DAX

About the Tutorial

DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is a formula language that helps you create new
information from the data that already exists in your Data Model. DAX formulas enable
you to perform data modeling, data analysis, and use the results for reporting and decision
making.

It is a collection of functions, operators, and constants that can be used in a formula or

expression to calculate and return one or more values. DAX is the formula language
associated with the Data Model of Excel Power Pivot.

Audience
This tutorial has been designed for all those readers who depend heavily on MS-Excel to
prepare charts, tables, and professional reports that involve complex data. It will help all
those readers who use MS-Excel regularly to analyze data. Professionals who use data
modeling and data analysis for reporting and decision-making purposes will benefit from
this.

Prerequisites
This tutorial is an extension to Excel Power Pivot tutorial, hence it is a good idea to brush
up on the Excel Power Pivot tutorial before you delve into DAX. Knowledge of Excel
Functions and Excel Formulas is not necessary for this tutorial, as DAX is entirely for the
Data Model in the Power Pivot window.

Disclaimer & Copyright

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in this tutorial, please notify us at contact@tutorialspoint.com.

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Table of Contents
About the Tutorial .................................................................................................................................... i

Audience .................................................................................................................................................. i

Prerequisites ............................................................................................................................................ i

Disclaimer & Copyright............................................................................................................................. i

Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... ii

1. DAX OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................ 1

Importance of DAX .................................................................................................................................. 1

Prerequisites for this Tutorial .................................................................................................................. 1

Calculated Columns ................................................................................................................................. 2

Calculated Fields / Measures ................................................................................................................... 2

DAX Formulas.......................................................................................................................................... 2

DAX Syntax.............................................................................................................................................. 3

DAX Operators ........................................................................................................................................ 3

DAX Standard Parameters ....................................................................................................................... 3

DAX Functions ......................................................................................................................................... 3

DAX Special Functions ............................................................................................................................. 4

DAX Evaluation Context .......................................................................................................................... 4

DAX Formulas.......................................................................................................................................... 4

DAX Scenarios ......................................................................................................................................... 4

2. DAX CALCULATED COLUMNS ............................................................................................ 6

Understanding Calculated Columns ......................................................................................................... 6

Creating a Calculated Column ................................................................................................................. 7

Renaming the Calculated Column.......................................................................................................... 10

Checking the Data Type of the Calculated Column ................................................................................ 11

Errors in Calculated Columns ................................................................................................................. 11

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Performance Issues ............................................................................................................................... 12

3. DAX CALCULATED FIELDS / MEASURES ........................................................................... 13

Understanding Calculated Fields ........................................................................................................... 13

Calculated Field An Example ............................................................................................................... 14

Creating a Calculated Field in a Table .................................................................................................... 14

Using the Calculated Field in a Power PivotTable .................................................................................. 16

Types of Calculated Fields ..................................................................................................................... 18

Creating an Implicit Calculated Field ..................................................................................................... 18

Drawbacks of an Implicit Calculated Field ............................................................................................. 21

Creating an Explicit Calculated Field ...................................................................................................... 21

4. DAX EDITING A CALCULATED FIELD ................................................................................ 24

Finding Calculated Fields ....................................................................................................................... 24

Viewing Calculated Fields in the Table .................................................................................................. 26

Changing a Calculated Field in the Table ............................................................................................... 27

Renaming a Calculated Field in the Data Model .................................................................................... 27

Viewing Calculated Fields in the Excel Window ..................................................................................... 29

Changing a Calculated Field in the Manage Calculated Fields ................................................................ 30

Renaming a Calculated Field in the Manage Calculated Fields ............................................................... 31

Moving a Calculated Field in the Data Model ........................................................................................ 32

5. DAX DELETING A CALCULATED FIELD .............................................................................. 33

Deleting an Explicit Calculated Field in the Data Model......................................................................... 33

Deleting an Implicit Calculated Field ..................................................................................................... 38

6. DAX SYNTAX ................................................................................................................... 40

Differences between Excel Formulas and DAX Formulas ....................................................................... 40

Syntax for DAX Formulas ....................................................................................................................... 41

DAX Functions ....................................................................................................................................... 42

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DAX Table Naming Requirements ......................................................................................................... 42

DAX Fully Qualified Names Special Cases ........................................................................................... 44

Exclusion of Special Characters in Names .............................................................................................. 44

Common DAX Formula Rules................................................................................................................. 44

DAX Special Values ................................................................................................................................ 45

DAX Operators ...................................................................................................................................... 45

New Data Types in DAX ......................................................................................................................... 46

Summary of DAX Data Types ................................................................................................................. 46

Implicit Data Type Conversion in DAX Formulas .................................................................................... 48

How DAX Handles Blanks, Empty Strings, and Zero Values? .................................................................. 50

7. DAX OPERATORS............................................................................................................. 52

Types of DAX Operators ........................................................................................................................ 52

DAX Operator Precedence Order........................................................................................................... 54

DAX Expression Syntax .......................................................................................................................... 55

Using Parentheses to Control DAX Calculation Order ............................................................................ 56

Differences Between Excel and DAX ...................................................................................................... 56

8. DAX STANDARD PARAMETERS ........................................................................................ 58

Standard Parameter Names .................................................................................................................. 58

Prefixing Parameter Names................................................................................................................... 59

Using Only the Prefix as a Parameter .................................................................................................... 59

9. DAX FUNCTIONS ............................................................................................................. 60

What is a DAX Function? ....................................................................................................................... 60

Excel Functions vs. DAX Functions ......................................................................................................... 60

Types of DAX Functions ......................................................................................................................... 61

10. DAX UNDERSTANDING DAX FUNCTIONS......................................................................... 71

DAX Function Explanation Structure................................................................................................... 71

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11. DAX EVALUATION CONTEXT ........................................................................................... 73

Types of Context in DAX ........................................................................................................................ 73

12. DAX FORMULAS .............................................................................................................. 76

DAX Functions vs. DAX Formulas ........................................................................................................... 76

Understanding DAX Formula Syntax ..................................................................................................... 76

Understanding IntelliSense Feature ...................................................................................................... 77

Where to Use DAX Formulas? ............................................................................................................... 77

Creating a DAX Formula ........................................................................................................................ 78

Tips for Using AutoComplete ................................................................................................................. 80

Understanding Insert Function Feature ................................................................................................. 80

Using Insert Function in a DAX Formula ................................................................................................ 81

Using Multiple Functions in a DAX Formula ........................................................................................... 83

Creating a DAX Formula Using Standard Aggregations .......................................................................... 84

DAX Formulas and the Relational Model ............................................................................................... 86

Referential Integrity .............................................................................................................................. 87

13. DAX UPDATING THE RESULTS OF DAX FORMULAS.......................................................... 88

Understanding Data Refresh vs. Recalculation ...................................................................................... 88

Different Ways to Update Data in Data Model ...................................................................................... 88

Recalculation of DAX Formulas ............................................................................................................. 89

14. DAX UPDATING DATA IN THE DATA MODEL ................................................................... 90

Different Ways of Updating Data in the Data Model ............................................................................. 90

Refreshing Data in the Data Model ....................................................................................................... 90

Manually Refreshing an Existing Data Source ........................................................................................ 91

Changing a Data Source ......................................................................................................................... 93

Modifying a Connection to an Existing Data Source .............................................................................. 94

Editing Table and Column Mappings (Bindings) ..................................................................................... 96

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Changing a Column Name and Data Type .............................................................................................. 98

Adding / Changing a Filter to a Data Source ........................................................................................ 100

15. DAX RECALCULATING DAX FORMULAS ......................................................................... 104

Types of Recalculation ........................................................................................................................ 104

Recalculating DAX Formulas Automatically ......................................................................................... 104

When to Use Manual Recalculation Mode?......................................................................................... 105

Configuring the Workbook for Manual Recalculation .......................................................................... 105

Recalculating DAX Formulas Manually ................................................................................................ 106

16. DAX TROUBLESHOOTING DAX FORMULA RECALCULATION .......................................... 107

Dependencies...................................................................................................................................... 107

Sequence of Recalculation for Dependent Columns ............................................................................ 107

Transactions ........................................................................................................................................ 107

Recalculation of Volatile Functions ..................................................................................................... 108

17. DAX FORMULA ERRORS ................................................................................................ 109

DAX Error: Calculation Aborted ........................................................................................................... 109

DAX Semantic Error - An Example ....................................................................................................... 110

18. DAX TIME INTELLIGENCE .............................................................................................. 111

Why Time Intelligence Makes DAX Powerful? ..................................................................................... 111

Requirements for DAX Time Intelligence Functions ............................................................................. 111

DAX Time Intelligence Functions Categories ..................................................................................... 112

19. DAX FILTER FUNCTIONS ................................................................................................ 118

20. DAX SCENARIOS ............................................................................................................ 122

Performing Complex Calculations........................................................................................................ 122

Working with Text and Dates .............................................................................................................. 122

Conditional Values and Testing for Errors ........................................................................................... 123

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Using Time Intelligence ....................................................................................................................... 123

Ranking and Comparing Values ........................................................................................................... 123

21. DAX SCENARIOS PERFORMING COMPLEX CALCULATIONS ............................................ 124

Creating Custom Calculations for a PivotTable .................................................................................... 124

Filtering Data in Formulas ................................................................................................................... 126

22. DAX SCENARIOS WORKING WITH TEXT AND DATES...................................................... 129

Creating a Key Column by Concatenation ............................................................................................ 129

Date Based on Date Parts Extracted from a Text Date ......................................................................... 129

Defining a Custom Date Format .......................................................................................................... 130

Changing Data Types of DAX Formula Outputs .................................................................................... 133

23. DAX SCENARIOS CONDITIONAL VALUES & TESTING FOR ERRORS ................................. 135

Creating a Value Based on a Condition ................................................................................................ 135

Testing for Errors within a DAX Formula ............................................................................................. 135

24. DAX SCENARIOS USING TIME INTELLIGENCE ................................................................ 136

Calculating Cumulative Sales ............................................................................................................... 136

Comparing Values across Different Time Periods ................................................................................ 137

Comparing Values Across Parallel Time Periods .................................................................................. 138

Calculating Running Totals .................................................................................................................. 138

Calculating a Value over a Custom Date Range ................................................................................... 139

25. DAX SCENARIOS RANKING AND COMPARING VALUES .................................................. 141

Applying a Filter to Show only the Top Few Items ............................................................................... 141

Advantages and Disadvantages of Applying Filter ............................................................................... 142

Creating a DAX Formula That Dynamically Ranks Values ..................................................................... 142

Advantages and Disadvantages of Dynamic Ranks .............................................................................. 143

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 1. DAX Overview DAX

DAX stands for Data Analysis Expressions. DAX is a formula language and is a collection
of functions, operators, and constants that can be used in a formula or expression to
calculate and return one or more values. DAX is the formula language associated with the
Data Model of Excel Power Pivot.

It is not a programming language, but is a formula language that allows the users to define
custom calculations in calculated columns and calculated fields (also known as measures).
DAX helps you create new information from the data that is already present in your Data
Model. DAX formulas enable you to perform data modeling, data analysis, and use the
results for reporting and decision making.

DAX includes some of the functions that are used in Excel formulas, but with modified
functionality and additional functions that are designed to work with relational data and
perform dynamic aggregation.

Importance of DAX
The foundation of DAX is the Data Model that is the Power Pivot database in Excel. Data
Model consists of tables between which relationships can be defined so as to combine the
data from different sources. The data connections to the Data Model can be refreshed as
and when the source data changes. Data Model makes the use of the Power Pivot xVelocity
in-memory analytics engine (VertiPaq) that makes the data operations to be as quick as
possible in addition to accommodating several thousands of rows of data. For more
information on Data Model, refer to the tutorial Power Pivot.

DAX in conjunction with Data Model enables several power features in Excel Power Pivot,
Power PivotTables, Power PivotCharts and Power View. You can use DAX to solve a number
of basic calculations and data analysis problems.

DAX is also useful in Power BI to create a new Power BI Desktop file and import some data
into it. Further, DAX formulas provide capabilities such as analyzing growth percentage
across product categories and for different date ranges, calculating year-over-year growth
compared to market trends and many others as well.

Learning how to create effective DAX formulas will help you get the most out of your data.
When you get the information you need, you can begin to solve real business problems
that affect your bottom line. This is the power in Power BI and DAX will help you get there.

Prerequisites for this Tutorial

This tutorial is an extension to Excel Power Pivot tutorial, where you have learnt about the
Power Pivot feature, Data Model, Relationships, Power PivotTables, Power Pivot Charts,
etc. It would be a good idea to brush up on this tutorial before you delve into DAX as this
tutorial is more on the DAX language wherein you write formulas for the analysis of data
in the Data Model and report those results.

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This tutorial also introduces DAX Functions that are like Excel Functions, but with some
variations. A comparison of Excel Functions and DAX Functions is provided to help you
distinguish both. Similarly, Excel formulas and DAX formulas are compared and the
similarities and differences are discussed. A good understanding of these differences would
help you in writing effective DAX formulas efficiently.

Knowledge of Excel Functions and Excel Formulas is not necessary for this tutorial, as DAX
is entirely for the Data Model in the Power Pivot window. You will get into an Excel
worksheet only to view the Power PivotTables, Power Pivot Charts and Power View
visualizations that are based on Data Model. However, if you are an Excel professional
with good amount of knowledge in Excel Functions and Formulas, better make a note of
what is mentioned in the previous section and the details given in the course of this
tutorial.

Calculated Columns
Calculated columns are the columns that you can add to a table in the Data Model, by
means of a DAX formula. You have already learnt about them in Excel Power Pivot tutorial,
but you will learn in detail in the chapter Calculated Columns as DAX is all about
calculated columns, calculated fields, and DAX functions.

Calculated Fields / Measures

You cannot change the values in the tables in the Data Model by editing. However, you
can add calculated fields to a table that can be used in the Power PivotTables. The
calculated fields are defined by giving a name and by defining a DAX formula. For details,
refer to the chapter Calculated Fields.

The calculated fields were named as measures in the Excel versions prior to Excel 2013.
They are renamed back to measures in Excel 2016. In this tutorial, we will refer them as
calculated fields. But, note that the terms - calculated fields and measures - are
synonymous and refer to the same in all aspects.

You can edit a calculated field after it is defined and stored. You can change the DAX
formula used in the definition or you can rename the calculated field. You will learn about
this in the chapter Editing a Calculated Field. You can delete a calculated field. Refer
to the chapter Deleting a Calculated Field.

DAX Formulas
DAX formulas form the heart of the DAX language. You can create calculated fields and
calculated columns by defining them with DAX formulas. You can write DAX formulas for
the data analysis operations. DAX formulas do not refer to the individual cells or range of
cells in the table, but refer to the tables and columns in the Data Model. A column in a
table in the Data Model must contain the same data type.

DAX formulas contain the tables, columns, calculated columns, calculated fields, DAX
operators, and DAX functions. Refer to the chapter DAX Formulas to learn in detail.

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DAX Syntax
As is the case with any language, DAX, the formula language also has a syntax. Your DAX
formulas should follow DAX syntax, or else, you will either get errors at design time or at
run time or you will receive incorrect results.

You will learn the following in the chapter DAX Syntax:

DAX naming requirements for Tables, Columns

DAX operators
DAX special values
DAX data types
DAX implicit data type conversions

DAX Operators
DAX is a formula language and hence makes the use of the operators in defining the
formulas. DAX has the following types of operators

DAX Arithmetic Operators

DAX Comparison Operators
DAX Text Concatenation Operator
DAX Logical Operators
DAX operator precedence order is also defined and varies from Excel operator precedence
order. Refer to the chapter DAX Operators.

DAX Standard Parameters

DAX Function syntax has certain requirements on parameters. This is because the DAX
function arguments can be tables or columns or calculated fields or other DAX functions.
Refer to the chapter - DAX Standard Parameters.

DAX Functions
Excel 2013 has 246 DAX functions that you can use in DAX formulas. You will learn about
these functions at the category level in the chapter DAX Functions. However, for details
on each DAX function syntax, parameters, usage and return values, you have to refer to
our tutorial on DAX Functions. The section names used for the description of each DAX
function is given in the chapter Understanding DAX Functions.

As DAX functions are required in writing the DAX formulas and the results of the DAX
functions used depend on the context they are used, you might have to go back and forth
between these two tutorials to get a grasp on DAX that you will use in Data Modeling with
DAX and Power BI.

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DAX Special Functions

DAX has some functions that make DAX powerful. These DAX functions come under the
categories DAX time intelligence functions and DAX filter functions and require a special
mention. You will learn about DAX time intelligence functions in the chapter
Understanding DAX Time Intelligence. You will learn about the usage of DAX filter
functions in the chapter DAX Filter Functions.

DAX Evaluation Context

The results of a DAX formula can vary based on the context that is used for evaluation.
DAX has two types of evaluation context Row Context and Filter Context. Refer to the
chapter - DAX Evaluation Context.

DAX Formulas
DAX is a formula language and you have to get the most of it in writing the DAX formulas.
Refer to the chapter - DAX Formulas to learn about the formula syntax and how to create
them easily and correctly.

The results of the DAX formulas change whenever the data is refreshed and whenever the
DAX formulas are recalculated. You have to understand the difference between data
refresh and recalculation. Refer to the chapter - Updating the Results of DAX
Formulas.

Data in the Data Model is expected and subjected to change from time to time. This is
because the data is used for data analysis activities that require up-to-date data at any
point of time. To understand the different ways of refreshing data, refer to the chapter -
Updating Data in Data Model.

You will understand the different types of DAX formula recalculation in the chapter -
Recalculating DAX Formulas.

DAX formula recalculations have to consider data dependencies and follow a specific order.
Otherwise, you might get errors or erroneous results. Refer to the chapter -
Troubleshooting DAX Formula Recalculation for details.

You will get an insight into some of the common DAX formula errors and you will learn
how to fix those errors, in the chapter - DAX Formula Errors.

DAX Scenarios
If you start learning a new language, the best way of getting acquainted to the language
is by understanding where to use what. Similarly, DAX being a formula language meant
for data analysis, you need to understand the various scenarios where it can be used.

Refer to the following chapters to get details on this.

DAX Scenarios
Scenarios - Performing Complex Calculations
Scenarios - Working with Text and Dates
Scenarios - Conditional Values and Testing for Errors

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Scenarios - Using Time Intelligence

Scenarios - Ranking and Comparing Values

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 2. DAX Calculated Columns DAX

A calculated column is a column that you add to an existing table in the Data Model of
your workbook by means of a DAX formula that defines the column values. Instead of
importing the values in the column, you create the calculated column.

You can use the calculated column in a PivotTable, PivotChart, Power PivotTable, Power
PivotChart or Power View report just like any other table column.

Understanding Calculated Columns

The DAX formula used to create a calculated column is like an Excel formula. However, in
DAX formula, you cannot create different formulas for different rows in a table. The DAX
formula is automatically applied to the entire column.

For example, you can create one calculated column to extract Year from the existing
column Date, with the DAX formula

=YEAR ([Date])

YEAR is a DAX function and Date is an existing column in the table. As seen, the table
name is enclosed in brackets. You will learn more about this in the chapter DAX Syntax.

