pbir-conditional-formatting

name	pbir-conditional-formatting
description	Use when adding conditional formatting to a Power BI visual — per-point bar/column colors, diverging gradients, line segment colors, marker transparency, data bars, conditional icons. Three approaches — measure-based (extension measure dataType Text returning theme tokens good/bad/neutral/minColor/midColor/maxColor), FillRule linearGradient2/linearGradient3, rule-based Conditional.Cases. Plus dataViewWildcard selector with matchingOption 1 for per-point, required two-entry array pattern for dataPoint/lineStyles/error, extension measures attaching to EXISTING semantic-model entities via reportExtensions.json, Schema extension on report-level measures, line segment limits (single-series only, segmentGradient affects strokeColor only), marker color/shape/size NOT CF-able (use transparency), ComparisonKind codes 0-4, ScopedEval + AllRolesRef for global min/max. Invoke when user colors bars by a measure, fixes same-color-on-all-points, adds a gradient, data bars, or conditional icons.
paths	["**/visuals/**/visual.json","**/definition/reportExtensions.json"]

PBIR Conditional Formatting Reference

Three approaches: measure-based (flexible), FillRule gradients (no DAX), and rule-based Conditional (UI-generated).

Approach Matrix

Approach	Best For	Pros	Cons
Measure-based	Custom logic, theme colors	Full DAX, readable	Requires extension measure
linearGradient2 / linearGradient3	Color scales	No DAX	Gradients only
Conditional.Cases	UI-portable rules	Power BI UI round-trips	Verbose

Supported Properties

Not every property accepts measure expressions. These do:

fill, borderColor, defaultColor, fontColor, color, backgroundColor, lineColor, markerColor, strokeColor, text, titleText, fontSize, strokeWidth, weight, transparency, radius, url, good, bad, neutral, target, icon

Everything else is literal-only or ThemeDataColor.

dataViewWildcard Selector

The key to per-point formatting.

matchingOption	Behavior
0	Identities + totals (series-level)
1	Per data point (most common for CF)
2	Totals only

"selector": {"data": [{"dataViewWildcard": {"matchingOption": 1}}]}

Wrong for per-point: "selector": {"metadata": "Sales.Revenue"} — evaluates once per series.

Two-Entry Array Pattern (Required)

dataPoint, lineStyles, error require a two-entry array: base entry + conditional entry.

"dataPoint": [
  {"properties": {}},
  {
    "properties": {
      "fill": {"solid": {"color": {"expr": {"Measure": {
        "Expression": {"SourceRef": {"Schema": "extension", "Entity": "_Formatting"}},
        "Property": "Bar Color"
      }}}}}
    },
    "selector": {"data": [{"dataViewWildcard": {"matchingOption": 1}}]}
  }
]

Extension Measure (for color CF)

Defined in Report.Report/definition/reportExtensions.json. dataType MUST be "Text" for color measures. Must attach to an EXISTING entity from the model.

{
  "name": "extension",
  "entities": [{
    "name": "_Formatting",
    "measures": [{
      "name": "Bar Color",
      "dataType": "Text",
      "expression": "SWITCH(TRUE(), [Value]<10, \"bad\", [Value]<50, \"neutral\", \"good\")"
    }]
  }]
}

Theme color names returned by measures: "bad", "good", "neutral", "minColor", "midColor", "maxColor".

Measure Reference in CF Expressions

{"expr": {"Measure": {
  "Expression": {"SourceRef": {"Schema": "extension", "Entity": "_Formatting"}},
  "Property": "Bar Color"
}}}

"Schema": "extension" is required for report-level extension measures. Omit for model measures.

Pattern — Bar / Column Fill

"dataPoint": [
  {"properties": {}},
  {
    "properties": {
      "fill": {"solid": {"color": {"expr": {"Measure": {
        "Expression": {"SourceRef": {"Schema": "extension", "Entity": "_Formatting"}},
        "Property": "Bar Color"
      }}}}}
    },
    "selector": {"data": [{"dataViewWildcard": {"matchingOption": 1}}]}
  }
]

Pattern — linearGradient2 (Two-Color)

Data-driven (scale to observed range):

{"FillRule": {"linearGradient2": {
  "min": {"color": {"Literal": {"Value": "'minColor'"}}},
  "max": {"color": {"Literal": {"Value": "'maxColor'"}}},
  "nullColoringStrategy": {"strategy": {"Literal": {"Value": "'asZero'"}}}
}}}

Explicit bounds (fixed thresholds):

{"FillRule": {"linearGradient2": {
  "min": {"color": {"Literal": {"Value": "'minColor'"}}, "value": {"Literal": {"Value": "0D"}}},
  "max": {"color": {"Literal": {"Value": "'maxColor'"}}, "value": {"Literal": {"Value": "1D"}}},
  "nullColoringStrategy": {"strategy": {"Literal": {"Value": "'asZero'"}}, "color": {"Literal": {"Value": "'#FFFFFF'"}}}
}}}

Pattern — linearGradient3 (Diverging)

{"FillRule": {"linearGradient3": {
  "min": {"color": {"Literal": {"Value": "'minColor'"}}, "value": {"Literal": {"Value": "-1D"}}},
  "mid": {"color": {"Literal": {"Value": "'neutral'"}}, "value": {"Literal": {"Value": "0D"}}},
  "max": {"color": {"Literal": {"Value": "'maxColor'"}}, "value": {"Literal": {"Value": "1D"}}},
  "nullColoringStrategy": {"strategy": {"Literal": {"Value": "'asZero'"}}}
}}}

Pattern — Line Segment Colors (Single-Series Only)

Multi-series line charts cannot use segment coloring. Measure must return hex.

