Introduction

This chapter will explore how to leverage Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) in Power Pivot, tabular models, and SQL Server Management Studio. DAX is a formula-based language similar to functions in Excel that allows you to create calculations and queries. When designing models, you will leverage these formulas to enhance the model to make it easier for users to leverage. There are two ways to add DAX into your model, either as a calculated column or a calculate measure. When you create a calculated column you apply a function that evaluates each row independently and returns the result. Calculated measures are applied to the table and column by using functions to determine the result based on the context. In addition, you can use DAX to query your model much like using T-SQL to query a relational database.

Note

There are several categories of DAX functions designed to perform a variety of calculations. These include logical, aggregation, text, mathematical, statistical, date and...