When you add a column to a table with this DAX formula, the column values are computed
as soon as you create the formula. A new column with the header CalculatedColumn1 filled
with Year values will get created.

Column values are recalculated as necessary, such as when the underlying data is
refreshed. You can create calculated columns based on existing columns, calculated fields
(measures), and other calculated columns.

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Creating a Calculated Column

Consider the Data Model with the Olympics Results as shown in the following screenshot.

Click the Data View.

Click the Results tab.

You will be viewing the Results table.

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As seen in the above screenshot, the rightmost column has the header Add Column.

Click the Design tab on the Ribbon.

Click Add in the Columns group.

The pointer will appear in the formula bar. That means you are adding a column with a
DAX formula.

Type =YEAR ([Date]) in the formula bar.

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As can be seen in the above screenshot, the rightmost column with the header Add
Column is highlighted.

Press Enter.

It will take a while (few seconds) for the calculations to be done. Please wait.

The new calculated column will get inserted to the left of the rightmost Add Column.

As shown in the above screenshot, the newly inserted calculated column is highlighted.
Values in the entire column appear as per the DAX formula used. The column header is
CalculatedColumn1.

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Renaming the Calculated Column

To rename the calculated column to a meaningful name, do the following

Double-click on the column header. The column name will be highlighted.

Select the column name.

Type Year (the new name).

As seen in the above screenshot, the name of the calculated column got changed.

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You can also rename a calculated column by right-clicking on the column and then clicking
on Rename in the dropdown list.

Just make sure that the new name does not conflict with an existing name in the table.

Checking the Data Type of the Calculated Column

You can check the data type of the calculated column as follows

Click the Home tab on the Ribbon.

Click the Data Type.

As you can see in the above screenshot, the dropdown list has the possible data types for
the columns. In this example, the default (Auto) data type, i.e. the Whole Number is
selected.

Errors in Calculated Columns

Errors can occur in the calculated columns for the following reasons -

Changing or deleting relationships between the tables. This is because the formulas
that use columns in those tables will become invalid.

The formula contains a circular or self-referencing dependency.

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Performance Issues
As seen earlier in the example of Olympics results, the Results table has about 35000 rows
of data. Hence, when you created a column with a DAX formula, it had calculated all the
35000+ values in the column at once, for which it took a little while. The Data Model and
the tables are meant to handle millions of rows of data. Hence, it can affect the
performance when the DAX formula has too many references. You can avoid the
performance issues doing the following

If your DAX formula contains many complex dependencies, then create it in steps
saving the results in new calculated columns, instead of creating a single big
formula at once. This enables you to validate the results and assess the
performance.

Calculated columns need to be recalculated when data modifications occur. You can
set the recalculation mode to manual, thus saving frequent recalculations.
However, if any values in the calculated column are incorrect, the column will be
grayed out, until you refresh and recalculate the data.

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 3. DAX Calculated Fields / Measures DAX

A calculated field in a table in a Data Model is the field obtained by a DAX formula. In
earlier versions of Power Pivot, the calculated field was termed as a measure. In Excel
2013, it was renamed as a calculated field. However, it is renamed back to measure in
Excel 2016. If you refer to any documentation, you can observe a mix up of these two
terms. Note that the terms calculated field and measure are synonymous. In this tutorial,
we use the term calculated field.

Understanding Calculated Fields

A calculated field is a formula that is created specifically for use in a PivotTable (or
PivotChart).

You can create a calculated field based on standard aggregation functions, such as COUNT
or SUM, or by defining your own DAX formula.

Following is the difference between the calculated field and the calculated column -

A calculated field can be used only in the VALUES area of a PivotTable.

A calculated column with the calculated results can be used in ROWS, COLUMNS
and FILTERS areas also.

Saving Calculated Field

The calculated field will be saved with its source table in the Data Model. It appears in
the Power PivotTable or Power PivotChart Fields list as a field in the table.

Using Calculated Field

To use a calculated field, you have to select it from the Power PivotTable Fields list. The
calculated field will get added to the VALUES area and the formula used for the calculated
field will be evaluated. A result is created for each combination of row and column fields.

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Calculated Field An Example

Consider the following Data Model for Olympics data

As seen in the above screenshot, the Results table has a field Medal that contains the
values Gold, Silver, or Bronze for each of the rows containing Sport Event - Country
Date combination. Suppose you want medal count for each country, then you can create
a calculated field Medal Count with the following DAX formula

Medal Count := COUNTA([Medal])

Creating a Calculated Field in a Table

To create the calculated field Medal Count in the Results table, do the following -

Click the cell in the calculation area below the Medal column in the Results table.
The cell will be highlighted.

Type Medal Count:=COUNTA([Medal]) in the formula bar.

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Press Enter.

As seen in the above screenshot, the calculated field appears in the selected cell, showing
the value as 34,094. This number is the total number of rows in the Results table. Hence,
it does not make much sense at the first look. As discussed earlier, the real use of a
calculated field can be seen only by adding it to a Power PivotTable or a Power PivotChart.

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Using the Calculated Field in a Power PivotTable

To use the calculated field to count the number of medals for each country, do the
following:

Click the PivotTable on the Ribbon in the Power Pivot window.

Click the PivotTable in the dropdown list.

Create PivotTable dialog box appears.

Click the Existing Worksheet.

Select where you want to place the PivotTable.

An empty PivotTable will get created.

Click the Results table in the PivotTable Fields list.

Click the fields Country and Medal count.

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As you can observe, Medal Count is added to VALUES area and Country is added to ROWS
area. The PivotTable is created with the field Country values appearing in the rows. And
for each row, the Medal Count value is calculated and displayed. That is the way, the
calculated field evaluates the DAX formula used and displays the values.

Add the field Sport from the Results table to ROWS area.

As you can see in the above screenshot, Medal Count is calculated for each Country -
Sport-wise and a Subtotal for the Country itself.

This is how DAX supplements the Power features.

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Types of Calculated Fields

There are two types of Calculated Fields Implicit and Explicit.

An implicit calculated field is created in the Power PivotTable Fields list pane.

An explicit calculated field is created either in the table in the Power Pivot
window, or from the PowerPivot Ribbon in the Excel window.

Creating an Implicit Calculated Field

An implicit calculated field can be created in two ways, both in the Power PivotTable Fields
pane.

Creating an Implicit Calculated Field in the PivotTable Fields List

You can create the Count of Medal Field from the Medal field in the PivotTable Fields list
as follows

Deselect the field Medal Count.

Right-click on the field Medal.
Click Add to Values in the dropdown list.

Count of Medal appears in the Values area. Count of Medal column will be added to the
PivotTable.

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Creating an Implicit Calculated Field in the VALUES Area

You can create an implicit calculated field - % of Parent Row in the Values area to express
the Medal count of each sport that a country has won as a percentage of the total number
of Medals won by that Country.

Click the down arrow in the Count of Medal box in VALUES area.
Click the Value Field Settings in the dropdown list.

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Value Field Settings dialog box appears.

Type % Medals in the Custom Name box.

Click the Show Values As tab.
Click the box under Show values as.
Click the % of Parent Row Total.

Click the Number Format button.

Format Cells dialog box appears.

Click Percentage.
Type 0 in decimal places.
Click OK.
Click OK in the Value Field Settings dialog box.
Select Do Not Show Subtotals.

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You created another implicit calculated field % Medals and as you can observe, for each
Country, the percentage of Medals Sport-wise are displayed.

Drawbacks of an Implicit Calculated Field

Implicit calculated fields are easy to create. In fact, you have been creating them even in
Excel PivotTables and Pivot Charts. But, they have the following drawbacks

They are volatile. That means, if you deselect the field you used for calculated
field, it will be removed. If you want to display it again, you have to once again
create it.

Their scope is limited to the PivotTable or PivotChart in which they are created.
If you create another PivotTable in another worksheet, you have to create the
calculated field again.

On the other hand, explicit calculated fields will get saved with the table and will be
available whenever you select that table.

Creating an Explicit Calculated Field

You can create an explicit calculated field in two ways

In the calculation area in a Table in the Data Model. You have already learnt this in
the section Creating Calculated Field in a Table.

From PowerPivot Ribbon in the Excel table. You will learn this way of creating an
explicit calculated field in the next section.

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 DAX

Creating an Explicit Calculated Field from PowerPivot Ribbon

To create an explicit calculated field from PowerPivot Ribbon, do the following

Click the POWERPIVOT tab on the Ribbon in your workbook.

Click the Calculated Fields in the Calculations area.
Click the New Calculated Field in the dropdown list.

Calculated Field dialog box appears.

Fill in the required information as shown in the following screenshot.

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 DAX

Click the Check formula button.

Click OK only if there are no errors in the formula.

As you can observe, you can define the category and format of the calculated field in this
dialog box. Further, you can use the IntelliSense feature to understand the usage of the
functions and to use the AutoComplete feature to easily complete the names of the
functions, tables, and columns. For details on IntelliSense feature, refer to the chapter
DAX Formulas.

This is a recommended way to create explicit calculated fields.

23
 4. DAX Editing a Calculated Field DAX

You can edit a calculated field to modify it. But, before you edit a calculated field, you
should know where it is stored. That means, in which table the calculated field is stored.
This holds both for implicit and explicit calculated fields. A calculated field can be
associated with only one table in a Data Model.

Finding Calculated Fields

To find the calculated fields in the Data Model, do the following

Click the Advanced tab on the Ribbon in the Power Pivot window.
Click the Show Implicit Calculated Fields.

Click the Diagram View.

24
 DAX

As you can see in the above screenshot, Show Implicit Calculated Fields is highlighted on
the Ribbon. If it is not highlighted, click it again.

You can also observe that there are 4 checkboxes Columns, Calculated Fields,
Hierarchies, and KPIs. By default, all the 4 are selected.

Uncheck the boxes - Columns, Hierarchies and KPIs.

This will leave only Calculated Fields box checked.

As seen in the above screenshot, only the Results table has fields displayed. The other two
tables are blank. This shows that only the Results table has calculated fields. You can also
observe that the implicit calculated fields have an icon displayed, whereas the explicit
calculated field Medal Count does not have that icon.

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 DAX

Viewing Calculated Fields in the Table

You can view the calculated fields in the Table as follows -

Click the calculated field.

Right-click and select Go To in the dropdown list.

The table will appear in Data View.

As seen in the above screenshot, the calculated fields appear in the calculation area of the
table.

26
 DAX

Changing a Calculated Field in the Table

You can change the formula used for a calculated field in the table.

Click the calculated field in the table in data view of the Data Model.
Select the formula in the formula bar to the right side of :=.

The formula will get highlighted.

Type the new formula.

Press Enter.

You will learn more about the DAX formulas in the subsequent chapters.

Renaming a Calculated Field in the Data Model

You can change the name of a calculated field in the Data Table either in Data View or
Diagram View.

Renaming a Calculated Field in the Data View

Click the calculated field in the table in data view of the Data Model.
Select the calculated field name in the formula bar to the left side of :=.

The calculated field name will get highlighted.

27
 DAX

Type the new name for the calculated field.

Press Enter.

You will learn more about the DAX Syntax in the subsequent chapters.

Renaming a Calculated Field in the Diagram View

Right-click the calculated field name in the table in the diagram view.
Click Rename in the dropdown list.

The name will get into editing mode. Type the new name for the calculated field.

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 DAX

Viewing Calculated Fields in the Excel Window

You can view the calculated fields in the Excel window as follows -

Click the POWERPIVOT tab on the Ribbon.

Click Calculated Fields in the Calculations group.
Click Manage Calculated Fields in the dropdown list.

Manage Calculated Fields dialog box appears. The names of the explicit calculated fields
in the Data Model appear in the dialog box.

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 DAX

Changing a Calculated Field in the Manage Calculated Fields

You can change a calculated field in the Manage Calculated Fields dialog box.

Click the Medal Count.

Click the Edit button.

Calculated Field dialog box appears.

Select the formula to the right of = in the formula box.

30
 DAX

Type the new Formula.

Click OK.
Click Close in the Manage Calculated Fields dialog box.

Renaming a Calculated Field in the Manage Calculated Fields

You can rename a calculated field in the Manage Calculated Fields dialog box.

Click the Medal Count.

Click the Edit button.

Calculated Field dialog box appears.

Select the name in the calculated field name box.

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 DAX

Type the new name for the calculated field.

Click OK.
Click Close in the Manage Calculated Fields dialog box.

Moving a Calculated Field in the Data Model

You can move a calculated field within the calculation area of the table in which it is
created. But, it cannot be moved to another table.

Right-click the calculated field.

Click Cut.
Move the pointer to a different place in the calculation area of the same table.
Click Paste.

Note: It does not really matter where the calculated field is within the calculation area of
the table because the data references in the DAX formula of the calculated field are by the
column names and are stated explicitly.

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 5. DAX Deleting a Calculated Field DAX

You can delete both explicit and implicit calculated fields. There are several ways of doing
so, which you will learn in this chapter.

However, you need to remember the following points before deleting a calculated field

An explicit calculated field can be used in more than one PivotTable and/or
PivotChart. Hence, you need to make sure that deleting the explicit calculated field
does not affect any of the reports that you have already generated.

An explicit calculated field can be used in the calculations of other explicit calculated
fields. Hence, you need to make sure that the explicit calculated field is not used
in any of the calculations of other explicit calculated fields.

An implicit calculated field is limited to the PivotTable or PivotChart where it is used.

Hence, before deleting an implicit calculated field, it is just sufficient to make sure
that it can be deleted from the corresponding PivotTable or PivotChart.

Creating an implicit calculated field is simpler than creating an explicit calculated

field. Hence, more caution is required before deleting an explicit calculated field.

You cannot create an explicit calculated field, if the name conflicts with the name
of an implicit calculated field. Hence, you might have to delete that implicit
calculated field before creating the explicit calculated field.

Deleting an Explicit Calculated Field in the Data Model

You can delete an explicit calculated field either in the data view or the diagram view in
the Data Model.

Deleting an Explicit Calculated Field in the Data View

Locate the calculated field in the calculations area in the Data View.
Right-click the calculated field.
Click Delete in the dropdown list.

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 DAX

Message appears for delete confirmation.

Click Delete from Model. The explicit calculated field will get deleted.

Deleting an Explicit Calculated Field in the Diagram View

Locate the calculated field in the data table in the Diagram View.
Right-click the calculated field name.
Click Delete in the dropdown list.

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 DAX

Message appears for delete confirmation.

Click Delete from Model. The explicit calculated field will get deleted and it will not be seen
in the fields list of the data table.

Deleting an Explicit Calculated Field in the Excel Window

You can delete an explicit calculated field from the Excel window as follows

Click the POWERPIVOT tab on the Ribbon.

Click Calculated Field in the Calculations group.
Click Manage Calculated Fields in the dropdown list.

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 DAX

Manage Calculated Fields dialog box appears.

Click the explicit calculated field name.

Click the Delete button.

Confirmation message for deletion appears.

36
 DAX

Click Yes. Information message that the Data Model is changed appears at the top.
Click the Close button in the dialog box.

The explicit calculated field will get deleted and it will not be seen in the
PivotTable/PivotChart Fields list in the workbook.

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 DAX

Deleting an Implicit Calculated Field

You can delete an implicit calculated field either in the data view or the diagram view in
the Data Model.

Deleting an Implicit Calculated Field in the Data View

Locate the calculated field in the calculations area in the Data View.
Right-click the calculated field.
Click Delete in the dropdown list.

Message appears for delete confirmation.

Click Delete from Model. The implicit calculated field will get deleted.

Deleting an Implicit Calculated Field in the Diagram View

Locate the calculated field in the data table in the Diagram View.
Right-click the calculated field name.
Click Delete in the dropdown list.

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 DAX

Message appears for delete confirmation.

Click Delete from Model. The implicit calculated field will get deleted and it will not be seen
in the fields list of the data table.

39
 6. DAX Syntax DAX

As discussed earlier, DAX is a formula language comprising of operators, values, functions,

and formulas. In this chapter, you will learn about DAX Syntax.

DAX Syntax can be categorized as

Syntax for DAX Formulas

DAX Naming Requirements
DAX Special Values
DAX Functions
DAX Operators
DAX Data Types

Before you proceed to learning DAX Syntax, you have to understand the difference
between Excel formulas and DAX formulas.

Differences between Excel Formulas and DAX Formulas

DAX formulas are similar to the Excel formulas and you can type them in the formula bar.
However, there are some vital differences between the two.

Excel Formula DAX Formula

Excel formulas are typed in the formula DAX formulas are typed in the formula bar
bar in the Excel window. in the Power Pivot window.

In DAX formulas, you can reference only

complete tables or columns of data, i.e.
references can be only to tables and fields
in the tables.
In Excel formulas, you can reference
individual cells or arrays for data. However, if at all you have to perform a
calculation only on a part of the column
data, you can do so with the DAX functions
that filter and provide the required unique
data values for calculation.

DAX provides more data types than Excel

Excel formulas support certain data types. does. Hence, DAX formulas can use the
additional data types also.

40
 DAX

Excel does not support any implicit data DAX performs implicit data type conversions
conversions. during calculations.

Syntax for DAX Formulas

DAX stands for Data Analysis Expressions. Hence, the objective of DAX is to construct DAX
formulas that enable you to perform data analysis activities.

A DAX formula always starts with an equals sign (=).

After the equals sign, you can provide an expression that evaluates to a scalar
value, or an expression that can be converted to a scalar value. These include the
following -
o A scalar constant.

o An expression that uses a scalar operator (+,-,*, /,>=, &&, etc.)

o References to columns or tables.

o Operators, constants, and values provided as part of an expression.

o The result of a DAX function and its required arguments. Some DAX functions
return a table instead of a scalar value, and must be wrapped in a DAX
function that evaluates the table and returns a scalar value. Unless the table
is a single column, single row table, it is treated as a scalar value.

o Most DAX functions require one or more arguments, which can include tables,
columns, expressions and values. However, some DAX functions, such as PI,
do not require any arguments, but always require parentheses to indicate
the null argument. For e.g., you must always type PI (), but not PI. You can
also nest DAX functions within other DAX functions.

o Expressions. An expression can contain any or all of the following: operators,

values, and references to columns.

Important Note: DAX formulas can behave differently depending on whether they are
used in a calculated column or in a calculated field. You must always be aware of the
context and how the data that you use in the DAX formula is related to other data that
might be used in the calculation. You will learn more about this in the chapter DAX
Context.

Examples
=[First Name] & [Last Name]
=CONCATENATE ([First Name], [Last Name])
Profit:=[Sales] [Costs]

The first two are DAX formulas for calculated columns, whereas the third one is a DAX
formula for a calculated field.

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 DAX

DAX Functions
As in the case of Excel formulas, DAX formulas can also contain DAX functions. DAX has
following types of functions

Aggregation Functions
Date and Time Functions
Time Intelligence Functions
Filter Functions
Information Functions
Logical Functions
Math and Trig Functions
Other Functions
Parent and Child Functions
Statistical Functions
Text Functions

You will learn more about these in the chapter - DAX Functions.