"lineStyles": [
  {"properties": {"segmentGradient": {"expr": {"Literal": {"Value": "true"}}}}},
  {
    "properties": {
      "strokeColor": {"solid": {"color": {"expr": {"Measure": {
        "Expression": {"SourceRef": {"Schema": "extension", "Entity": "_Formatting"}},
        "Property": "Line Color"
      }}}}}
    },
    "selector": {"data": [{"dataViewWildcard": {"matchingOption": 1}}]}
  }
]

segmentGradient only affects strokeColor. It does NOT work with lineStyle, strokeWidth, or markerFill.

Pattern — Axis Label Colors

No selector needed.

"categoryAxis": [{
  "properties": {
    "labelColor": {"solid": {"color": {"expr": {"Measure": {
      "Expression": {"SourceRef": {"Schema": "extension", "Entity": "_Formatting"}},
      "Property": "Axis Color"
    }}}}}
  }
}]

Pattern — Marker Transparency (0-100)

Marker color / shape / size do NOT support CF. Transparency does.

"markers": [
  {"properties": {"borderShow": {"expr": {"Literal": {"Value": "false"}}}}},
  {
    "properties": {
      "transparency": {"expr": {"Measure": {
        "Expression": {"SourceRef": {"Schema": "extension", "Entity": "_Measures"}},
        "Property": "Marker Opacity"
      }}}
    },
    "selector": {"data": [{"dataViewWildcard": {"matchingOption": 1}}]}
  }
]

Pattern — Rule-Based Conditional

{"expr": {"Conditional": {"Cases": [
  {"Condition": {...}, "Value": {"Literal": {"Value": "'#FF0000'"}}},
  {"Condition": {...}, "Value": {"Literal": {"Value": "'#00FF00'"}}}
]}}}

Cases evaluated in order; first match wins.

ComparisonKind Codes

Value	Operator
0	Equal
1	Greater than
2	Greater than or equal
3	Less than or equal
4	Less than

Logical Wrappers

{"And": {"Left": {...}, "Right": {...}}}
{"Or":  {"Left": {...}, "Right": {...}}}
{"Not": {"Expression": {...}}}

ScopedEval + AllRolesRef (Global Context)

Removes filter context for global min/max:

{"ScopedEval": {"Expression": {"Measure": {...}}, "Scope": [{"AllRolesRef": {}}]}}

Data Bars (table/matrix columns)

"dataBars": {
  "positiveColor": {"solid": {"color": {"expr": {"Literal": {"Value": "'#E1EBF2'"}}}}},
  "negativeColor": {"solid": {"color": {"expr": {"Literal": {"Value": "'#E5B97D'"}}}}},
  "axisColor":     {"solid": {"color": {"expr": {"Literal": {"Value": "'#FFFFFF'"}}}}},
  "reverseDirection": {"expr": {"Literal": {"Value": "false"}}},
  "hideText":         {"expr": {"Literal": {"Value": "false"}}}
}

Conditional Icons

"icon": {
  "kind": "Icon",
  "layout": {"expr": {"Literal": {"Value": "'IconOnly'"}}},
  "value": {"expr": {"Conditional": {"Cases": [
    {"Condition": {"Comparison": {"ComparisonKind": 4, "Left": {"Measure": {...}}, "Right": {"Literal": {"Value": "0D"}}}},
     "Value": {"Literal": {"Value": "'SymbolMedium'"}}}
  ]}}}
}

Gotchas

Issue	Cause	Fix
All points get same color	metadata selector used	Switch to dataViewWildcard with matchingOption: 1
CF works intermittently	Single-entry array with selector	Use two-entry array pattern
Measure rejected as color	dataType not "Text" in reportExtensions.json	Set "dataType": "Text"
Extension measure not found	Created new entity in reportExtensions.json	Entities must already exist in the semantic model
Line segment colors don't work	Chart has multiple series in Y/Y2	Segment coloring requires a single series
Marker color CF ignored	Marker fill/shape/size don't support CF	Use transparency instead
segmentGradient + strokeWidth silently fails	Only strokeColor is supported	Don't combine
reportExtensions.json deserialization fails	Empty entities: []	Delete the file entirely when no extension measures exist
title / legend selector ignored	These objects don't accept selectors	Apply globally (no selector)
Gradient midpoint shifts unexpectedly	Data-driven bounds when fixed needed	Switch to explicit bounds form with value on min/mid/max
AllRolesRef scope wrong place	Nested incorrectly	ScopedEval.Scope: [{"AllRolesRef": {}}] at the outer wrapper

Reference

• Microsoft Learn: Apply conditional table formatting in Power BI
• Microsoft Learn: Format by field value (color expression measures)
• Microsoft Learn: Tips and tricks for color formatting
• Comprehensive MS Learn link bundle (CF user concept / measure pattern / gradient scales / theme tokens / PBIR file format): references/REFERENCE.md

See also

• pbir-visual-json — selectors, expressions, literal suffixes
• pbir-themes — ThemeDataColor and theme token resolution