This page has 0 threads | Add post

Blogs

Finding our blogs useful? Please consider helping us to share more!

Learn how to create calculated columns in a tabular model using DAX Part two of a three-part series of blogs
Creating calculated columns in tabular models is deceptively similar to creating formulae in Excel. Deceptively, because the underlying language (DAX) is completely different, and you can make use of functions like SWITCH which have no Excel equivalent. This blog shows what calculated columns are, and how to create them. Calculated columns Using the function wizard (this blog) Making choices (the IF and the SWITCH functions) This blog is part of our online SSAS Tabular tutorial; we also offer lots of other Analysis Services training resources.

Learn how to create calculated columns in a tabular model using DAX

Part two of a three-part series of blogs

Creating calculated columns in tabular models is deceptively similar to creating formulae in Excel. Deceptively, because the underlying language (DAX) is completely different, and you can make use of functions like SWITCH which have no Excel equivalent. This blog shows what calculated columns are, and how to create them.

Calculated columns
Using the function wizard (this blog)
Making choices (the IF and the SWITCH functions)

This blog is part of our online SSAS Tabular tutorial; we also offer lots of other Analysis Services training resources.

Posted by Andy Brown on 05 January 2016

Using the function wizard

Suppose that you want to be able to aggregate transaction volumes by the year in which they occur:

We'll create a column to show the month corresponding to any particular date.

Note that this is actually a bad idea, as it would be much better to do this using a calendar, but a) we haven't covered them in this blog yet and b) this would ruin a nice simple example!

To start with, click on the function wizard tool:

Click on the tool shown here.

To help you choose the right function, choose a category (it's usually pretty obvious what this should be):

Choose this category to find a function giving the year for any given date.

Find the function you want, and double-click on it:

Often it isn't as obvious as this!

SSAS Tabular puts the function name in your formula:

You can now complete the formula by choosing the PosDate field:

Here's the final formula you should get:

I've renamed the column too.

For the final part of this blog, I'll show how you can make choices using the IF or the SWITCH functions.

Parts of this blog
Calculated columns Using the function wizard (this blog) Making choices (the IF and the SWITCH functions)

Some other pages relevant to the above blogs include:

This blog has 0 threads

Add a new post

Head office

Kingsmoor House

Railway Street

GLOSSOP

SK13 2AA

London

Landmark Offices

99 Bishopsgate

LONDON

EC2M 3XD

Manchester

Holiday Inn

25 Aytoun Street

MANCHESTER

M1 3AE

Site map

Terms & Conditions

Book any course as classroom, onsite or online training, or as one-to-one consultancy

Free resources

Paid services

Getting help

Where we are

Where you are

Online

Transparent reviews

Delivery of courses

Nicer to work with

Reliable and established

Our training courses

C#

Excel

MySQL

Power Apps

Power Automate

Power BI and DAX

Python

Report Builder

SQL

SQL Server

VBA Macros

Other training resources

Blogs

Exercises

YouTube tutorials

YouTube shorts

Test your skills

Consultancy

Courseware

Self-paced courses

Newsletters

Publications

Our training venues

London

Manchester

Across the UK

At your site

Online

Why we are different

Hundreds of published reviews

Small class sizes

Outstanding courseware

Online classroom

(Almost) no cancellations

Wise Owl trainers only

Genuine integrity

Invoices after training

30+ years of Wise Owl

Our top 100 clients

BLOGS BY TOPIC

BLOGS BY AUTHOR

Using the function wizard

Head office

London

Manchester