DAX Table Naming Requirements

Data Model comprises of tables between which relationships exist. It is the database for
Power Pivot. Each table is stored on a separate tab in the Data Model and the table name
is given as the tab name. Each table will have columns, representing the data fields. The
column names will be displayed as the data fields in the PivotTable Fields list.

The tables in the Data Model must have unique names.

The table names are case insensitive. i.e., Results, RESULTS, results all these
represent the same table.

Each calculated column and calculated field that you add to a Data Model must be
associated with a specific table.

o When you create a calculated column, you will do it within a table, thus
associating it implicitly with that table.

o When you create a calculated field, you will create it - either within a table
in the Power Pivot window or from the Excel window specifying the name
of the table where the calculated field definition should be stored.

In both the cases, the calculated field is termed as explicit calculated field and is associated
with a table.

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 DAX

DAX Naming Requirements Across Tables

You need to specify the table name in a DAX formula if the column is from a
different table than the current table.

Table names must be enclosed in single quotation marks if they contain spaces,
other special characters, or any non-English alphanumeric characters.

DAX Naming Requirements Calculated Fields

The names of the calculated fields must always be in brackets.

The names of the calculated fields can contain spaces.

Each calculated field name must be unique within a Data Model. The table name is
optional in front of a calculated field name as it is always associated with a specific
table.

DAX Naming Requirements Columns

Column names must be unique within a table. However, different tables can have
columns with the same names.

The columns can be referenced with unqualified column names if there is no name
conflict. An unqualified column name is just the column name, enclosed in
brackets. For e.g. [Medal]. When you are referencing a scalar value from the same
row of the current table, you can use the unqualified column name.

However, if the same column name is used in more than one table, then the column
has to be referenced with fully qualified column name. The fully qualified column
name is the table name, followed by the column name in square brackets. For e.g.
Results[Medal].

When you use a column as an input to a DAX function, it is a good practice to

fully qualify the column name. The following DAX functions require column names
to be fully qualified

o VALUES.
o ALL and ALLEXCEPT.
o CALCULATE and CALCULATETABLE - in a filter argument.
o RELATEDTABLE.
o DAX time intelligence functions.

DAX Naming Requirements Reserved Keywords

If the name that you use for a table is the same as an Analysis Services reserved keyword,
an error is raised and you must rename the table. However, you can use the keywords in
the object names, if the object name is enclosed in brackets (for columns) or quotation
marks (for tables).

43
 DAX

Quotation marks can be represented by several different characters, depending on the

application used. Hence, if you paste formulas from an external document or web page,
make sure to check the ASCII code of the character that is used for opening and closing
quotes, to ensure that they are the same. Otherwise, DAX may be unable to recognize the
symbols as quotation marks, making the reference invalid.

DAX Fully Qualified Names Special Cases

If a table name contains spaces or reserved keywords or disallowed characters, you must
enclose the table name within single quotation marks. For e.g. East_Sales'[Amount].

You must enclose the table names in quotation marks, if the name contains any characters
outside the ANSI alphanumeric character range, regardless of whether your locale
supports the character set or not. For e.g., if a table name is written in Cyrillic characters,
such as , the table name must be enclosed in quotation marks even though it
does not contain spaces.

You can use the formula AutoComplete feature, as it will then be just a matter of selecting
the fully qualified names of columns from the dropdown list, making your job easier and
error proof.

Exclusion of Special Characters in Names

The following characters and character types are not valid in the names of tables, columns,
or calculated fields:

Leading or trailing spaces, unless the spaces are enclosed by name delimiters, brackets,
or single apostrophes. Control characters.

The following characters are not valid in the names of Power Pivot objects:

.,;':/\*|?&%$!+=()[]{}<>

Common DAX Formula Rules

The DAX formula syntax depends on the type of operation it can perform and varies greatly
if it contains DAX functions. Following rules apply to all the DAX formulas:

DAX formulas cannot modify or insert individual values in tables.

You cannot create calculated rows by using DAX. You can create only calculated
columns and calculated fields.

When defining calculated columns, you can nest functions to any level (a maximum
being 64 that is a bit too much).

DAX has several functions that return a table. Typically, you use the values
returned by these DAX functions as an input to other DAX functions, which require
a table as an input.

44
 DAX

DAX Special Values

The following table lists some DAX special values.

Special Value Description

BLANK A null, or a blank value, or an empty cell, or a missing value.

Infinity value, as considered in mathematics ().

Infinity
DAX returns Infinity, if there is a division by zero.

Not a Number.
NaN
DAX returns NaN for 0/0 and Infinity/Infinity.

If you divide an expression by Infinity, you will not get an error, as DAX returns 0.

DAX Operators
The following table lists some DAX operators.

Operator Type Symbol Use

Parenthesis Operators () Precedence order and grouping of arguments

+ Addition
- Subtraction/ Sign
* Multiplication
Arithmetic Operators
/ Division
^ Exponentiation
= Equal to
> Greater than
< Less than
Comparison Operators >= Greater than or equal to
<= Less than or equal to
<> Not equal to

Text Concatenation Operator & Concatenation

&& AND
Logical Operators
|| OR

45
 DAX

DAX operators and Excel operators behave in a similar way with some exceptions. You will
learn more about DAX operators in the chapter - DAX Operators.

New Data Types in DAX

Table is a new data type in Data Model.

You can use a table containing multiple columns and multiple rows of data as an
argument to a DAX function.

Some DAX functions return tables, which are stored in memory and can be used as
arguments to other DAX functions.

Datetime is another new data type in Data Model that is used for date and time values.
DAX functions that require date and/or time as arguments, require the datetime data type.

Summary of DAX Data Types

Following are the data types supported by DAX:

Data Type Description

Numbers that have no decimal places.

Integers can be positive or negative numbers, but
A 64 bit (eight-bytes) integer
must be whole numbers between -
value
9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (-2^63) and
9,223,372,036,854,775,807 (2^63-1).

Real numbers are numbers that can have decimal

places. Real numbers cover the following values:

Negative values from -1.79E +308 through -

2.23E -308
A 64 bit (eight-bytes) real
Zero
number
Positive values from 2.23E -308 through
1.79E + 308

However, the number of significant digits is limited

to 15 decimal digits.

True
Boolean
False

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 DAX

A Unicode character data string.

Can be strings, numbers or dates represented in a
text format.
String
Maximum string length is 268,435,456 Unicode
characters (256 mega characters) or 536,870,912
bytes.

Dates and times in an accepted date-time

datetime representation.
Valid dates are all dates after January 1, 1900.

Currency data type allows values between -

922,337,203,685,477.5808 to
Currency
922,337,203,685,477.5807 with four decimal
digits of fixed precision.

A blank is a data type in DAX that represents and

replaces SQL nulls. You can create a blank by using
Blank
the BLANK function, and test for blanks by using
the logical function, ISBLANK.

Table Represents a table in the data model.

Note: Data Model does not support the use of the variant data type used in Excel. Hence,
when you load or import data, ensure that the data in each column of a table is of
consistent data type.

DAX functions work with the following data types

Scalar values, including strings.

Numbers, both integers and real numbers.
Dates and times.

DAX functions return error in case of data type incompatibility. Ensure that the data type
of each column in a table is as required. If not, you can explicitly set the data type from
the Ribbon in the Power Pivot window.

You can learn about the data types required for each DAX function in the tutorial - DAX
Functions in this tutorials library.

47
 DAX

Implicit Data Type Conversion in DAX Formulas

You do not need to cast, convert, or otherwise specify the data type of a column or a value
that you use in a DAX formula. When you use data in a DAX formula, DAX automatically
identifies the data types in referenced columns and of the values that you type in and
performs implicit conversions where necessary to complete the specified operation.

However, there are some limitations on the values that can be successfully converted. If
a value or a column has a data type that is incompatible with the current operation, DAX
returns an error.

Example of implicit data conversion in DAX: Suppose you have a DAX formula wherein
you are adding a number to a Date. DAX interprets it in the context of function that is
used. Both the arguments are converted to a common data type and the result is returned
in the intended data type.

The type of conversion that is performed is determined by the operator, which casts the
values it requires before performing the requested operation. In the following sections,
you can find the tables of implicit data conversions for the following operators

Addition (+)
Subtraction (-)
Multiplication (*)
Division (/)
Comparison Operators

Each of the tables list the operators and indicate the conversion that is performed on each
data type in the column when it is paired with the data type in the intersecting row.

Implicit Data Conversion Table for Addition (+)

Operator (+) INTEGER CURRENCY REAL DATETIME

INTEGER INTEGER CURRENCY REAL DATETIME

CURRENCY CURRENCY CURRENCY REAL DATETIME

REAL REAL REAL REAL DATETIME

DATETIME DATETIME DATETIME DATETIME DATETIME

For example, if A is of Currency data type and B is a Real data type, then while calculating
A+B, DAX converts A into Real and adds it to B. The result will be a Real data type.

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 DAX

Implicit Data Conversion Table for Subtraction (-)

The row header is the minuend (left side) and the column header is the subtrahend (right
side).

Operator (-) INTEGER CURRENCY REAL DATETIME

INTEGER INTEGER CURRENCY REAL REAL
CURRENCY CURRENCY CURRENCY REAL REAL
REAL REAL REAL REAL REAL
DATETIME DATETIME DATETIME DATETIME DATETIME

For example, if A is of Integer data type and B is of Real data type, then while calculating
A-B, DAX converts A into Real and subtracts B from A. The result will be a Real data type.

Note: Data Model also supports the unary operator, - (negative), but this operator does
not change the data type of the operand.

Implicit Data Conversion Table for Multiplication (*)

Operator (*) INTEGER CURRENCY REAL DATETIME

INTEGER INTEGER CURRENCY REAL INTEGER

CURRENCY CURRENCY REAL CURRENCY CURRENCY

REAL REAL CURRENCY REAL REAL

For example, if A is of Real data type and B is of Currency data type, then to calculate
A*B, DAX converts A to Currency data type and multiplies A with B. The result will be a
Currency data type.

Implicit Data Conversion Table for Division (/)

Operator (/) INTEGER CURRENCY REAL DATETIME
INTEGER REAL CURRENCY REAL REAL
CURRENCY REAL CURRENCY REAL REAL
REAL REAL REAL REAL REAL
DATETIME REAL REAL REAL REAL

For example, if A is Currency data type and B is of Real data type, then while calculating
A/B, DAX will convert A to Real number and performs the division. The result will be a Real
data type.

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 DAX

Implicit Data Conversion Table for Comparison Operators

In comparison expressions, DAX follows the rules mentioned below

Boolean values are considered greater than string values.

String values are considered greater than numeric or datetime values.

Numbers and datetime values are considered to have the same rank.

No implicit data conversions are performed for Boolean or string values.

BLANK or a blank value is converted to 0/""/false depending on the data type of

the other compared value.

For numeric or datetime types, data conversions are performed implicitly as shown
in the following table:

Comparison
INTEGER CURRENCY REAL DATETIME
Operator
INTEGER INTEGER CURRENCY REAL REAL
CURRENCY CURRENCY CURRENCY REAL REAL
REAL REAL REAL REAL REAL
DATETIME REAL REAL REAL DATETIME

How DAX Handles Blanks, Empty Strings, and Zero Values?

In DAX, a null, a blank value, an empty cell, or a missing value are all represented by the
same special value, a BLANK.

You can generate a BLANK with the DAX BLANK function.

You can test for a BLANK by using the DAX ISBLANK function.

How DAX handles blanks in DAX formulas or DAX functions depends on the individual
operation such as addition or concatenation or the specific DAX function.

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 DAX

Examples

DAX Formula Result

BLANK + BLANK BLANK

BLANK + 5 5

BLANK * 5 BLANK

5 / BLANK Infinity

0 / BLANK NaN

BLANK / BLANK BLANK

FALSE OR BLANK FALSE

FALSE AND BLANK FALSE

TRUE OR BLANK TRUE

TRUE AND BLANK FALSE

BLANK OR BLANK BLANK

BLANK AND BLANK BLANK

51
 7. DAX Operators DAX

DAX is a formula language comprising of functions, operators, and values that can be used
in a formula or expression, to calculate and return one or more values.

You can use DAX operators to compare values, perform arithmetic calculations, and
concatenate strings. In this chapter, you will learn about DAX operators and how to use
them.

Types of DAX Operators

DAX supports the following types of operators

DAX Arithmetic Operators

DAX Comparison Operators
DAX Text Concatenation Operator
DAX Logical Operators

DAX Arithmetic Operators

You can use DAX arithmetic operators to perform basic mathematical operations such as
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and exponentiation. These DAX operators
cast numeric data type to the values with which they are used, if they are not already
numeric values. They produce numeric results after the calculations.

Example
Arithmetic Operator Mathematical Operation Result

+ Addition 5+4 9

Subtraction 5-4 1
-
Sign -4 -4

* Multiplication 5*3 15

/ Division 16/4 4

^ Exponentiation 4^2 16

The above DAX arithmetic operators are known as binary operators, meaning they
combine two values on either side, as you can observe in the examples above.

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 DAX

The DAX arithmetic operators + and can also be used as unary operators, meaning that
the DAX operator can be used only with one value. For example, +5, -4. These unary
operators can be used with any data type. However, there is a subtle difference between
the two

The + operator when used with a value or a result, it does not convert the data
type of the value. It is just ignored. For example, + Seasons is same as Seasons.

On the other hand, the operator when used with a value or a result, converts the
data type of the value to a negative numeric value. For example, Seasons = -4
if the value of Seasons is 4.

DAX Comparison Operators

You can use the DAX comparison operators to compare two values producing a result that
is a logical value, i.e. either TRUE or FALSE. DAX supports the following comparison
operators.

Comparison Operator Comparison Operation Example Result

= Equal to 5=4 FALSE

> Greater than 5>4 TRUE
< Less than 5<4 FALSE
>= Greater than or equal to 5>=3 TRUE
<= Less than or equal to 3<=5 TRUE
<> Not equal to 5<>4 TRUE

DAX Text Concatenation Operator

You can use the DAX text concatenation operator to concatenate or join two or more text
strings to produce a single continuous and combined text string.

Text
Concatenation Example
Operation Result
Operator

& Concatenation / Join Hyderabad&, &India Hyderabad, India

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 DAX

DAX Logical Operators

You can use DAX logical operators to combine expressions that evaluate to a logical or
Boolean value (TRUE or FALSE), to produce a single result that is logical (TRUE or FALSE).

Logical Operator Logical Operation Evaluation

It is a unary operator. This means it takes

only one operand. The result is -
TRUE if the operand evaluates to
! NOT FALSE.

FALSE if the operand evaluates to

TRUE.

TRUE only if both the expressions are TRUE.

&& AND
Otherwise, FALSE.

FALSE only if both the expressions are

|| OR
FALSE. Otherwise, TRUE.

Examples
! (1=1) results in FALSE, because 1=1 is TRUE.
! (1 <> 1) results in TRUE, because 1 <> 1 is FALSE.
(1=1) && (5>4) results in TRUE, because both are TRUE.
(5>4) && (5=4) results in FALSE, because 5=4 is FALSE.
(1=1) || (5=4) results in TRUE, because 1=1 is TRUE.
(2=4) || (5=4) results in FALSE, because both are FALSE.

DAX Operator Precedence Order

You can have a DAX formula with many DAX operators combining several values or
expressions. In such a case, the final result will depend on the order in which the
operations are performed. DAX provides you with the default operator precedence order
and also ways of overriding the default precedence order.

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 DAX

DAX default operator precedence is listed in the following table.

Precedence Order Operator(s) Operation

1 ^ Exponentiation

2 Sign

3 * and / Multiplication and Division

4 ! NOT

5 + and Addition and Subtraction

6 & Concatenation

Equal to, Less than, Greater than,

7 =, <, >, <=, >= and <> Less than or equal to, Greater than
or equal to and Not equal to

DAX Expression Syntax

You need to first understand the DAX expression syntax and how the expression evaluation
is done with the operands and operators.

All expressions always begin with an equal sign (=). The equal sign indicates that
the succeeding characters constitute an expression.

To the right of the equal sign, you will have the operands connected by the DAX
operators. For example, = 5+4>5.
= 5*6-3.

Expressions are always read from left to right, and the calculations are done in that
sequence, based on the DAX operator precedence given in the previous section.

If the DAX operators have equal precedence value, they are evaluated from the left
to right. For example, =5*6/10. Both * and / have same the precedent order.
Hence, the expression is evaluated as 30/10 = 3.

If the DAX operators in the expression have different precedence values, then they
are evaluated in the precedence order from the left to right.

o =5+4>7. Default precedence is + first and > next. Hence, the expression
is calculated from the left to right. - 5+4 is calculated first resulting in 9
and then 9 > 5 is evaluated that results in TRUE.

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 DAX

o = 5*6-3. Default precedence is * first and - next. Hence, the expression is

calculated from the left to right. - 5*6 is calculated first resulting in 30 and
then 30 - 3 is calculated that results in 27.

o = 2*5-6*3. Default precedence is * first, * next and then -. Hence, the

expression evaluates as 10 18 and then as -8. Note, that it is not 10-6
resulting in 4 and then 4*3 that is 12.

Using Parentheses to Control DAX Calculation Order

You can change the DAX default operator precedence order by using parentheses,
grouping the operands and the operators to control the calculation sequence.

For example,

= 5*6-3 evaluates to 27 with the DAX default operator precedence order. If you use
parenthesis to group the operands and operators as = 5*(6-3), then 6-3 is calculated first
resulting in 3 and then 5*3 is calculated which results in 15.

=2*5-6*3 evaluates to -8 with the DAX default operator precedence order. If you use
parenthesis to group the operands and operators as = 2*(5-6)*3, then 5-6 is calculated
first resulting in -1 and then 2*(-1)*3 is calculated which results in -6.

As you can see, with the same operands and operators, different results are possible by
the way you group them. Hence, when you use the DAX operators in the DAX formulas,
you should pay attention to how the computation sequence is to be.

Differences Between Excel and DAX

Though DAX has similarities with Excel formulas, there are certain significant differences
between the two.

DAX is more powerful than Excel because of its underlying memory resident
computation engine.

DAX supports more data types than Excel.

DAX provides additional advanced features of a relational database, Data Model,

including richer support for date and time types.

In some cases, the results of calculations or the behavior of functions in DAX may not be
the same as in Excel. This is due to the differences in the following -

Data type casting

Data types

Difference in Data Type Casting

In DAX, when you have an expression =value1 operator value2, the two operands value1
and value2 should be of the same data type. If the data types are different, DAX will
convert them first to a common data type implicitly. Refer to the chapter DAX Syntax
for details.

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 DAX

For example, you have to compare two operands of different data types, say a number
resulting from a formula, such as =[Amount] * 0.08 and an integer. The first number can
be a decimal number with many decimal places, whereas the second number is an integer.
Then DAX handles it as follows

First, DAX will convert both the operands to real numbers using the largest numeric
format that can store both kinds of numbers.

Next, DAX will compare the two real numbers.

In contrast, Excel tries to compare values of different data types without first coercing
them to a common data type. For this reason, you might find different results in DAX and
in Excel for the same comparison expression.

