Power BI DAX Simplified: DAX and calculation language of Power BI demystified by practical examples

Length: 542 pages
Edition: 1
Language: English
Publisher: RADACAD
Publication Date: 2021-07-18
ISBN-10: B099SBN1XP
ISBN-13: 9798538933952
Sales Rank: #0 (See Top 100 Books)

DAX is the language of data analysis in Microsoft Power BI, Azure Analysis Services, and Excel Power Pivot. DAX is a powerful language that can quickly empower you to analyze year-over-year or rolling 12 months calculations. It is rare to find an analytics solution using Microsoft technologies (especially Power BI) that doesn’t require some calculations to be written by DAX.

As a Power BI (or Microsoft BI) developer, it is essential to learn this language and master it. Learning a language is not just learning the structure and functions. It is learning how, where, and when to use it so that you can solve real-world problems with it.

In my training and consulting experience on Power BI, I realized that DAX is the weak point for many Power BI users. DAX itself is not a complex language. It is merely a language of expression. The complexity of learning DAX is not the formula or the functions. It is how to use it in real-world scenarios and how it performs on a dataset or visual.

I have been writing many blogs about DAX for many years. My blog articles are all coming from my experience working with Power BI. I found it helpful to compile them all in a book. Because my blog articles practically explain things, I thought it better to title it as a practical way of learning DAX by examples.

Indeed, there are books, articles, and Microsoft documentation on how each function works where and how. However, learning these through an example would bring a new way of understanding it.
A good analytics solution is a combined outcome of a good data model, good data preparation, and good analytics and calculations. I have written another book about the Basics of modeling in Power BI. This book is covering the calculation and DAX aspects of it.

This book is for you if you are building a Power BI solution. Even if you are just visualizing the data, calculations are an essential part of analytics. You do need to have the calculation ready before visualizing it.

This is not a book to explain every single function in DAX. The approach in this book is to have practical examples. Every chapter is based on real-world examples of using a combination of functions to solve a challenge. You can start from any chapter and finish at any chapter. The order of chapters suggested in this book is just a guideline to help you have a smooth flow of topics. Each chapter can be read without needing other chapters. Examples of this book are designed in a way that you can use the learning straight away in your Power BI file.

