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Wise Owl blogs written by Sam Lowrie (page 1 of 2)
Showing blogs 1-20 (out of 21)
Creating complex custom date periods in calendar tables using calculated columns
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 17 May 2019
This blog shows how to create custom date periods within a date table for 28 day cycles, but the principles shown could be applied to create any custom date periods.
Creating a calendar or date table in Power BI using built-in calendar functions
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 17 May 2019
Learn how to create a basic date table in Power BI, using either the CALENDAR or CALENDARAUTO functions, and also learn how to then add custom columns of your own.
Modelling a fixed or variable custom financial year in Power BI
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 17 May 2019
Whether your financial year ends on a fixed date every year or on the first Monday in June, this blog will show you how to incorporate it into your calendar table.
The mysteries of context transition explained
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 25 February 2019
Context transition happens when a DAX function creates filter context within row context, or vice versa. This blog explains what context transition is, and shows which DAX functions make use of it.
Understanding row context in DAX
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 01 February 2019
Row context (along with its sibling, filter context) is one of the most important concepts in DAX. This blog explains what row context is, and how to use it!
Understanding filter context in DAX
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 28 January 2019
Understanding filter context is the key to understanding how to create measures in DAX. This blog aims to explain this vital subject as succinctly as possible!
How to monitor stock levels from forecast sales using DAX measures in Power BI
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 06 November 2018
Given your current stock levels and forecast sales, it should be possible to report on future stock depletion in Power BI. This two-part blog shows you how to just that!
A DAX formatter to tidy up your code
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 30 July 2018
Use this handy web based formatter to turn shameful code into neat DAX!
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 30 July 2018
Learn to use DAX variables, and understand how they can be used to break up code. Not true debugging, but better than nothing!
How to show current drilldown filters in Power BI Desktop
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 20 July 2018
Some technique to remind users what levels they chose while using drilldown.
Stop automatic grouping in Power BI Desktop
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 20 July 2018
Read this blog to understand the risk of Power BI's automatic grouping of data, and to learn how to avoid getting caught out!
Disappearing data labels in Power BI Desktop
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 20 July 2018
Ever had a data label vanish for no apparent reason? This blog gives two of the most common reasons why this might happen.
Using MERGE and MATCHED in SQL
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 21 June 2018
Learn how to MERGE rows from two tables into one combined table, and how to remove unwanted data from both tables.
Using the CROSS FILTER function in Power BI Desktop
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 13 June 2018
Learn about the perils of changing the cross filter direction to "Both", then discover why the CROSS FILTER function is better!
More suggestions for how to use bookmarks
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 09 June 2018
Another set of examples showing ways in which to use the weird and wonderful bookmarks feature in Power BI Desktop
Splitting long tables of data into different pages (pagination)
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 01 June 2018
This blog shows how you can split rows in tables into different pages, making the data easier to read.
How to create dynamic report titles in Power BI Desktop
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 01 June 2018
How you can combine the use of measures and cards to create dynamic report headers in Power BI Desktop.
Weighted and numeric distribution in Power BI Desktop
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 18 May 2018
Learn to use the SUMMARIZE and CALCULATE functions to produce numeric and weighted distributions.
Some suggestions for possible uses for bookmarks in Power BI Desktop
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 24 March 2018
This blog gives some suggestions for how you might use the new bookmarks feature in Power BI Desktop.
Learning bookmarks in Power BI Desktop
Posted by Sam Lowrie on 14 March 2018
You can use bookmarks to take your reports to the next level - they take a while to get used to, as this blog shows, but they're worth the hassle!