understanding the Challenge with Access Tokens
When embedding Power BI reports into a web page, each report requires authentication using an access token. The global @Html.PowerBIAccessToken(Model.AccessToken)
HTML helper may seem like an easy solution, as it writes out a global JavaScript variable for token authentication. However, this approach results in a critical issue: when multiple reports are embedded, the global JavaScript variable for the access token gets overridden with each iteration, leading only the last report to render correctly.
This issue underscores the need for a more granular approach to manage access tokens for individual reports to ensure they all display properly within the same HTML page.
Step-by-Step Solution
Step 1: Create an Embed Token for Each Report
The first step involves generating a unique embed token for each Power BI report you intend to embed. This is crucial as each report needs its distinct authentication token. The process can be accomplished using the Power BI REST API, which allows programmatically generating embed tokens for reports.
Step 2: Pass the Generated Token as a Custom Attribute
Once you have a unique embed token for each report, the next step is to pass these tokens into the embedding process as custom attributes. This method avoids the token override issue encountered with the global JavaScript variable approach.
The syntax for embedding a report with a custom access token looks like this:
@Html.PowerBIReport(Model.Report.Name, Model.Report.EmbedUrl, new { @powerbi_access_token = Model.AccessToken })
This ASP.NET MVC HTML Helper method takes in the report name, embed URL, and a dynamic object specifying the powerbi_access_token
custom attribute, thus ensuring each report is authenticated with its unique token.
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Step 3: Utilize the Power BI JavaScript SDK
Underneath the ASP.NET MVC HTML Helpers, the Power BI JavaScript SDK provides the functionality for embedding reports. Having a deeper understanding of the JavaScript SDK offers additional flexibility and customization options for embedding reports.
The SDK allows developers to programmatically control aspects of the report embedding, such as setting the size, filtering data, and handling events within the embedded reports. You can find more information and examples on utilizing the Power BI JavaScript SDK on GitHub.
Real-World Example
Consider a scenario where an organization wishes to embed multiple financial and operational reports on a single dashboard page. Utilizing the approach outlined above, the development team generates unique embed tokens for each report and embeds them using ASP.NET MVC HTML Helpers with custom attributes. This method solves the token override issue, and the dashboard successfully renders all reports with the intended insights available to users at a glance.
Conclusion
Embedding multiple Power BI reports on a single HTML page is a common requirement for many web applications. By creating unique embed tokens for each report and leveraging both ASP.NET MVC HTML Helpers and the Power BI JavaScript SDK, developers can overcome the challenges associated with access token management.
For further optimization of your web applications and enhancing user experiences, consider utilizing tools like Flowpoint.ai. Flowpoint can help identify technical errors impacting conversion rates on your website and generate recommendations to fix them, ensuring your embedded Power BI reports contribute to a seamless and informative user experience.
Remember, the key to successfully embedding multiple reports lies in effectively managing access tokens to authenticate each report individually. By following the steps outlined in this guide, developers can ensure that all embedded Power BI reports render correctly, providing valuable insights directly within their web applications.