Difference in Data Types

The operator precedence order in DAX and Excel is the same. However, the operator
percent (%) and data ranges that Excel supports are not supported by DAX. Moreover,
DAX supports table as a data type, which is not the case in Excel.

Further, in Excel formulas, you can refer to a single cell, or an array or a range of cells. In
DAX formulas, you cannot refer to any of these. The DAX formula references to data should
be by tables, columns, calculated fields, and calculated columns.

If you copy formulas from Excel and paste them in DAX, ensure the correctness of the
DAX formula as DAX syntax is different from Excel formula syntax. Also, even if a function
has the same name in DAX and Excel, its parameters might be different and the result of
the function can also be different.

You will learn more about all these in the subsequent chapters.

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 8. DAX Standard Parameters DAX

DAX has standard parameter names to facilitate the usage and understanding of the
DAX functions. Further, you can use certain prefixes to the parameter names. If the prefix
is clear enough, you can use the prefix itself as the parameter name.

Standard Parameter Names

Following are the DAX standard parameter names

Parameter Name Description

Any DAX expression that returns a single scalar value, where the
expression expression is to be evaluated multiple times (for each
row/context).

Any DAX expression that returns a single scalar value where the
value expression is to be evaluated exactly once before all other
operations.

table Any DAX expression that returns a table of data.

The name of an existing table using standard DAX syntax. It

tableName
cannot be an expression.

The name of an existing column using standard DAX syntax,

columnName
usually fully qualified. It cannot be an expression.

A string constant that will be used to provide the name of a new

name
object.

order An enumeration used to determine the sort order.

ties An enumeration used to determine the handling of tie values.

An enumeration used to determine the data type for PathItem and

type
PathItemReverse.

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 DAX

Prefixing Parameter Names

You can qualify a parameter name with a prefix

The prefix should be descriptive of how the argument is used.

The prefix should be in such a way that ambiguous reading of the parameter is
avoided.

For example,

Result_ColumnName - Refers to an existing column used to get the result values

in the DAX LOOKUPVALUE () function.

Search_ColumnName - Refers to an existing column used to search for a value

in the DAX LOOKUPVALUE () function.

Using Only the Prefix as a Parameter

You can omit the parameter name and use only the prefix, if the prefix is clear enough to
describe the parameter. Omitting the parameter name and using only the prefix can
sometimes help in avoiding the clutter in reading.

For example, Consider DATE (Year_value, Month_value, Day_value). You can omit the
parameter name value, that is repeated thrice and write it as DATE (Year, Month, Day).
As you can observe, by using only the prefixes, the function is more readable.

However, sometimes the parameter name and the prefix have to be present for clarity.

For example, Consider Year_columnName. The parameter name is ColumnName and the
prefix is Year. Both are required to make the user understand that the parameter requires
a reference to the existing column of years.

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 9. DAX Functions DAX

Most of the DAX functions have the same names and functionality as that of Excel
functions. However, DAX functions have been modified to use DAX data types and to work
with tables and columns.

DAX has some additional functions that you will not find in Excel. These DAX functions are
provided for specific purposes such as lookups based on relationships associated with the
relational database aspects of the Data Model, the ability to iterate over a table to perform
recursive calculations, to perform dynamic aggregation, and for calculations utilizing time
intelligence.

In this chapter, you will learn about the functions supported in the DAX language. For
more information on the usage of these DAX functions, refer to the tutorial DAX Functions
in this tutorials library.

What is a DAX Function?

A DAX function is an in-built function provided in the DAX language to enable you to
perform various actions on the data in the tables in your Data Model. As discussed earlier,
DAX is used for data analysis and business intelligence purposes that require support to
extract, assimilate, and derive insights from the data. The DAX functions that are based
on the Data Model provide you with these utilities that make your job simpler, once you
get a grasp on the DAX language and the usage of the DAX functions.

Excel Functions vs. DAX Functions

There are certain similarities between Excel functions that you are aware of and the DAX
functions. However, there are certain differences too. You need to get a clarity on these,
so that you can avoid making mistakes in the usage of DAX functions and in writing DAX
formulas that include DAX functions.

Similarities between Excel Functions and DAX Functions

Many DAX functions have the same name and the same general behavior as Excel
functions.

DAX has lookup functions that are similar to the array and vector lookup functions
in Excel.

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 DAX

Differences between Excel Functions and DAX Functions

DAX functions have been modified to take different types of inputs and some of the
DAX functions might return a different data type. Hence, you need to understand
the usage of these functions separately though they have the same name. In this
tutorial, you will find every DAX function prefixed with DAX so as to avoid confusion
with the Excel functions.

You cannot use DAX functions in an Excel formula or use Excel formulas/functions
in DAX, without the required modifications.

Excel functions take a cell reference or a range of cells as reference. DAX functions
never take a cell reference or a range of cells as reference, but instead take a
column or table as reference.

Excel date and time functions return an integer that represents a date as a serial
number. DAX date and time functions return a datetime data type that is in DAX
but not in Excel.

Excel has no functions that return a table, but some functions can work with arrays.
Many of the DAX functions can easily reference complete tables and columns to
perform calculations and return a table or a column of values. This ability of DAX
adds power to the Power Pivot, Power View and Power BI, where DAX is used.

DAX lookup functions require that a relationship is established between the tables.

Excel supports variant data type in a column of data, i.e. you can have data of
different data types in a column. Whereas, DAX expects the data in a column of a
table to be always of the same data type. If the data is not of the same data type,
DAX changes the entire column to the data type that best accommodates all the
values in the column. However, if the data is imported and this issue arises, DAX
can flag an error.

To learn about DAX data types and data type casting, refer to the chapter DAX Syntax
Reference.

Types of DAX Functions

DAX supports the following types of functions.

DAX Table Valued Functions

o DAX Filter Functions
o DAX Aggregation Functions
o DAX Time Intelligence Functions
DAX Date and Time Functions
DAX Information Functions
DAX Logical Functions
DAX Math and Trig Functions
DAX Other Functions

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 DAX

DAX Parent and Child Functions

DAX Statistical Functions
DAX Text Functions

In this section, you will learn about DAX functions at the functions category level. For
details on the DAX Function Syntax and what the DAX function returns and does - refer to
the DAX Functions tutorial in this tutorials library.

DAX time intelligence functions and DAX filter functions are powerful and require a special
mention. Refer to the chapters - Understanding DAX Time Intelligence and DAX Filter
Functions for details.

DAX Table Valued Functions

Many DAX functions take tables as input or output tables or do both. These DAX functions
are called DAX table valued functions. Because a table can have a single column, DAX
table valued functions also take single columns as inputs. You have the following types of
DAX table valued functions

DAX Aggregation functions

DAX Filter functions
DAX Time intelligence functions

Understanding DAX table valued functions helps you in writing DAX formulas effectively.

DAX Aggregation Functions

DAX Aggregation functions aggregate any expression over the rows of a table and are
useful in calculations.

Following are some DAX Aggregation functions:

ADDCOLUMNS (<table>, <name>, <expression>, [<name>, <expression>] )

AVERAGE (<column>)
AVERAGEA (<column>)
AVERAGEX (<table>, <expression>)
COUNT (<column>)
COUNTA (<column>)
COUNTAX (<table>, <expression>)
COUNTBLANK (<column>)
COUNTROWS (<table>)
COUNTX (<table>, <expression>)
CROSSJOIN (<table1>, <table2>, [<table3>] )
DISTINCTCOUNT (<column>)
GENERATE (<table1>, <table2>)
GENERATEALL (<table1>, <table2>)
MAX (<column>)

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 DAX

MAXA (<column>)
MAXX (<table>, <expression>)
MIN (<column>)
MINA (<column>)
MINX (<table>, <expression>)
PRODUCT (<column>)
PRODUCTX (<table>, <expression>)
ROW (<name>, <expression>, [<name>, <expression>] )
SELECTCOLUMNS (<table>, <name>, <scalar_expression>,
[<name>, <scalar_expression>] )
SUM (<column>)
SUMMARIZE (<table>, <groupBy_columnName>, [<groupBy_columnName>] ,
[<name>, <expression>] )

SUMX (<table>, <expression>)

TOPN (<n_value>, <table>, <orderBy_expression>, [<order>],

[<orderBy_expression>, [<order>]] )

DAX Filter Functions

DAX Filter functions return a column, a table, or values related to the current row. You
can use DAX Filter functions to return specific data types, look up values in related tables,
and filter by related values. DAX Lookup functions work by using tables and relationships
between them. DAX Filter functions enable you to manipulate the data context to create
dynamic calculations.

Following are some DAX Filter functions:

ADDMISSINGITEMS(<showAllColumn>, [<showAllColumn>] , <table>,

<groupingColumn>, [<groupingColumn>] [filterTable] )

ALL( {<table> | <column>, [<column>], [<column>] } )

ALLEXCEPT(<table>, <column>, [<column>] )
ALLNOBLANKROW(<table>|<column>)
ALLSELECTED([<tableName> | <columnName>])
CALCULATE (<expression>, <filter1>, <filter2>)
CALCULATETABLE (<expression>, <filter1>, <filter2>)
CROSSFILTER (<columnName1>, <columnName2>, <direction>)
DISTINCT (<column>)
EARLIER(<column>, <number>)
EARLIEST(<column>)
FILTER(<table>,<filter>)
FILTERS(<columnName>)

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 DAX

HASONEFILTER(<columnName>)
HASONEVALUE(<columnName>)
ISCROSSFILTERED (<columnName>)
ISFILTERED (<columnName>)
KEEPFILTERS (<expression>)
RELATED(<column>)
RELATEDTABLE(<tableName>)
SUBSTITUTEWITHINDEX (<table>, <indexColumnName>, <indexColumnsTable>,
<orderBy_expression>, [<order>], [<orderBy_expression>, [<order>]] ])

USERELATIONSHIP(<columnName1>,<columnName2>)

VALUES(<TableNameOrColumnName>)

DAX Time Intelligence Functions

DAX Time Intelligence functions return a table of dates or use a table of dates to calculate
an aggregation. These DAX functions help you create calculations that support the needs
of Business Intelligence analysis by enabling you to manipulate data using time periods,
including days, months, quarters and years.

Following are some DAX Time Intelligence functions:

CLOSINGBALANCEMONTH (<expression>,<dates>[,<filter>])
CLOSINGBALANCEQUARTER (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>])
CLOSINGBALANCEYEAR (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>], [<year_end_date>])
DATEADD (<dates>,<number_of_intervals>, <interval>)
DATESBETWEEN (<dates>,<start_date>,<end_date>)
DATESINPERIOD (<dates>,<start_date>, <number_of_intervals>,<interval>)
DATESMTD (<dates>)
DATESQTD (<dates>)
DATESYTD (<dates>, [<year_end_date>])
ENDOFMONTH (<dates>)
ENDOFQUARTER (<dates>)
ENDOFYEAR (<dates> , [<year_end_date>])
FIRSTDATE (<dates>)
FIRSTNONBLANK (<column>,<expression>)
LASTDATE (<dates>)
LASTNONBLANK (<column>,<expression>)
NEXTDAY (<dates>)
NEXTMONTH (<dates>)
NEXTQUARTER (<dates>)
NEXTYEAR (<dates>, [<year_end_date>])

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 DAX

OPENINGBALANCEMONTH (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>])

OPENINGBALANCEQUARTER (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>])
OPENINGBALANCEYEAR (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>], [<year_end_date>])
PARALLELPERIOD (<dates>,<number_of_intervals>, <interval>)
PREVIOUSDAY(<dates>)
PREVIOUSMONTH(<dates>)
PREVIOUSQUARTER(<dates>)
PREVIOUSYEAR (<dates>, [<year_end_date>])
SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(<dates>)
STARTOFMONTH(<dates>)
STARTOFQUARTER(<dates>)
STARTOFYEAR(<dates>)
TOTALMTD (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>])
TOTALQTD(<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>])
TOTALYTD(<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>], [<year_end_date>])

DAX Date and Time Functions

DAX Date and Time functions are similar to the Excel date and time functions. However,
DAX Date and Time functions are based on the datetime data type of DAX.

Following are DAX Date and Time functions:

DATE(<year>, <month>, <day>)

DATEVALUE(date_text)
DAY(<date>)
EDATE(<start_date>, <months>)
EOMONTH(<start_date>, <months>)
HOUR(<datetime>)
MINUTE(<datetime>)
MONTH(<datetime>)
NOW()
SECOND(<time>)
TIME(hour, minute, second)
TIMEVALUE(time_text)
TODAY()
WEEKDAY(<date>, <return_type>)
WEEKNUM(<date>, <return_type>)
YEAR(<date>)
YEARFRAC(<start_date>, <end_date>, <basis>)

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 DAX

DAX Information Functions

DAX Information functions look at the cell or row that is provided as an argument and tell
you whether the value matches the expected type.

Following are some DAX Information functions:

CONTAINS (<table>, <columnName>, <value>, [<columnName>, <value>])

CUSTOMDATA()
ISBLANK(<value>)
ISERROR(<value>)
ISEVEN(number)
ISLOGICAL(<value>)
ISNONTEXT(<value>)
ISNUMBER(<value>)
ISONORAFTER (<scalar_expression>, <scalar_expression>, [sort_order],
[<scalar_expression>, <scalar_expression>, [sort_order]])

ISTEXT(<value>)

LOOKUPVALUE (<result_columnName>, <search_columnName>,

<search_value>, [<search_columnName>, <search_value>])

USERNAME()

DAX Logical Functions

DAX Logical Functions return information about values in an expression. For example, DAX
TRUE function lets you know whether an expression that you are evaluating returns a
TRUE value.

Following are DAX Logical functions:

AND(<logical1>,<logical2>)
FALSE()
IF(logical_test>,<value_if_true>, value_if_false)
IFERROR(value, value_if_error)
NOT(<logical>)
OR(<logical1>,<logical2>)
SWITCH(<expression>, <value>, <result>, [<value>, <result>], [<else>])
TRUE()

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 DAX

DAX Math and Trig Functions

DAX Mathematical and Trigonometric functions are very similar to the Excel mathematical
and trigonometric functions.

Following are some DAX Math and Trig functions:

ABS(<number>)
ACOS(number)
ACOSH(number)
ASIN(number)
ASINH(number)
ATAN(number)
ATANH(number)
CEILING(<number>, <significance>)
COMBIN(number, number_chosen)
COMBINA(number, number_chosen)
COS(number)
COSH(number)
CURRENCY(<value>)
DEGREES(angle)
DIVIDE(<numerator>, <denominator>, [<alternateresult>])
EVEN(number)
EXP(<number>)
FACT(<number>)
FLOOR(<number>, <significance>)
GCD(number1, [number2], ...)
INT(<number>)
ISO.CEILING(<number>, [<significance>])
LCM(number1, [number2], ...)
LN(<number>)
LOG(<number>,<base>)
LOG10(<number>)
INT(<number>)
MROUND(<number>, <multiple>)
ODD(number)
PI()
POWER(<number>, <power>)
PRODUCT(<column>)
PRODUCTX(<table>, <expression>)

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 DAX

QUOTIENT(<numerator>, <denominator>)
RADIANS(angle)
RAND()
RANDBETWEEN(<bottom>,<top>)
ROUND(<number>, <num_digits>)
ROUNDDOWN(<number>, <num_digits>)
ROUNDUP(<number>, <num_digits>)
SIN(number)
SINH(number)
SIGN(<number>)
SQRT(<number>)
SUM(<column>)
SUMX(<table>, <expression>)
TAN(number)
TANH(number)
TRUNC(<number>,<num_digits>)

DAX Other Functions

These DAX functions perform unique actions that cannot be defined by any of the
categories most other functions belong to.

Following are some DAX Other functions:

EXCEPT(<table_expression1>, <table_expression2>
GROUPBY (<table>, [<groupBy_columnName1>], [<name>, <expression>] )
INTERSECT(<table_expression1>, <table_expression2>)
ISEMPTY(<table_expression>)
NATURALINNERJOIN(<leftJoinTable>, <rightJoinTable>)
NATURALLEFTOUTERJOIN(<leftJoinTable>, <rightJoinTable>)
SUMMARIZECOLUMNS (<groupBy_columnName>, [<groupBy_columnName>],
[<filterTable>] , [<name>, <expression>])

UNION (<table_expression1>, <table_expression2>, [<table_expression>])

VAR <name> = <expression>

DAX Parent and Child Functions

DAX Parent and Child functions are useful in managing data that is presented as a
parent/child hierarchy in the Data Model.

Following are some DAX Parent and Child functions:

PATH(<ID_columnName>, <parent_columnName>)

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 DAX

PATHCONTAINS(<path>, <item>)
PATHITEM(<path>, <position>, [<type>])
PATHITEMREVERSE(<path>, <position>, [<type>])
PATHLENGTH(<path>)

DAX Statistical Functions

DAX Statistical functions are very similar to the Excel Statistical functions.

Following are some DAX Statistical functions:

BETA.DIST(x, alpha, beta, cumulative,[A],[B])

BETA.INV(probability, alpha, beta,[A],[B])
CHISQ.INV(probability, deg_freedom)
CHISQ.INV.RT(probability, deg_freedom)
CONFIDENCE.NORM(alpha, standard_dev, size)
CONFIDENCE.T(alpha, standard_dev, size)
DATATABLE (ColumnName1, DataType1, ColumnName2, DataType2 ..., {{Value1,
Value2...}, {ValueN, ValueN+1...}...})

EXPON.DIST(x, lambda, cumulative)

GEOMEAN(<column>)
GEOMEANX(<table>, <expression>)
MEDIAN(<column>)
MEDIANX(<table>, <expression>)
PERCENTILE.EXC(<column>, <k>)
PERCENTILE.INC(<column>, <k>)
PERCENTILEX.EXC(<table>, <expression>, k)
PERCENTILEX.EXC(<table>, <expression>, k)
POISSON.DIST(x, mean, cumulative)
RANK.EQ(<value>, <columnName>[, <order>])
RANKX(<table>, <expression>[, <value>[, <order>[, <ties>]]])
SAMPLE (<n_value>, <table>, <orderBy_expression>, [<order>],
[<orderBy_expression>, [<order>]])

STDEV.P(<ColumnName>)
STDEV.S(<ColumnName>)
STDEVX.P(<table>, <expression>)
STDEVX.S(<table>, <expression>)
SQRTPI(number)
VAR.P(<columnName>)
VAR.S(<columnName>)

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 DAX

VARX.P(<table>, <expression>)
VARX.S(<table>, <expression>)
XIRR(<table>, <values>, <dates>, [guess])
XNPV(<table>, <values>, <dates>, <rate>)

DAX Text Functions

DAX Text functions work with tables and columns. With DAX Text functions you can return
the part of a string, search for text within a string or concatenate string values. You can
also control the formats for dates, times, and numbers.