Agenda
About the Author
Introduction: from the author
Part 1: Fundamentals
Chapter 1: Basics of DAX Expression in Power BI
Chapter 2: M or DAX? That is the Question!
Chapter 3: Scenarios of Using Calculated Tables in Power BI
Chapter 4: Measure vs. Calculated Column: The Mysterious Question? Not!
Chapter 5: Power BI DAX Back to Basics: Scalar Vs. Tabular Functions
Chapter 6: DAX Variables: Better Readability, Consistency, and Performance in Power BI Calculations
Chapter 7: Caution When Using Variables in DAX and Power BI
Part 2: Aggregation and Iterators
Chapter 8: SUM vs. SUMX; What is the difference between the two DAX Functions in Power BI?
Chapter 9: Calculate Totals in Power BI: Using Iterators in DAX
Chapter 10: Showing Ranking in a Visual in Power BI using RANKX DAX function
Chapter 11: Generating Row Number in Power BI Visualization Using DAX
Part 3: Filter
Chapter 12: FILTER Function in DAX and Power BI: Apply Custom Filter to Calculations
Chapter 13: Now You See Me! Use cases of the ALL DAX Function in Power BI
Chapter 14: How to Use the ALL in a DAX Expression in Power BI
Chapter 15: Removing the Total Value for a Column in the Table Visual of Power BI Using ISFILTERED
Chapter 16: Find The Data Value using LookupValue DAX Function in Power BI; Simple and Useful
Chapter 17: The IF and Filter are Different! Be Careful (DAX)
Chapter 18: Overwrite Interaction of Power BI with DAX
Part 4: Relationship Functions
Chapter 19: Get a field value from a related table in Power BI: DAX RELATED Function Explained
Chapter 20: Power BI DAX RelatedTable Function: Get the subtable related to the current row
Chapter 21: UseRelationship or Role-Playing Dimension; Dealing with Inactive Relationships in Power BI
Chapter 22: DAX CrossFilter Function in Power BI: Write the Formula both-directional, but keep the relationship single-directiona
Part 5: Logical Functions
Chapter 23: Write Conditional Statement Using SWITCH in DAX and Power BI
Chapter 24: Stop DAX Cumulative Total Calculation in Power BI
Chapter 25: DAX and Conditional Formatting Better Together: Find The Biggest and Smallest Numbers in the Column
Part 6: Time Intelligence
Chapter 26: Power BI Date Dimension; Default or Custom? Is It Confusing?
Chapter 27: Creating Calendar Table in Power BI using DAX Functions
Chapter 28: All in One: Script to Create Calendar Table or Date Dimension using DAX in Power BI
Chapter 29: Day of Year and Day of Quarter – DAX calculations for Power BI
Chapter 30: Get the Day of the Week Name and Number in Power BI Using DAX
Chapter 31: Some Methods for Calculating Quarter in DAX for Power BI
Chapter 32: Basics of Time Intelligence in DAX for Power BI; Year to Date, Quarter to Date, Month to Date
Chapter 33: Month over Month Calculation in Power BI using DAX
Chapter 34: DatesInPeriod vs. DatesBetween; DAX Time Intelligence for Power BI
Chapter 35: DateAdd vs ParallelPeriod vs SamePeriodLastYear; DAX Time Intelligence Question
Chapter 36: Same Period Last Year to Date DAX Calculation in Power BI
Chapter 37: Week to Date Calculation in Power BI with DAX
Chapter 38: Calculate Duration in Days Hours Minutes and Seconds Dynamically in Power BI using DAX
Chapter 39: Previous Dynamic Period DAX Calculation
Part 7: Table manipulation functions
Chapter 40: Creating a Table in Power BI Using DAX Table Constructor
Chapter 41: Using DataTable DAX Function for Creating Structured Table in Power BI
Chapter 42: Some Simple Ways to Debug Your DAX Measure Code in Power BI: Debugging Virtual Tables
Chapter 43: How to use AddColumns function in DAX and Power BI
Chapter 44: Create a subset of the table in Power BI and add calculations using SELECTCOLUMNS DAX Function
Chapter 45: TOPN DAX Function: How it works in Power BI? Comparison against the top group
Chapter 46: Building a Virtual Relationship in Power BI – Basics of TREATAS DAX Function
Chapter 47: Creating Relationship Based on Multiple Fields in Power BI Using TREATAS DAX Function
Chapter 48: Age Banding in Power BI Using TREATAS DAX Function – Relationship Based on Between
Chapter 49: Aggregated Table in Power BI with Extra Options – Summarize Function in DAX
Chapter 50: Aggregated Table in Power BI – Using GroupBy Function in DAX
Chapter 51: Combining Tables in Power BI: Union, Except, and Intersect in DAX
Chapter 52: Creating a List of Numbers or Dates in Power BI using GenerateSeries Function in DAX
Chapter 53: Create a Table with A to Z Character Values in Power BI Using DAX
Part 8: Text functions
Chapter 54: Substring in DAX: How to get Part of String Field in Power BI Using DAX Expression
Chapter 55: Find a Text Term in a Field in Power BI Using DAX Functions
Chapter 56: Search in Power BI Table Visual Using a Slicer For Contains Character Criteria
Chapter 57: Search for All the Texts in Power BI Table Visual with the First Three Characters Selected in the Slicer
Part 9: Parameter Table
Chapter 58: Power BI What If Parameter for Getting the Sales of X months ago: Use Case Scenario
Chapter 59: Dynamically change the format of values in Power BI
Part 10: Parent-Child Functions
Book wrap up
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