Following are some DAX Text functions:

BLANK()
CODE(text)
CONCATENATE(<text1>, <text2>)
CONCATENATEX(<table>, <expression>, [delimiter])
EXACT(<text1>,<text2>)
FIND(<find_text>, <within_text>, [<start_num>], [<NotFoundValue>])
FIXED(<number>, <decimals>, <no_commas>)
FORMAT(<value>, <format_string>)
LEFT(<text>, <num_chars>)
LEN(<text>)
LOWER(<text>)
MID(<text>, <start_num>, <num_chars>)
REPLACE(<old_text>, <start_num>, <num_chars>, <new_text>)
REPT(<text>, <num_times>)
RIGHT(<text>, <num_chars>)
SEARCH(<find_text>, <within_text>, [<start_num>], [<NotFoundValue>])
SUBSTITUTE(<text>, <old_text>, <new_text>, <instance_num>)
TRIM(<text>)
UPPER (<text>)
VALUE(<text>)

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 10. DAX Understanding DAX Functions DAX

In Excel 2013, DAX has 246 functions. You have already learnt about the different types
of DAX functions in the chapter DAX Functions. However, if you have to use a DAX
function in a DAX formula, you need to understand the function in detail. You should know
the syntax of the function, the parameter types, what the function returns, etc.

If you are writing a DAX formula, it is suggested to use the DAX functions where applicable.
For this, you can refer to the tutorial DAX Functions in this tutorials library for an in-
depth understanding of where and how to use each of the 246 DAX functions. You can
always go back and forth between this tutorial and DAX Functions tutorial to obtain
mastery on DAX.

In this chapter, you will understand how to read and interpret the DAX functions in the
DAX Functions tutorial.

DAX Function Explanation Structure

In the DAX functions tutorial, each DAX function is explained in a standard structure,
comprising of the following sections

Description
Syntax
Parameters
Return Value
Remarks
Example

You will learn about each of these in the following sections.

Description
In the Description section, you will learn what the DAX function is about and where it can
be used.

Syntax
In the Syntax section, you will learn the exact function name and the respective
parameters.

Parameters
In the Parameters section, you will learn about each of the parameters of the specific DAX
function, whether a parameter is an input or an output and if there are any options. As
seen in the chapter - DAX Standard Parameters, only the standard parameter names will
be used.

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 DAX

Return Value
In the Return Value section, you will learn about what value the DAX function will return
and its data type.

Remarks
In the Remarks section, you will learn about any extra information that you need to know
about the usage of the DAX function.

Example
The DAX function description will be ended with an example of the usage of the function.

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 11. DAX Evaluation Context DAX

In DAX, context is an important term that you should be aware of, while writing DAX
formulas. Also referred to as evaluation context, DAX context is used to determine the
evaluation of a DAX formula and the corresponding result. This means, the results of a
DAX formula can vary according to the context. You should clearly understand how a
specific DAX context is used and how the results can be different.

Evaluation context enables you to perform dynamic analysis, in which the results of a DAX
formula can change to reflect the current row or a cell selection and also any related data.
Understanding context and using context effectively are very important to build powerful
DAX formulas, perform dynamic data analysis, and troubleshoot problems in DAX
formulas. Evaluation contexts are the basis of all of the advanced features of DAX that you
need to master to create complex data analysis reports.

As you keep referencing to DAX functions for relevant usage in DAX formulas, you need
to refer to this chapter on DAX context to obtain clarity on the results.

Types of Context in DAX

DAX supports the following evaluation contexts

Row Context
Filter Context

When a DAX formula is evaluated, all the contexts will be taken into account and are
applied as relevant. The contexts exist together and the result of the formula will be
different based on the context that is used while calculating a value. For example, when
you select fields for rows, columns, and filters in a PivotTable, the subtotals are
dynamically calculated based on which row and which column the subtotal/total is
associated with and the values in the rows and columns are determined by the filters used.

Row Context
Row context means that the DAX formula or the DAX function knows which row of the
table it is referencing at any point in time. You can consider row context as the current
row. The formula will get calculated row-by-row with the row context.

Some DAX functions (e.g., the X-functions, FILTER ()) and all calculated columns have a
row context. For example, if you create a calculated column Year with the DAX formula
=YEAR ([Date]), the values of the calculated column are obtained by applying the given
DAX formula on the given column in the table, row by row.

This means that if you have created a calculated column, the row context consists of the
values in each individual row and the values in the columns that are related to the current
row, as determined by the DAX formula used. Though the DAX formula does not contain
the reference to a row, DAX implicitly understands the row context while calculating
values.

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 DAX

DAX creates a row context automatically when you define a calculated column and all the
calculated values with the DAX formula used will appear in the calculated column.

In contrast, when you have a DAX function such as SUMX, the values calculated row by
row get summed up and only the final result will be displayed. That is, the intermediate
values are discarded.

When you have related tables, the row context determines which rows in the related table
are associated with the current row. However, the row context does not propagate through
relationships automatically. You have to use the DAX functions - RELATED and
RELATEDTABLE for this.

Multiple Row Context

DAX has iterator functions like SUMX. You can use these functions to nest row contexts.
With this, programmatically you can have a recursion over an inner loop and an outer
loop, where you can have multiple current rows and current row contexts.

For example, you can use the DAX function Earlier () that stores the row context from the
operation that preceded the current operation. This function stores two sets of context in
memory - one set of context represents the current row for the inner loop of the formula,
and another set of context represents the current row for the outer loop of the formula.
DAX automatically feeds the values between the two loops so that you can create complex
aggregates.

For an example, refer to the scenario - Creating a DAX Formula that Dynamically Ranks
Values in the chapter Scenarios - Ranking and Comparing Values.

Filter Context
Filter context refers to any filtering that is applied to the Data Model in DAX. Filter context
is created by a PivotTable and also by the DAX functions.

Filter Context Created by a PivotTable

Filter Context created by a PivotTable is the natural filtering that is applied by the
selections made on the PivotTable fields from the following:

Rows
Columns
Filters
Slicers

The filter context created by a PivotTable, filters the underlying tables in the Data Model.
If the tables are related, then the filters flow down from the lookup tables to data tables.
That means, you can filter the data tables based on the results from the lookup tables.
The filter propagation does not happen the other way round. However, you can use DAX
formulas to filter the lookup tables based on the results from the data tables.

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Filter Context Created by DAX Functions

You can use DAX Filter functions to define calculated fields and calculated columns,
containing filter expressions that control the values used by the DAX formula. These
calculated fields and calculated columns then become part of the PivotTable fields list and
you can add them to the PivotTable. You can also selectively clear the filters on particular
columns with these DAX Filter functions. An example of a powerful DAX Filter function to
create Filter Context is CALCULATE (). For an example, refer to the chapter Scenarios -
Performing Complex Calculations.

Filter Context as an Addition to Row Context

Row context does not automatically create a filter context. You can achieve the same with
the DAX formulas containing DAX Filter functions.

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 12. DAX Formulas DAX

DAX is a formula language for creating custom calculations in Power PivotTables. You can
use the DAX functions that are designed to work with relational data and perform dynamic
aggregation in DAX formulas.

DAX formulas are very similar to Excel formulas. To create a DAX formula, you type an
equal sign, followed by a function name or expression and any required values or
arguments.

DAX Functions vs. DAX Formulas

DAX formulas can include DAX functions and leverage their usage. This is where DAX
formulas tend to differ from DAX functions in important ways.

A DAX function always reference a complete column or a table. If you want to use
only particular values from a table or column, you can add filters to the formula.

If you want to customize calculations on a row by row basis, Power Pivot provides
functions that let you use the current row value or a related value to perform
calculations that vary by context.

DAX includes a type of function that returns a table as its result, rather than a
single value. These functions can be used to provide input to other functions, thus
calculating values for entire tables or columns.

Some DAX functions provide time intelligence, which lets you create calculations
using meaningful ranges of dates and compare the results across parallel periods.

Understanding DAX Formula Syntax

Every DAX formula has the following syntax

Each formula must begin with an equal sign.

To the right of the equal sign, you can either type or select a function name, or
type an expression. The expression can contain table names and column names
connected by DAX operators.

Following are some valid DAX formulas:

[column_Cost] + [column_Tax]
=Today ()

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Understanding IntelliSense Feature

DAX provides the IntelliSense feature that will enable you to write DAX formulas promptly
and correctly. With this feature, you need not type the table, column, and function names
completely, but select the relevant names from the dropdown list while writing a DAX
formula.

Begin to type the first few letters of the function name. AutoComplete displays a
list of available functions with the names beginning with those letters.

Place the pointer on any of the function names. IntelliSense tooltip will be displayed
giving you the use of the function.

Click the function name. The function name appears in the formula bar and the
syntax is displayed, which will guide you as you select the arguments.

Type the first letter of the table name that you want. AutoComplete displays a list
of available tables and columns with the names beginning with that letter.

Press TAB or click the name to add an item from the AutoComplete list to the
formula.

Click the Fx button to display a list of available functions. To select a function from
the dropdown list, use the arrow keys to highlight the item and click OK to add the
function to the formula.

Supply the arguments to the function by selecting them from a dropdown list of
possible tables and columns or by typing in required values.

Usage of this handy IntelliSense feature is highly recommended.

Where to Use DAX Formulas?

You can use DAX formulas in creating calculated columns and calculated fields.

You can use DAX formulas in calculated columns, by adding a column and then
typing an expression in the formula bar. You create these formulas in the
PowerPivot window.

You can use DAX formulas in calculated fields. You create these formulas

o In the Excel window in the Calculated Field dialog box, or

o In the Power Pivot window in the calculation area of a table.
The same formula can behave differently depending on whether the formula is used in a
calculated column or a calculated field.

In a calculated column, the formula is always applied to every row in the column,
throughout the table. Depending on the row context, the value might change.

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In a calculated field, however, the calculation of results is strongly dependent on

the context. That is, the design of the PivotTable and the choice of row and column
headings affects the values that are used in calculations.

It is important to understand the concept of context in DAX to write DAX formulas. This
can be a bit difficult in the beginning of your DAX journey, but once you get a grasp on it,
you can write effective DAX formulas that are required for complex and dynamic data
analysis. For details, refer to the chapter DAX Context.

Creating a DAX Formula

You have already learnt about the IntelliSense feature in a previous section. Remember
to use it while creating any DAX formula.

To create a DAX formula, use the following steps

Type an equal sign.

To the right of the equal sign, type the following
o Type the first letter of a function or table name and select the complete name
from the dropdown list.

o If you have chosen a function name, type parenthesis (.

o If you have chosen the table name, type bracket [. Type the first letter of
the column name and select the complete name from the dropdown list.

o Close the column names with ] and function names with ).

o Type a DAX operator between expressions or type , to separate function

arguments.

o Repeat steps 1 - 5 till the DAX formula is complete.

For example, you want to find the total sales amount in the East region. You can write a
DAX formula as shown below. East_Sales is the name of the table. Amount is a column in
the table.

SUM ([East_Sales[Amount])

As already discussed in the chapter DAX Syntax, it is a recommended practice to use

the table name along with the column name in every reference to any column name. This
is termed as the fully qualified name.

The DAX formula can vary based on whether it is for a calculated field or calculated column.
Refer to the sections below for details.

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Creating a DAX Formula for a Calculated Column

You can create a DAX formula for a calculated column in the Power Pivot window.

Click the tab of the table in which you want to add the calculated column.
Click the Design tab on the Ribbon.
Click Add.
Type the DAX formula for the calculated column in the formula bar.

= DIVIDE (East_Sales[Amount], East_Sales[Units])

This DAX formula does the following for every row in the table East_Sales:

Divides the value in Amount column of a row by the value in Units column in the
same row.

Places the result in the new added column in the same row.

Repeats steps 1 and 2 iteratively till it completes all the rows in the table.

You have added a column for Unit Price at which those units are sold with the above
formula.

As you can observe, calculated columns require computation and storage space as
well. Hence, use calculated columns only if necessary. Use calculated fields where
possible and sufficient.

Refer to the chapter - Calculated Columns for details.

Creating a DAX Formula for a Calculated Field

You can create a DAX formula for a calculated field either in the Excel window or in the
Power Pivot window. In the case of calculated field, you need to provide the name
beforehand.

To create a DAX formula for a calculated field in the Excel window, use the
Calculated Field dialog box.

To create a DAX formula for a calculated field in the Power Pivot window, click a
cell in the calculation area in the relevant table. Start the DAX formula with
CalculatedFieldName:=.

For example, Total East Sales Amount:=SUM ([East_Sales[Amount])

If you use Calculated Field dialog box in the Excel window, you can check the formula
before you save it and make it as a mandatory habit to ensure the use of correct formulas.

For more details on these options, refer to the chapter Calculated Fields.

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Creating DAX Formulas Using the Formula Bar

Power Pivot window also has a formula bar that is like Excel window formula bar. Formula
bar makes it easier to create and edit formulas, using the AutoComplete functionality so
as to minimize syntax errors.

To enter the name of a table, begin typing the name of the table. Formula
AutoComplete provides a dropdown list containing valid table names that begin
with those letters. You can start with one letter and type more letters to narrow
down the list if required.

To enter the name of a column, you can select it from the list of column names in
the selected table. Type a bracket [, to the right of the table name, and then
choose the column from the list of columns in the selected table.

Tips for Using AutoComplete

Following are some tips for using AutoComplete -

You can nest functions and formulas in a DAX formula. In such a case, you can use
Formula AutoComplete in the middle of an existing formula with nested functions.
The text immediately before the insertion point is used to display values in the
dropdown list and all of the text after the insertion point remains unchanged.

Defined names that you create for constants do not get displayed in the
AutoComplete dropdown list, but you can still type them.

The closing parenthesis of functions is not automatically added. You need to do it

by yourself.

You must make sure that each function is syntactically correct.

Understanding Insert Function Feature

You can find the Insert Function button labelled as fx, both in the Power Pivot window and
Excel window.

The Insert Function button in the Power Pivot window is to the left of formula bar.

The Insert Function button in the Excel window is in the Calculated Field dialog box
to the right of Formula.

When you click on the fx button, Insert Function dialog box appears. The Insert Function
dialog box is the easiest way to find a DAX function that is relevant to your DAX formula.

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The Insert Function dialog box helps you select functions by category and provides short
descriptions for each function.

Using Insert Function in a DAX Formula

Suppose you want to create the following calculated field:

Medal Count:=COUNTA (]Medal])

You can use Insert Function dialog box using the following steps

Click the calculation area of the Results table.

Type the following in the formula bar

Medal Count:=

Click the Insert Function button (fx).

Insert Function dialog box appears.

Select Statistical in the Select a category box as shown in the following screenshot.
Select COUNTA in the Select a function box as shown in the following screenshot.

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As you can observe, the selected DAX function syntax and the function description are
displayed. This enables you to make sure that it is the function that you want to insert.

Click OK. Medal Count:=COUNTA( appears in the formula bar and a tooltip
displaying the function syntax also appears.

Type [. This means you are about to type a column name. The names of all the
columns and the calculated fields in the current table will be displayed in the
dropdown list. You can use IntelliSense to complete the formula.

Type M. The displayed names in the dropdown list will be limited to those starting
with M.

Click Medal.

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Double-click Medal. Medal Count:=COUNTA([Medal] will be displayed in the formula

bar. Close the parenthesis.

Press Enter. You are done. You can use the same procedure to create a calculated
column also. You can also follow the same steps to insert a function in the
Calculated Field dialog box in the Excel window using the Insert Function feature.

Click the Insert Function (fx) button to the right of Formula.

Insert Function dialog box appears. The rest of the steps are the same as above.

Using Multiple Functions in a DAX Formula

DAX formulas can contain up to 64 nested functions. But, it is unlikely that a DAX formula
contains so many nested functions.

If a DAX formula has many nested functions, it has the following disadvantages:

The formula would be very difficult to create.

If the formula has errors, it would be very difficult to debug.
The formula evaluation would not be very fast.

In such cases, you can split the formula into smaller manageable formulas and build the
large formula incrementally.

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Creating a DAX Formula Using Standard Aggregations

When you perform data analysis, you will perform calculations on aggregated data. There
are several DAX aggregation functions, such as SUM, COUNT, MIN, MAX, DISTINCTCOUNT,
etc. that you can use in DAX formulas.

You can automatically create formulas using standard aggregations by using the AutoSum
feature in the Power Pivot window.

Click the Results tab in the Power Pivot window. Results table will be displayed.
Click the Medal column. The entire column Medal will be selected.
Click the Home tab on the Ribbon.
Click the down arrow next to AutoSum in the Calculations group.

Click COUNT in the dropdown list.

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As you can observe, the calculated field Count of Medal appears in the calculation area
below the column Medal. The DAX formula also appears in the formula bar -

Count of Medal:=COUNTA([Medal])

The AutoSum feature has done the work for you created the calculated field for data
aggregation. Further, AutoSum has taken the appropriate variant of the DAX function
COUNT, i.e. COUNTA (DAX has COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTAX functions).

A word of caution To use AutoSum feature, you need to click the down arrow next to
AutoSum on the Ribbon. If you click on the AutoSum itself instead, you will get

Sum of Medal:=SUM([Medal])

And an error is flagged as Medal is not a numeric data column and the text in the column
cannot be converted to numbers.

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You can refer to the chapter - DAX Error Reference for details on DAX errors.

DAX Formulas and the Relational Model

As you are aware, in the Data Model of Power Pivot, you can work with multiple tables of
data and connect the tables by defining relationships. This will enable you to create
interesting DAX formulas that use the correlations of the columns among the related tables
for calculations.

When you create a relationship between two tables, you are expected to make sure that
the two columns used as keys have values that match, at least for most of the rows, if not
completely. In the Power Pivot Data Model, it is possible to have non-matching values in
a key column and still create a relationship, because Power Pivot does not enforce
referential integrity (look at the next section for details). However, the presence of blank
or non-matching values in a key column might affect the results of the DAX formulas and
the appearance of PivotTables.

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Referential Integrity
Establishing referential integrity involves building a set of rules to preserve the defined
relationships between tables when you enter or delete data. If you do not exclusively
ensure this, as Power Pivot does not enforce it, you might not get correct results with the
DAX formulas created before data changes are made.

If you enforce referential integrity, you can prevent the following pitfalls:

Adding rows to a related table when there is no associated row in the primary table
(i.e. with matching values in the key columns).

Changing data in a primary table that would result in orphan rows in a related table
(i.e. rows with a data value in the key column that does not have a matching value
in the primary table key column).

Deleting rows from a primary table when there are matching data values in the
rows of the related table.

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13. DAX Updating the Results of DAX Formulas
DAX

DAX formulas are used in calculations involving large data, including data from external
data sources. The data can be subjected to changes from time to time as the DAX
calculations are meant for live data as well.

The results of DAX formulas need to get updated on two occasions

Data Refresh: When the data is refreshed.

Recalculation: When there are changes in the DAX formula.

Understanding Data Refresh vs. Recalculation

Data refresh and recalculation are two separate but related operations.

Data refresh is the process of updating the data in the Data Model in your workbook
obtaining up-to-date data from external data sources.

Recalculation is the process of updating all the columns, tables, and PivotTables in
your workbook that contain DAX formulas, to reflect the changes in the underlying
data that result from the changes to DAX formulas themselves.

You should not save or publish the workbook until the DAX formulas in it have been
recalculated.

Different Ways to Update Data in Data Model

Power Pivot does not automatically detect changes in external data sources.

You can refresh data manually from the Power Pivot window at intervals that you
can specify.

You can schedule an automatic data refresh from external sources, if you have
published the workbook to a SharePoint site.

For details on these, refer to the chapter Updating Data in Data Model.

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Recalculation of DAX Formulas

Recalculation of a DAX formula is an important task, because during recalculation, column
dependencies are checked and you will be notified if a column has changed, if the data is
invalid, or if an error has appeared in a DAX formula that used to work.

Recalculation can affect performance in the following ways:

For a calculated column, the result of DAX formula should always be recalculated
for the entire column, whenever you change the DAX formula.

For a calculated field, the result of DAX formula is not calculated until the calculated
field is placed in the context of a PivotTable or a PivotChart. The DAX formula will
be recalculated when you change any row or column heading that affects the filters
on the data or when you manually refresh the PivotTable.

In DAX, recalculating formulas can be done automatically or manually.

To learn more about recalculation, refer to the chapter Recalculating DAX Formulas.

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 14. DAX Updating Data in the Data Model DAX

DAX is used for calculations on the data in the Data Model in Excel Power Pivot. DAX
enables data modeling and reporting activities to be handled in an effective way. However,
this requires updating the data in the Data Model from time to time so as to reflect the
current data.

You can import data from an external data source into the Data Model of your workbook
by establishing a data connection. You can update the data from the source whenever you
choose. This option is handy if you are getting data from relational databases that contain
live sales information or data feeds that are updated several times a day.

Different Ways of Updating Data in the Data Model

You can update the data in the Data Model in the following ways:

Refreshing data in the Data Model from time to time.

Making changes to data sources, such as connection properties.
Updating the data in the Data Model after the source data has changed.
Filtering the data to selectively load rows from a table in the data source.

Refreshing Data in the Data Model

In addition to getting updated data from an existing source, you will need to refresh data
in your workbook whenever you make changes to the schema of the source data. These
changes can include adding columns or tables, or changing the rows that are imported.

Note that addition of data, changing data, or editing filters always triggers recalculation of
DAX formulas that depend on that data source. Refer to the chapter Recalculating DAX
Formulas for details.

You have two types of data refresh in Data Model:

Manual Refresh
If you choose manual refresh option, you can refresh the data in the Data Model manually
at any time. You can refresh all data, which is the default, or you can manually choose the
tables and columns to refresh for individual data sources.

Automatic or Scheduled Refresh

If you have published your workbook to a PowerPivot Gallery or SharePoint site that
supports PowerPivot, you or the SharePoint administrator can create a schedule for
automatically updating the data in the workbook. In such a case, you can schedule
unattended data refresh on the server.

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Manually Refreshing an Existing Data Source

You can manually refresh your data any time, if you need to update the data from an
existing data source or get the recent data for designing new DAX formulas. You can
refresh a single table, all tables that share the same data connection or all tables in the
Data Model.

If you have imported data from a relational data source, such as SQL Server and Oracle,
you can update all the related tables in one operation. The operation of loading new or
updated data into the Data Model often triggers recalculation of DAX formulas, both of
which might require some time to complete. Hence, you should be aware of the potential
impact before you change data sources or refresh the data that is obtained from the data
source.

To refresh data for a single table or all tables in a Data Model, do the following

Click the Home tab on the Ribbon in the Power Pivot window.
Click Refresh.
Click Refresh in the dropdown list for refreshing the selected table.
Click Refresh All in the dropdown list for refreshing all the tables.

To refresh data for all tables that use the same connection in a Data Model, do the
following:

Click the Home tab on the Ribbon in Power Pivot window.

Click the Existing Connections in the Get External Data group.

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Existing Connections dialog box appears.

Select a connection.
Click the Refresh button.

Data Refresh dialog box appears and data refresh progress information is displayed as the
PowerPivot engine reloads data from the selected table or from all tables from the data
source.

There are three possible outcomes:

Success - Reports on the number of rows imported into each table.

Error An error can occur if the database is offline, you no longer have
permissions. A table or column is deleted or renamed in the source.

Cancelled This means Excel did not issue the refresh request, probably
because refresh is disabled on the connection.

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Click the Close button.

Changing a Data Source

To change the data in your Data Model, you can edit the connection information or update
the definition of the tables and columns used in your Data Model in the Power Pivot
window.

You can make the following changes to the existing data sources -

Connections
Edit the database name or the server name.
Change the name of the source text file, spreadsheet, or data feed.
Change the location of the data source.
For relational data sources, change the default catalog or initial catalog.
Change the authentication method or the credentials used to access the data.
Edit advanced properties on the data source.

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Tables
Add or remove a filter on the data.
Change the filter criteria.
Add or remove tables.
Change the table names.
Edit mappings between tables in the data source and tables in the Data Model.
Select different columns from the data source.

Columns
Change the column names.
Add new columns.
Delete columns from the Data Model (does not affect the data source).

You can edit the properties of an existing data source in the following ways:

You can change the connection information, including the file, feed, or database
used as a source, its properties or other provider specific connection options.

You can change the table and column mappings and remove references to columns
that are no longer used.

You can change the tables, views, or columns that you get from the external data
source.

Modifying a Connection to an Existing Data Source

You can modify the connection that you have created to an external data source by
changing the external data source used by the current connection. However, the procedure
to be followed depends on the data source type.

Click the Home tab on the Ribbon in the PowerPivot window.

Click the Existing Connections in the Get External Data group.

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Existing Connections dialog box appears. Select the connection that you want to modify.

Depending on the type of the data source you are changing, the provider might be
different. Also the properties that are available may require change. Consider a simple
example of a connection to an Excel workbook that contains the data.

Click the Edit button. Edit Connection dialog box appears.

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Click the Browse button to locate another database of the same type (Excel
workbook in this example), but with a different name or location.

Click the Open button.

The new file will get selected. A message appears stating that you have modified
connection information and you need to save and refresh the tables to verify the
connection.

Click the Save button. You will be back in the Existing Connections dialog box.

Click the Refresh button. Data Refresh dialog box appears displaying the data
refresh progress. The status of data refresh will be displayed. Refer to the section
- Manually Refreshing an Existing Data Source for details.

Click Close, once the data refresh is a success.

Click Close in the Existing Connections dialog box.

Editing Table and Column Mappings (Bindings)

To edit the column mappings when a data source changes, do the following -

Click the tab that contains the table you want to modify in the Power Pivot window.

Click the Design tab on the Ribbon.

Click the Table Properties.

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Edit Table Properties dialog box appears.

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You can observe the following

The name of the selected table in the Data Model is displayed in the Table
Name box.

The name of the corresponding table in the external data source is displayed in
the Source Name box.

There are two options for column names from Source and Modal.

If the columns are named differently in the data source and in the Data Model, you
can toggle between the two sets of column names by selecting these options.

Preview of the selected table appears in the dialog box.

You can edit the following

To change the table that is used as a data source, select a different table than the
selected one in the Source Name dropdown list.

Change the column mappings if needed:

o To add a column that is present in the source but not in the Data Model, select
the checkbox beside the column name. Repeat for all the columns that are to
be added. The actual data will be loaded into the Data Model, the next time
you refresh.

o If some columns in the Data Model are no longer available in the current data
source, a message appears in the notification area that lists the invalid
columns. You do not need to do anything.

Click the Save button.

When you save the current set of table properties, you will get a message Please wait.
Then the number of rows retrieved will be displayed.

In the table in the Data Model, any invalid columns are automatically removed and new
columns are added.

Changing a Column Name and Data Type

You can change the name of a column in a table in the Data Model as follows

Double-click on the header of the column. The name of the column in the header
will get highlighted.

Type the new column name, overwriting the old name. Alternatively, you can
change the name of a column in a table in the Data Model as follows:

Select the column by clicking on its header.

Right-click the column.
Click Rename Column in the dropdown list.

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The name of the column in the header will get highlighted. Type the new column name,
overwriting the old name.

As you have learnt, all the values in a column in a table in the Data Model must be of the
same data type.

To change the data type of a column, do the following -

Select the column that you want to change by clicking its header.

Click the Home tab on the Ribbon.

Click the controls in the Formatting group to modify the column's data type and
format.

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Adding / Changing a Filter to a Data Source

You can add a filter to a data source when you import data to restrict the number of rows
in the table in the Data Model. Later, you can add more rows or decrease the number of
rows in the table in the Data Model by changing the filter that you defined earlier.

Adding a Filter to a Data Source During Import

To add a new filter to a data source during data import, do the following -

Click the Home tab on the Ribbon in Power Pivot window.

Click one of the data sources in the Get External Data group.

Table Import Wizard dialog box appears.

Proceed to the step Select Tables and Views.

Select a table and then click Preview & Filter.

Preview Selected Table dialog box appears.

Click the column on which you want to apply filter.

Click the down arrow to the right of the column heading.

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To add a filter, do one of the following:

In the list of column values, select or clear one or more values to filter by and then
click OK.

However, if the number of values is extremely large, individual items might not be
shown in the list. Instead, you will see the message - "Too many items to show."

Click Number Filters or Text Filters (depending on the data type of the column).

o Then, click one of the comparison operator commands (such as Equals), or

click Custom Filter. In the Custom Filter dialog box, create the filter and then
click OK.

Note: If you make a mistake at any stage, click the Clear Row Filters button and start
over.

Click OK. You will be back to Select Tables and Views page of Table Import Wizard.

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As you can observe, in the column Filter Details, a link Applied Filters appears for the
column on which you defined the filter.

You can click the link to view the filter expression that was built by the wizard. But, the
syntax for each filter expression depends on the provider and you cannot edit it.

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Click Finish to import the data with filters applied.

Close the Table Import Wizard.

Changing a Filter to an Existing Data Source

After you have imported the data, you might have to update it from time to time, by either
adding more rows or by restricting the existing rows in the table. In such a case, you can
change the existing filters on the table or add new filters.

Click the Home tab on the Ribbon in Power Pivot window.

Click the Existing Connections in the Get External Data group. Existing Connections
dialog box appears.

Click the connection that contains the table on which you have to change the filter.
Click the Open button.

You will get into Table Import Wizard dialog box. Repeat the steps in the previous section
to filter the columns.

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 15. DAX Recalculating DAX Formulas DAX

Recalculation of a DAX formula is required to reflect changes in the data and changes
in the formula itself. However, recalculating a DAX formula involves performance cost.

Even then, to obtain accurate results, recalculation is essential. During recalculation,

column dependencies are checked and you will be notified if a column has changed, if the
data is invalid or if an error has appeared in a DAX formula that used to work.

Types of Recalculation
You have two options for recalculating DAX formulas

Automatic Recalculation Mode (default)

Manual Recalculation Mode

By default, Power Pivot automatically recalculates as required while optimizing the time
required for processing. However, you can choose to update calculations manually, if you
are working with complex formulas or very large data sets and want to control the timing
of updates.

Both automatic and manual modes of recalculating DAX formulas have advantages.
However, the recommended way is to use automatic recalculation mode. This way you can
keep the Power Pivot data in sync and prevent problems caused by deletion of data,
changes in names or data types or missing dependencies.

Recalculating DAX Formulas Automatically

If you choose the default mode of recalculating DAX formulas, i.e. recalculating
automatically, any changes to data that would cause the result of any DAX formula to
change will trigger recalculation of the entire column that contains the DAX formula.

The following changes always require recalculation of DAX formulas:

Values from an external data source have been refreshed.

The DAX formula itself is changed.

Names of tables or columns that are referenced in the DAX formula have been
changed.

Relationships between tables have been added, modified or deleted.

New calculated fields or calculated columns have been added.

Changes have been made to other DAX formulas within the workbook, so columns
or calculations that depend on those DAX formulas need to be recalculated.

Rows have been inserted or deleted in the table.

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You applied a filter that requires execution of a query to update the data set. The
filter could have been applied either in a DAX formula or as part of a PivotTable or
PivotChart.

When to Use Manual Recalculation Mode?

You can use manual recalculation mode until you are ready with all your required DAX
formulas in your workbook. This way, you can avoid incurring the cost of computing
formula results on the workbook that is still in the draft state.

You can use manual recalculation of DAX formulas in the following conditions:

You are designing a DAX formula by using a template and want to change the
names of the columns and tables used in the DAX formula before you validate it.

You know that some data in the workbook has changed but you are working with
a different column that has not changed so you want to postpone a recalculation.

You are working in a workbook that has many dependencies and want to defer
recalculation till you are sure that all the necessary changes have been made.

But, you should be aware that as long as the workbook is configured to manual
recalculation mode, any validation or checking of formulas is not performed. This will result
in the following

Any new formulas that you add to the workbook will be flagged as containing an
error.

No results will appear in the new calculated columns.

Configuring the Workbook for Manual Recalculation

As you have learnt, automatic recalculation is the default mode in the Data Model of any
workbook. To configure a workbook for manual recalculation, do the following

Click the Design tab on the Ribbon in the Power Pivot window.
Click the Calculation Options in the Calculations group.
Click the Manual Calculation Mode in the dropdown list.

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Recalculating DAX Formulas Manually

To recalculate the DAX formulas manually, do the following

Click the Design tab on the Ribbon in the Power Pivot window.
Click the Calculation Options field in the Calculations group.
Click the Calculate Now field in the dropdown list.

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16. DAX Troubleshooting DAX Formula Recalculation
DAX

Whenever changes occur in the Data Model of your workbook, Power Pivot performs an
analysis of the existing data to determine whether recalculation is required and performs
the update in the most efficient way possible.

Power Pivot handles the following, during recalculation of DAX formulas

Dependencies
Sequence of recalculation for dependent columns
Transactions
Recalculation of volatile functions

Dependencies
When a column depends on another column, and the contents of that other column change
in any way, all related columns might need to be recalculated.

Power Pivot always performs a complete recalculation for a table, because a complete
recalculation is more efficient than checking for changed values. The changes that trigger
recalculation might include deleting a column, changing the numeric data type of a column
or adding a new column. These changes are considered as major changes. However,
seemingly trivial changes, such as changing the name of a column might also trigger
recalculation. This is because the names of the columns are used as identifiers in the DAX
formulas.

In some cases, Power Pivot may determine that columns can be excluded from
recalculation.

Sequence of Recalculation for Dependent Columns

Dependencies are calculated prior to any recalculation. If there are multiple columns that
depend on each other, Power Pivot follows the sequence of dependencies. This ensures
that the columns are processed in the right order at the maximum speed.

Transactions
Operations that recalculate or refresh data take place as a transaction. This means that if
any part of the refresh operation fails, the remaining operations are rolled back. This is to
ensure that data is not left in a partially processed state. However, you cannot manage
the transactions as you do in a relational database or create checkpoints.

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Recalculation of Volatile Functions

DAX functions such as NOW, RAND, or TODAY do not have fixed values and are referred
to as volatile functions. If such DAX functions are used in a calculated column, the
execution of a query or filtering will usually not cause them to be re-evaluated to avoid
performance problems.

The results for these DAX functions are only recalculated when the entire column is
recalculated. These situations include refresh from an external data source or manual
editing of data that causes re-evaluation of DAX formulas that contain these functions.

However, such functions will always be recalculated if the functions are used in the
definition of a Calculated Field.

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 17. DAX Formula Errors DAX

You can get errors when you write DAX formulas with wrong syntax. Calculated fields
and calculated columns can contain DAX functions that require a specific type of
arguments. Arguments of DAX functions can be tables, columns, or other DAX functions
(nested DAX functions). As DAX functions can return tables and columns, care should be
taken to check that the right type of arguments are passed to the DAX functions.

DAX formula errors can be either syntax errors or semantic errors. The errors can occur
either at design time or at run time.

In this chapter, you will learn about some common DAX errors, their causes, and how to
fix those errors.

DAX Error: Calculation Aborted

The following error can occur when attempting to create (design-time) or use (run-time)
a calculated field with a DAX time-intelligence function. In each case, a noncontiguous
date range is being passed to the time intelligence function.

DAX Error: CALCULATION ABORTED: MdxScript (instance) (00, 0) Function DATEADD

only works with contiguous date selections.

Cause at Run-time
This error can be displayed when a calculated field with a DAX time intelligence function
is placed in the VALUES area of a PivotTable and date fields such as the month or the
quarter are selected as slicers or filters before selecting a year. For example, if you have
data of three years 2014, 2015, and 2016 and you try to use only the month March
without selecting the Year field, then the values are not contiguous data values and you
will get an error.

How to Fix the Error at Run-time?

In the above example,

First add Year as a slicer or a filter and select a year.

Then, add Month or Quarter as a slicer or a filter.

Then, select one or more months or quarters to slice or filter on for the year
selected.

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Cause at Design-time
DAX time intelligence functions require a date column specified for the date argument.
The date column must have a contiguous range of dates. This error can be returned, if
there is a date value in one or more rows in the date column that is not contiguous with
the data values in the previous and successive rows.

If you imported your table containing dates from a data source, remember that many
organizations run special processes that scan tables in databases for invalid values and
replace those with a particular value. That is, if an invalid date is found, it is assigned a
particular date value that may not be contiguous with other data values in the column.

How to Fix This Error at Design-time?

Do the following to fix the error at design time -

If your date table is imported from a data source, use Refresh in Power Pivot
window to reimport any changes found at the source.

Check the values in your date column to make sure they are in a contiguous order.
If any value is found not to be in place, it will have to be corrected at the source
and the date table will have to be refreshed.

Create a separate date table and date column in your Data Model. Specify the new
date column as the date argument in the formula causing the error. Date tables
are easy to create and add to a Data Model.

DAX Semantic Error - An Example

The following DAX error is a semantic error

A function CALCULATE has been used in a true-false expression that is used as a table
filter expression. This is not allowed.

Cause
This error can appear when one or more filter expressions cannot be used in context of
the calculated field or calculated column expression.

In most of the cases, this error is caused by a filter expression specified as an argument
to the DAX CALCULATE function. The CALCULATE function requires filters defined as a
Boolean expression or a table expression.

How to Fix Such Errors?

You can fix such errors by using the DAX FILTER function to define filters as a table
expression, which can then be used as an argument to the DAX CALCULATE function.

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 18. DAX Time Intelligence DAX

DAX has an important and powerful feature, referred to as Time Intelligence. Time
intelligence enables you to write DAX formulas that refer to the time periods for use in the
PivotTables.

DAX has 35 time-intelligence functions specifically for aggregating and comparing data
over time. However, these DAX functions have some constraints on the data that you need
to understand and work with caution to avoid errors.

Why Time Intelligence Makes DAX Powerful?

The time intelligence functions work with data that is constantly changing, depending on
the context you select in PivotTables and Power View visualizations. As you are aware,
most of the data analysis involves summarization of data over time periods, comparing
data values across the time periods, understanding the trends and making decisions based
on future projections.

For example, you might want to sum sales amounts for the past month product-wise and
compare the totals with those of other months in the fiscal year. This means, you have to
use the dates as a way to group and aggregate sales transactions for a particular period
in time.

This is where you can observe the power of DAX. You can use DAX time intelligence
functions to define calculated fields that help you in analyzing the data over time, without
having to change the date selections in the pivot tables. This makes your job easier.
Moreover, you can build PivotTables that would not be possible any other way.

Requirements for DAX Time Intelligence Functions

DAX time intelligence functions have certain requirements. If these requirements are not
met, you might get errors or they may not work properly. Hence, you can refer to these
requirements as rules or constraints as well. Following are certain DAX time intelligence
functions requirements/rules/constraints -

You need to have a date table in your Data Model.

The date table must include a column considered to be the Date column by DAX.
You can name the column the way you want, but it should comply with the following
conditions:
o The date column should contain a contiguous set of dates that covers every
day in the time period you are analyzing the data.

o Every date must exist once and only once in the date column.

o You cannot skip any dates (For e.g. you cannot skip weekend dates).

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DAX time intelligence functions work only on a standard calendar and assume the
start of the year as January 1 and the end of the year as December 31, with the
months in the year and days in each month as of a calendar year.

However, you can customize a standard calendar for different financial years. It is a good
practice to verify the above requirements before any time intelligence function is used.

For more details on date tables and their usage in DAX formulas, refer to the tutorial =
Data Modeling with DAX in this tutorials library.

DAX Time Intelligence Functions Categories

DAX Time Intelligence functions can be categorized as follows

DAX functions that return a single date.

DAX functions that return a table of dates.
DAX functions that evaluate expressions over a time period.

DAX Functions That Return a Single Date

DAX functions in this category return a single date.

There are 10 DAX functions in this category -

DAX Function Return Value

Returns the first date in the Date_Column

FIRSTDATE (Date_Column)
in the current context.

Returns the last date in the Date_Column

LASTDATE (Date_Column)
in the current context.

FIRSTNONBLANK (Date_Column, Returns the first date where an expression

Expression) has a non-blank value.

LASTNONBLANK (Date_Column, Returns the last date where an expression

Expression) has a non-blank value.

Returns the first date of a month in the

STARTOFMONTH (Date_Column)
current context.

Returns the last date of a month in the

ENDOFMONTH (Date_Column)
current context.

Returns the first date of a quarter in the

STARTOFQUARTER (Date_Column)
current context.

Returns the last date of a quarter in the

ENDOFQUARTER (Date_Column)
current context.

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Returns the first date of a year in the

STARTOFYEAR (Date_Column, [YE_Date])
current context.

Returns the last date of a year in the

ENDOFYEAR (Date_Column, [YE_Date])
current context.

DAX Functions That Return a Table of Dates

DAX Functions in this category return a table of dates. These functions will be mostly used
as a SetFilter argument to the DAX function - CALCULATE.

There are 16 DAX functions in this category. Eight (8) of these DAX functions are the
previous and next functions.

The previous and next functions start with a date column in the current context
and calculate the previous or next day, month, quarter or year.

The previous functions work backward from the first date in the current context
and the next functions move forward from the last date in the current context.

The previous and next functions return the resulting dates in the form of a
single column table.

DAX Function Return Value

Returns a table that contains a column of all

dates representing the day that is previous
PREVIOUSDAY (Date_Column)
to the first date in the Date_Column in the
current context.

Returns a table that contains a column of all

dates from the next day, based on the first
NEXTDAY (Date_Column)
date specified in the Date_Column in the
current context.

Returns a table that contains a column of all

dates from the previous month, based on the
PREVIOUSMONTH (Date_Column)
first date in the Date_Column in the current
context.

Returns a table that contains a column of all

dates from the next month, based on the
NEXTMONTH (Date_Column)
first date in the Date_Column in the current
context.

Returns a table that contains a column of all

dates from the previous quarter, based on
PREVIOUSQUARTER (Date_Column)
the first date in the Date_Column in the
current context.

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Returns a table that contains a column of all

dates in the next quarter, based on the first
NEXTQUARTER (Date_Column)
date specified in the Date_Column in the
current context.

Returns a table that contains a column of all

PREVIOUSYEAR (Date_Column, dates from the previous year, given the last
[YE_Date]) date in the Date_Column in the current
context.

Returns a table that contains a column of all

dates in the next year, based on the first
NEXTYEAR (Date_Column, [YE_Date])
date in the Date_Column in the current
context.

Four (4) DAX functions calculate a set of dates in a period. These functions perform the
calculations using the last date in the current context.

DAX Function Return Value

Returns a table that contains a column of the

DATESMTD (Date_Column) dates for the month to date, in the current
context.

Returns a table that contains a column of the

DATESQTD (Date_Column) dates for the quarter to date, in the current
context.

Returns a table that contains a column of the

DATESYTD (Date_Column, [YE_Date]) dates for the year to date, in the current
context.

Returns a table that contains a column of

dates shifted one year back in time from the
dates in the specified Date_Column, in the
current context.

Note: SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR requires that

SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR (Date_Column)
the current context contains a contiguous set
of dates.

If the current context is not a contiguous set

of dates, then SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR will
return an error.

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Four (4) DAX functions are used to shift from the set of dates that are in the current
context to a new set of dates.

These DAX functions are more powerful than the previous ones.

o DAX functions DATEADD, DATESINPERIOD and PARALLELPERIOD shift some

number of time intervals from the current context. The interval can be day,
month, quarter or year, represented by the key words DAY, MONTH, QUARTER
and YEAR respectively.

For example:

Shift backward by 2 days.

Move forward by 5 months.
Move forward by one month from today.
Go back to same quarter in the last year.

If the function argument - number of intervals (integer value) is positive, shift is

forward and if it is negative, shift is backward.

o DAX function DATESBETWEEN calculates the set of dates between the

specified start date and the end date.

DAX Function Return Value

Returns a table that contains a column of

DATEADD (Date_Column, dates, shifted either forward or backward in
Number_of_Intervals, Interval) time by the specified number of intervals
from the dates in the current context.

Returns a table that contains a column of

DATESINPERIOD (Date_Column,
dates that begins with the start_date and
Start_Date, Number_of_Intervals,
continues for the specified
Interval)
number_of_intervals.

Returns a table that contains a column of

dates that represents a period parallel to the
PARALLELPERIOD (Date_Column, dates in the specified Date_Column in the
Number_of_Intervals, Interval) current context, with the dates shifted a
number of intervals either forward or
backward in time.

Returns a table that contains a column of

DATESBETWEEN (Date_Column,
dates that begins with the start_date and
Start_Date, End_Date)
continues until the end_date.

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DAX Functions that Evaluate Expressions Over a Time Period

DAX Functions in this category evaluate an expression over a specified time period.

There are nine (9) DAX functions in this category

Three (3) DAX functions in this category can be used to evaluate any given
expression over a specified time period.

DAX Function Return Value

Evaluates the value of the expression for the

TOTALMTD (Expression, Date_Column,
dates in the month to date, in the current
[SetFilter])
context.

Evaluates the value of the expression for the

TOTALQTD (Expression, Date_Column,
dates in the quarter to date, in the current
[SetFilter])
context.

Evaluates the value of the expression for the

TOTALYTD (Expression, Date_Column,
dates in the year to date, in the current
[SetFilter], [YE_Date])
context.

Six (6) DAX functions in this category can be used to calculate the opening and the
closing balances.

o The opening balance for any period is the same as the closing balance for
the previous period.

o The closing balance includes all data through the end of the period, while
the opening balance does not include any data from within the current
period.

o These DAX functions always return the value of an expression evaluated for
a specific point in time.

The point in time we care about is always the last possible date value in a calendar
period.

The opening balance is based on the last date of the previous period, while the
closing balance is based on the last date in the current period.

The current period is always determined by the last date in the current date
context.

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DAX Function Return Value

OPENINGBALANCEMONTH (Expression, Evaluates the expression at the first date of

Date_Column, [SetFilter]) the month in the current context.

CLOSINGBALANCEMONTH (Expression, Evaluates the expression at the last date of

Date_Column, [SetFilter]) the month in the current context.

OPENINGBALANCEQUARTER Evaluates the expression at the first date of

(Expression, Date_Column, [SetFilter]) the quarter, in the current context.

CLOSINGBALANCEQUARTER Evaluates the expression at the last date of

(Expression, Date_Column, [SetFilter]) the quarter in the current context.

OPENINGBALANCEYEAR (Expression, Evaluates the expression at the first date of

Date_Column, [SetFilter], [YE_Date]) the year in the current context.

CLOSINGBALANCEYEAR (Expression, Evaluates the expression at the last date of

Date_Column, [SetFilter], [YE_Date]) the year in the current context.

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 19. DAX Filter Functions DAX

DAX has powerful filter functions that are quite different from Excel functions. The lookup
functions work by using tables and relationships, like a database. The filtering functions
let you manipulate data context to create dynamic calculations.

Note: DAX filter functions that return a table do not add the table to the Data Model. The
resulting table is used as an argument in another DAX function. That is, such DAX functions
are used as nested functions with other DAX functions.

In the next section, you will learn what DAX filter functions you can use. For more details
on these functions, refer to the tutorial DAX Functions in this tutorials library.

DAX Filter Functions

Following are the DAX Filter functions -

DAX Function What the Function Does?

Adds combinations of items from multiple

columns to a table if they do not already
exist. The determination of which item
combinations to add is based on
referencing source columns which contain
ADDMISSINGITEMS (<showAllColumn>, all the possible values for the columns.
[<showAllColumn>] , <table>,
<groupingColumn>, [<groupingColumn>] To determine the combinations of items
, [filterTable] ) from different columns to evaluate:

AutoExist is applied for columns within

the same table.

CrossJoin is applied across different

tables.

Returns all the rows in the given table or

all the values in the specified columns in a
table, ignoring any filters that might have
ALL ( {<table> | <column>, [<column>], been applied.
[<column>], })
This function is useful for clearing filters
and creating calculations on all the rows in
a table.

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Removes all context filters in the table

except filters that have been applied to the
columns specified as arguments.
ALLEXCEPT (<table>, <column>,
[<column>], )
As against ALL, you can use this function
when you want to remove the filters on
many, but not all, columns in a table.

From the parent table of a relationship,

returns

all rows but the blank rows, or

ALLNOBLANKROW (<table>|<column>)
all distinct values of a column but the
blank rows

The function disregards any context filters

that might exist.

Removes context filters from columns and

ALLSELECTED (
rows in the current query, while retaining
[<tableName>|<columnName>] )
all other context filters or explicit filters.

Evaluates an expression in a context that

is modified by the specified filters.
CALCULATE (<expression>, [<filter1>,
<filter2> )]
Returns the value that is the result of the
expression.

Evaluates a table expression in a context

CALCULATETABLE (<expression>,
modified by the given filters.
<filter1>, <filter2>, )
Returns a table of values.

Specifies the cross-filtering direction to be

CROSSFILTER (<columnName1>, used in a calculation for a relationship that
<columnName2>, <direction>) exists between two columns. Does not
return any value.

Returns a one-column table that contains

the distinct values from the specified
column. In other words, duplicate values
are removed and only unique values are
DISTINCT (<column>)
returned.

The resulting column is used as an

argument in another DAX function.

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Returns the current value of the specified

column in an outer evaluation pass of the
EARLIER (<column>, <number>)
mentioned column specified by the
number.

Returns the current value of the specified

EARLIEST (<column>) column in an outer evaluation pass of the
specified column.

Returns a table that contains only the

filtered rows.
FILTER (<table>, <filter>)
FILTER is used only as a function that is
embedded in other functions that require a
table as an argument.

Returns the values that are directly applied

as filters to columnName.
FILTERS (<columnName>)
FILTERS is used only as a function that is
embedded in other functions that require a
table as an argument.

Returns TRUE when the number of directly

HASONEFILTER (<columnName>) filtered values on columnName is one.
Otherwise, returns FALSE.

Returns TRUE when the context for

columnName has been filtered down to one
HASONEVALUE (<columnName>)
distinct value only. Otherwise, returns
FALSE.

Returns TRUE when columnName or

ISCROSSFILTERED (<columnName>) another column in the same or related
table is being filtered.

Returns TRUE when columnName is being

filtered directly. If there is no filter on the
column or if the filtering happens because
ISFILTERED (<columnName>)
a different column in the same table or in
a related table is being filtered, then the
function returns FALSE.

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Modifies how filters are applied while

KEEPFILTERS (<expression>) evaluating a CALCULATE or
CALCULATETABLE function.

RELATED (<column>) Returns a related value from another table.

Evaluates a table expression in a context

RELATEDTABLE (<tableName>)
modified by the given filters.

Returns a table which represents a left

semijoin of the two tables supplied as
arguments.

The semijoin is performed by using

common columns, determined by common
SUBSTITUTEWITHINDEX (<table>,
column names and common data type.
<indexColumnName>,
<indexColumnsTable>,
The columns being joined on are replaced
<orderBy_expression>, [<order>])
with a single column in the returned table
which is of type integer and contains an
index.

The index is a reference into the right join

table given a specified sort order.

Specifies the relationship to be used in a

USERELATIONSHIP ( specific calculation as the one that exists
<columnName1>,<columnName2>) between columnName1 and
columnName2.

Returns a one-column table that contains

the distinct values from the specified table
or column.
VALUES (<TableNameOrColumnName>)
In other words, duplicate values are
removed and only unique values are
returned.

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 20. DAX Scenarios DAX

You have learnt DAX syntax, the usage of DAX operators and DAX functions in the previous
chapters. As you are aware, DAX is a formula language used for data modeling and data
analysis.

DAX can be used in various scenarios. Based on the DAX scenarios, DAX optimizes the
performance and produces accurate and effective results. In this chapter, you will get to
know some of the DAX scenarios.

Performing Complex Calculations

DAX formulas can perform complex calculations that involve custom aggregations,
filtering, and the use of conditional values. You can do the following with DAX

Create custom calculations for a PivotTable.

Apply a filter to a formula.
Remove filters selectively to create a dynamic ratio.
Use a value from an outer loop.

For details, refer to the chapter Scenarios - Performing Complex Calculations.

Working with Text and Dates

DAX can be used in the scenarios involving working along with text, extracting and
composing date and time values, or creating values based on a condition. You can do the
following with DAX

Create a key column by concatenation.

Compose a date based on date parts extracted from a text date.
Define a custom date.
Change data types using a formula.
o Convert real numbers to integers.
o Convert real numbers, integers, or dates to strings.
o Convert strings to real numbers or dates.

For details, refer to the chapter Scenarios - Working with Text and Dates.

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Conditional Values and Testing for Errors

DAX functions enable to test values in the data and return a different value based on a
condition. DAX functions that test values are also useful for checking the range or type of
values, to prevent unexpected data errors from breaking calculations. You can do the
following with DAX

Create a value based on a condition.

Test for errors within a formula.

For details, refer to the chapter Scenarios - Conditional Values and Testing for Errors.

Using Time Intelligence

You have learnt about DAX time intelligence functions in the chapter Understanding DAX
time intelligence.

DAX time intelligence functions include functions to help you retrieve dates or date ranges
from your data. You can then use those dates or date ranges to calculate values across
similar periods. The time intelligence functions also include functions that work with
standard date intervals, to allow you to compare values across months, years, or quarters.
You could also create a DAX formula that compares values for the first and the last date
of a specified period.

You can learn more about DAX intelligence functions and what they can do for the
following:

Calculate Cumulative Sales.

Compare Values over Time.
Calculate a Value over a Custom Date Range.

For details, refer to the chapter Scenarios - Using Time Intelligence.

Ranking and Comparing Values

If you want to show only the top n number of items in a column or a PivotTable, you have
the following options:

Apply a filter to show only the top or bottom few items.

Create a DAX formula that dynamically ranks values and apply a filter.

Each of these options have pros and cons.

For details, refer to the chapter Scenarios - Ranking and Comparing Values.

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21. DAX Scenarios Performing Complex Calculations
DAX

DAX formulas can perform complex calculations that involve custom aggregations,
filtering, and the use of conditional values. You can do the following with DAX

Create custom calculations for a PivotTable.

Apply a filter to a DAX formula.
Remove filters selectively to create a dynamic ratio.
Use a value from an outer loop.

Creating Custom Calculations for a PivotTable

DAX functions CALCULATE and CALCULATETABLE are powerful and flexible. They are
useful for defining calculated fields. These DAX functions enable you to change the context
in which the calculation will be performed. You can also customize the type of aggregation
or mathematical operation to perform.

CALCULATE Function
CALCULATE (<expression>, [<filter1>], [<filter2>])

CALCULATE function evaluates the given expression in a context that is modified by zero
or more specified filters.

If your data has been filtered, the CALCULATE function changes the context in which the
data is filtered and evaluates the expression in the new context that you specify by the
filters. That means, any existing filters on the specified column are removed and the filter
used in the filter argument is applied instead.

Example
Suppose you want to display the percentage of medals sport-wise filtered by Country
names. Your calculation should get the percentage value overriding the filter that you
apply on Country in the PivotTable.

Define a calculated field Percentage of Medal Count as shown in the following

screenshot.

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With this DAX formula, all the rows in the Results table are taken into account in the
CALCULATE function with the filter containing the ALL function. This way, you have the
total count in the denominator.

Your PivotTable will be as shown in the following screenshot.

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In the above screenshot, Country is filtered to USA and Top 18 values are displayed in the
PivotTable. Next, you can dynamically filter values in the PivotTable. However, the
calculations will be correct by the custom DAX formula that you used.

The CALCULATETABLE function takes a table of values and performs the same action as
that of CALCULATE function.

Filtering Data in Formulas

You can create filters within DAX formulas, to select the values from the source data for
use in calculations. You can do this by defining a filter expression and using it along with
the table that is an input to the DAX formula.

The filter expression enables you to obtain a subset of the source data. The filter is applied
dynamically each time that you update the results of the DAX formula, depending on the
current context of your data and you can be assured of accurate and expected results.

The filter expression typically contains a DAX filter function that returns only selected rows
of the table, which then can be used as an argument for another DAX function that you
are using for data aggregation.

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Example
The following screenshot shows the definition of a calculated field that gives medal count
only for summer sports.

With this calculated field, the PivotTable looks as shown in the following screenshot.

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As you can observe, the values in the PivotTable on the right side with the new calculated
field match with those that are in the PivotTable on the left side with the filter on Season
field applied explicitly.

Note: DAX filter and value functions return a table, but never return the table or rows
directly to the Data Model and hence are always embedded in another DAX function.

For details on these DAX functions, refer to the chapter DAX Filter Functions.

Adding and Removing Filters Dynamically

DAX Formulas that you use in a PivotTable can be affected by the PivotTable context.
However, you can selectively change the context by adding or removing filters. You can
use the DAX functions ALL and ALLEXCEPT to dynamically select the rows irrespective of
the PivotTable context.

Additionally, you can use the DAX functions DISTINCT and VALUES for returning distinct
values.

Using a Value from an Outer Loop

You can use a value from a previous loop in creating a set of related calculations with DAX
EARLIER function. This DAX function supports up to two levels of nested loops.

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22. DAX Scenarios Working with Text and Dates
DAX

DAX can be used in the scenarios involving working along with text, extracting and
composing date and time values or creating values based on a condition. You can do the
following with DAX

Create a key column in a table by concatenation.

Compose a date based on date parts extracted from a text date.
Define a custom date format.
Change data types using a formula.
o Convert real numbers to integers.
o Convert real numbers, integers, or dates to strings.
o Convert strings to real numbers or dates.

Creating a Key Column by Concatenation

Data Model in PowerPivot allows only a single key column. It does not support composite
keys that you might find in the external data sources. Hence, if any composite keys exist
in a table in the data source, you need to combine them into a single key column for the
table in the Data Model.

You can use the DAX function CONCATENATE to combine two columns into a single column
in a table in the Data Model. DAX function CONCATENATE joins two text strings into one
text string. The joined items can be text, numbers, or Boolean values represented as text
or a combination of those items. You can also use a column reference if the column
contains appropriate values.

=CONCATENATE ([Column1], [Column2])

DAX CONCATENATE function accepts only two arguments. If any of the arguments is not
of text data type, it will be converted to text. DAX CONCATENATE function returns the
concatenated string.

Date Based on Date Parts Extracted from a Text Date

Data Model in Power Pivot supports a data type datetime for date and time values. The
DAX functions that work on date and/or time values require the datetime data type for the
arguments.

If your data source contains dates of a different format, you need to first extract the date
parts using a DAX formula and combine those parts to constitute a valid DAX datetime
data type.

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You can use the following DAX functions to extract and compose dates

DATE - Returns the specified date in datetime format.

DATEVALUE - Converts a date in the form of text to a date in datetime format.

TIMEVALUE - Converts a time in text format to a time in datetime format.

Defining a Custom Date Format

Suppose the dates in your data source are not represented by a standard format. You can
define a custom date format to ensure that the values are handled correctly. DAX FORMAT
function enables you to convert a value to text according to the specified format.

FORMAT (<value>, <format_string>)

FORMAT function returns a string containing value formatted as defined by format_string.

You can either use pre-defined Date and Time formats or you can create user-defined Date
and Time formats for the argument format_string of the FORMAT function.

Following are the predefined date and time format names. If you use strings other than
these predefined strings, they will be interpreted as a custom date and time format.

Format_String Description

Displays a date and/or time.

"General Date"
For example, 2/10/2015 10:10:32 AM

Displays a date according to long date format.

"Long Date" or "Medium Date"
For example, Wednesday, March 07, 2016

Displays a date using short date format.

"Short Date"
For example, 2/03/2016

Displays a time using long time format.

Typically includes hours, minutes and
"Long Time"
seconds.
For example, 10:10:32 AM

Displays a time in 12-hour format.

"Medium Time"
For example, 09:30 PM

Displays a time in 24-hour format.

"Short Time"
For example, 14:15

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Alternatively, you can use the characters in the following table to create user-defined
date/time formats.

Character Description

Time separator.
: Separates hours, minutes, and seconds when time values are
formatted.

Date separator.
/ Separates the day, month, and year when date values are
formatted.

Used to indicate that the following character should be read as

a single-letter format without regard to any trailing letters. Also
%
used to indicate that a single-letter format is read as a user-
defined format.

Following are the details of the various characters.

%d: Displays the day as a number without a leading zero (e.g. 5).

%dd: Displays the day as a number with a leading zero (e.g. 05).

%ddd: Displays the day as an abbreviation (e.g. Sun).

%dddd: Displays the day as a full name (e.g. Sunday).

%M: Displays the month as a number without a leading zero (e.g. January is
represented as 1).

%MM: Displays the month as a number with a leading zero (e.g. January is
represented as 01).

%MMM: Displays the month as an abbreviation (e.g. January is represented as

Jan).

%MMMM: Displays the month as a full month name (e.g. January).

%gg: Displays the period/era string (e.g. A.D.).

%h: Displays the hour as a number without leading zeros using the 12-hour clock
(e.g. 1:15:15 PM). Use %h if this is the only character in your user-defined numeric
format.

%hh: Displays the hour as a number with leading zeros using the 12-hour clock
(e.g. 01:15:15 PM).

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%H: Displays the hour as a number without leading zeros using the 24-hour clock
(e.g. 13:15:15, 1:15:15). Use %H if this is the only character in your user-defined
numeric format.

%HH: Displays the hour as a number with leading zeros using the 24-hour clock
(e.g. 13:15:15, 1:15:15).

%m: Displays the minute as a number without leading zeros (e.g. 2:1:15). Use
%m if this is the only character in your user-defined numeric format.

%mm: Displays the minute as a number with leading zeros (e.g. 2:01:15).

%s: Displays the second as a number without leading zeros (e.g. 2:15:5). Use %s
if this is the only character in your user-defined numeric format.

%ss: Displays the second as a number with leading zeros (e.g. 2:15:05).

%f: Displays fractions of seconds. For e.g. ff displays hundredths of seconds,

whereas ffff displays ten-thousandths of seconds. You can use up to seven f
symbols in your user-defined format. Use %f if this is the only character in your
user-defined numeric format.

%t: Uses the 12-hour clock and displays an uppercase A for any hour before noon;
displays an uppercase P for any hour between noon and 11:59 P.M. Use %t if this
is the only character in your user-defined numeric format.

%tt: For locales that use a 12-hour clock, displays an uppercase AM with any hour
before noon; displays an uppercase PM with any hour between noon and 11:59
P.M. For locales that use a 24-hour clock, displays nothing.

%y: Displays the year number (0-9) without leading zeros. Use %y if this is the
only character in your user-defined numeric format.

%yy: Displays the year in two-digit numeric format with a leading zero, if
applicable.

%yyy: Displays the year in four-digit numeric format.

%yyyy: Displays the year in four-digit numeric format.

%z: Displays the timezone offset without a leading zero (e.g. -8). Use %z if this
is the only character in your user-defined numeric format.

%zz: Displays the timezone offset with a leading zero (e.g. -08)

%zzz: Displays the full timezone offset (e.g. -08:00)

As you can observe, formatting strings are case sensitive. Different formatting can be
obtained by using a different case.

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Changing Data Types of DAX Formula Outputs

In DAX formulas, the data type of the output is determined by the source columns and
you cannot explicitly specify the data type of the result. This is because the optimal data
type is determined by Power Pivot. However, you can use the implicit data type
conversions performed by Power Pivot to manipulate the output data type. Otherwise, you
can use certain DAX functions to convert the output data type.

Using the Implicit Data Type Conversions

To convert a date or a number string to a number, multiply by 1.0. For example,

=(TODAY()+5)*1.0. This formula calculates the current date plus 5 days and
converts the result to an integer value.

To convert a date, number or currency value to a string, concatenate the

value with an empty string. For example, =Today() &

Using the DAX Functions for Data Type Conversions

You can use DAX functions for the following

Converting Real Numbers to Integers.

Converting Real Numbers, Integers or Dates to Strings.
Converting Strings to Real Numbers or Dates.

You will learn this in the following sections.

Converting Real Numbers to Integers

You can use the following DAX functions for converting real numbers to integers

ROUND (<number>, <num_digits>) - Rounds a number to the specified number of

digits and returns a decimal number.

CEILING (<number>, <significance>) - Rounds a number up, to the nearest integer

or to the nearest multiple of significance and returns a decimal number.

FLOOR (<number>, <significance>) - Rounds a number down, toward zero, to the

nearest multiple of significance and returns a decimal number.

Converting Real Numbers, Integers, or Dates to Strings

You can use the following DAX functions for converting real numbers, integers, or dates
to strings

FIXED (<number>, [<decimals>], [<no_commas>]) - Rounds a number and

returns the result as text. The number of digits to the right of the decimal point is 2 or the
specified number of decimals. The result is with commas or optionally with no commas.

FORMAT (<value>, <format_string>) - Converts a value to text according to the

specified format.

You have already learnt about using Format function for converting dates to strings.

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Converting Strings to Real Numbers or Dates

You can use the following DAX functions for converting strings to real numbers or dates

VALUE (<text>) - Converts a text string that represents a number to a number.

DATEVALUE (date_text) - Converts a date in the form of text to a date in datetime

format.

TIMEVALUE (time_text) - Converts a time in text format to a time in datetime format.

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23. DAX Scenarios Conditional Values & TestingDAXfor
Errors

You can use DAX functions to test the values in the data that result in different values
based on a condition. For e.g., you can test the yearly sales amount and based on the
result, label resellers either as Preferred or Value.

You can also use DAX functions for checking the range or the type of values, to prevent
unexpected data errors from breaking calculations.

Creating a Value Based on a Condition

You can use nested IF conditions to test values and generate new values conditionally.
Following DAX functions are useful for conditional processing and conditional values:

IF (<logical_test>,<value_if_true>, [<value_if_false>]) - Checks if a condition is

met. Returns one value if the condition is TRUE and returns another value if the condition
is FALSE. Value_if_false is optional, and if omitted and the condition is FALSE, the function
returns BLANK ().

OR (<logical1>,<logical2>) - Checks whether one of the arguments is TRUE to return

TRUE. The function returns FALSE if both arguments are FALSE.

CONCATENATE (<text1>, <text2>) - Joins two text strings into one text string. The
joined items can be text, numbers, or Boolean values represented as text or a combination
of those items. You can also use a column reference, if the column contains appropriate
values.

Testing for Errors within a DAX Formula

In DAX, you cannot have valid values in one row of a calculated column and invalid values
in another row. That is, if there is an error in any part of a calculated column, the entire
column is flagged with an error and you must correct the DAX formula to remove the
errors that result in invalid values.

Some common errors in DAX formulas are

Division by zero.
Argument to a function is blank while the expected argument is numeric value.

You can use a combination of logical and information functions to test for errors and always
return valid values to avoid returning errors in a calculated column. Following DAX
functions help you in this.

ISBLANK (<value>) - Checks whether a value is blank and returns TRUE or FALSE.

IFERROR (value, value_if_error) - Returns value_if_error if the expression in the first

argument results in an error. Otherwise, returns the value of the expression itself.

Both the return value of the expression and value_if_error must be of same data type.
Otherwise, you will get an error.

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 24. DAX Scenarios Using Time Intelligence DAX

You have learnt about the DAX powerful feature Time Intelligence in the chapter
Understanding Time Intelligence. In this chapter, you will learn how to use DAX time
intelligence functions in various scenarios.

DAX time intelligence functions include:

Functions that help you retrieve dates or date ranges from your data, which are
used to calculate values across similar periods.

Functions that work with standard date intervals, to allow you to compare values
across months, years, or quarters.

Functions that retrieve the first and last date of a specified period.

Functions that help you work on the opening and closing balances.

Calculating Cumulative Sales

You can use DAX time intelligence functions to create formulas for calculating cumulative
sales. The following DAX functions can be used to calculate closing and opening balances:

CLOSINGBALANCEMONTH (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>]) - Evaluates the

expression at the last date of the month in the current context.

OPENINGBALANCEMONTH (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>]) - Evaluates the

expression at the first date of the month in the current context.

CLOSINGBALANCEQUARTER (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>]) - Evaluates the

expression at the last date of the quarter in the current context.

OPENINGBALANCEQUARTER (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>]) - Evaluates the

expression at the first date of the quarter, in the current context.

CLOSINGBALANCEYEAR (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>],

[<year_end_date>]) - Evaluates the expression at the last date of the year in the
current context.

OPENINGBALANCEYEAR (<expression>, <dates>, <filter>],

[<year_end_date>]) - Evaluates the expression at the first date of the year in the
current context.

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You can create the following calculated fields for the product inventory at a specified time
by using the following DAX functions

Month Start Inventory Value:=OPENINGBALANCEMONTH (

SUMX (ProductInventory, ProductInventory[UnitCost]*ProductInventory[UnitsBalance]),

DateTime[DateKey])

Month End Inventory Value:=CLOSINGBALANCEMONTH (

SUMX (ProductInventory, ProductInventory[UnitCost]*ProductInventory[UnitsBalance]),

DateTime[DateKey])

Quarter Start Inventory Value:=OPENINGBALANCEQUARTER (

SUMX ProductInventory, ProductInventory[UnitCost]*ProductInventory[UnitsBalance]),

DateTime[DateKey])

Quarter End Inventory Value:= CLOSINGBALANCEQUARTER (

SUMX (ProductInventory, ProductInventory[UnitCost]*ProductInventory[UnitsBalance]),

DateTime[DateKey])

Year Start Inventory Value:=OPENINGBALANCEYEAR (

SUMX (ProductInventory, ProductInventory[UnitCost]*ProductInventory[UnitsBalance]),

DateTime[DateKey])

Year End Inventory Value:=CLOSINGBALANCEYEAR (

SUMX (ProductInventory, ProductInventory[UnitCost]*ProductInventory[UnitsBalance]),

DateTime[DateKey])

Comparing Values across Different Time Periods

The default time periods supported by DAX are months, quarters, and years.

You can use the following DAX time intelligence functions to compare the sums across
different time periods.

PREVIOUSMONTH (<dates>) - Returns a table that contains a column of all the

dates from the previous month, based on the first date in the dates column, in the
current context.

PREVIOUSQUARTER (<dates>) - Returns a table that contains a column of all

the dates from the previous quarter, based on the first date in the dates column,
in the current context.

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PREVIOUSYEAR (<dates>, <year_end_date>]) - Returns a table that

contains a column of all dates from the previous year, given the last date in the
dates column, in the current context.

You can create the following calculated fields for calculating sum of sales in the West region
at the specified time periods for comparison, by using the DAX functions

Previous Month Sales:=CALCULATE (

SUM (WestSales[SalesAmount]), PREVIOUSMONTH (DateTime [DateKey]))

Previous Quarter Sales:=CALCULATE (

SUM (WestSales[SalesAmount]), PREVIOUSQUARTER (DateTime [DateKey]))

Previous Year Sales:=CALCULATE(

SUM (WestSales[SalesAmount]), PREVIOUSYEAR (DateTime [DateKey]))

Comparing Values Across Parallel Time Periods

You can use the DAX time intelligence function PARALLELPERIOD to compare the sums
across a period parallel to the specified time period.

PARALLELPERIOD (<dates>, <number_of_intervals>, <interval>)

This DAX function returns a table that contains a column of dates representing a period
parallel to the dates in the specified dates column, in the current context, with the dates
shifted a number of intervals either forward or backward in time.

You can create the following calculated field for calculating the previous years sales in
West region

Previous Year Sales:=CALCULATE (

SUM (West_Sales[SalesAmount]), PARALLELPERIOD (DateTime[DateKey],-1,year))

Calculating Running Totals

You can use the following DAX time intelligence functions to calculate running totals or
running sums.

TOTALMTD (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>]) - Evaluates the value of the

expression for the month to date in the current context.

TOTALQTD (<expression>,<dates>, <filter>]) - Evaluates the value of the

expression for the dates in the quarter to date, in the current context.

TOTALYTD (<expression>,<dates>, [<filter>], [<year_end_date>]) -

Evaluates the year-to-date value of the expression in the current context.

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You can create the following calculated fields for calculating running sum of sales in the
West region at specified time periods, by using the DAX functions

Month Running Sum:=TOTALMTD (SUM (West_Sales[SalesAmount]), DateTime[DateKey])

Quarter Running Sum:=TOTALQTD (SUM WestSales[SalesAmount]),DateTime[DateKey])

Year Running Sum:=TOTALYTD (SUM (WestSales[SalesAmount]), DateTime[DateKey])

Calculating a Value over a Custom Date Range

You can use DAX time intelligence functions to retrieve a custom set of dates, which you
can use as an input to a DAX function that performs calculations, to create custom
aggregates across time periods.

DATESINPERIOD (<dates>, <start_date>, <number_of_intervals>, <interval>)

- Returns a table that contains a column of dates that begins with the start_date and
continues for the specified number_of_intervals.

DATESBETWEEN (<dates>, <start_date>, <end_date>) - Returns a table that

contains a column of dates that begins with the start_date and continues until the
end_date.

DATEADD (<dates>,<number_of_intervals>,<interval>) - Returns a table that

contains a column of dates, shifted either forward or backward in time by the specified
number of intervals from the dates in the current context.

FIRSTDATE (<dates>) - Returns the first date in the current context for the specified
column of dates.

LASTDATE (<dates>) - Returns the last date in the current context for the specified
column of dates.

You can create the following DAX formulas for calculating the sum of sales in the West
region over a specified date range, by using the DAX functions

DAX Formula to calculate the sales for the 15 days prior to July 17, 2016.

CALCULATE (
SUM (WestSales[SalesAmount]), DATESINPERIOD (DateTime[DateKey],
DATE(2016,17,14), -15, day))

DAX Formula to create a calculated field that calculates the first quarter 2016 sales.

=CALCULATE (SUM (WestSales[SalesAmount]),DATESBETWEEN

(DateTime[DateKey], DATE (2016,1,1), DATE (2016,3,31)))

DAX Formula to create a calculated field that obtains the first date when a sale was
made in the West region for the current context.

=FIRSTDATE (WestSales [SaleDateKey])

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DAX Formula to create a calculated field that obtains the last date when a sale was
made in the West region for the current context.

=LASTDATE (WestSales [SaleDateKey])

DAX Formula to calculate the dates that are one year before the dates in the current
context.

=DATEADD (DateTime[DateKey],-1,year)

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25. DAX Scenarios Ranking and Comparing Values
DAX

If you want to show only the top n number of items in a column or PivotTable, you have
the following two options:

You can select n number of top values in the PivotTable.

You can create a DAX formula that dynamically ranks values and then uses the
ranking values in a Slicer.

Applying a Filter to Show only the Top Few Items

To select n number of top values for display in the PivotTable, do the following -.

Click the down arrow in the row labels heading in the PivotTable.
Click the Value Filters in the dropdown list and then click Top 10.

Top 10 Filter (<column name>) dialog box appears.

Under Show, select the following in the boxes from left to right.

o Top
o 18 (The number of top values that you want to display. The default is 10.)
o Items.
o In the by box, select Medal Count.

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Click OK. The top 18 values will be displayed in the PivotTable.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Applying Filter

Advantages
It is simple and easy to use.
Suitable for tables with large number of rows.

Disadvantages
The filter is solely for display purposes.

If the data underlying the PivotTable changes, you must manually refresh the
PivotTable to see the changes.

Creating a DAX Formula That Dynamically Ranks Values

You can create a calculated column using a DAX formula that contains the ranked values.
You can then use a slicer on the resulting calculated column to select the values to be
displayed.

You can obtain a rank value for a given value in a row by counting the number of rows in
the same table having a value larger than the one that is being compared. This method
returns the following

A zero value for the highest value in the table.

Equal values will have the same rank value. If n number of values are equal, the
next value after the equal values will have a nonconsecutive rank value adding up
the number n.

For example, if you have a table Sales with sales data, you can create a calculated column
with the ranks of the Sales Amount values as follows -

=COUNTROWS (FILTER (Sales,

EARLIER (Sales [Sales Amount]) < Sales [Sales Amount])) + 1

Next, you can insert a Slicer on the new calculated column and selectively display the
values by ranks.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Dynamic Ranks

Advantages
The ranking is done in the table and not on a PivotTable. Hence, can be used in any
number of PivotTables.

DAX formulas are calculated dynamically. Hence, you can always be sure that the
ranking is correct even if the underlying data has changed.

Since the DAX formula is used in a calculated column, you can use the ranking in
a Slicer.

Suitable for tables with large number of rows.

Disadvantages
Since the DAX calculations are computationally expensive, this method might not be
suitable for tables with large number of rows.

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