Blog

DAX Query view – what is in it for me?

Sami Virta Analytics Consultant, Solita

Published 20 Jun 2024

Reading time 2 min

In addition to Report, Table and Model there is a new option added to view your data – Dax Query view. Like with most of the new features in Power BI I found the DAX Query view by accident. What one does in case of something new, google it or request an explanation from GenAI.

Having a history with T-SQL, Thinking about your DAX Queries like a SQL Query in Power BI by Guy in a Cube got my focus. The vision of querying and analysing your data in Power BI Desktop instead of Excel or some sort of SQL editor or whatever external editor was fascinating.

SELECT * FROM vs EVALUATE

Can DAX replace SQL? No, but it sure can do a lot of the same stuff when verifying the data. Some things are more twisted, some simple when compared to SQL. The bottom line is there is no need to switch between applications to get things done. In case of necessity query results can be copied and pasted to e.g. Excel.

The only thing is that one needs to study DAX. Which does not hurt when in the end you will need it to write better measures.

Decrypt cascading measures

Everyone has bumped into cascading measures, at least I have created a lot of those. By cascading I mean writing a measure then base the next measure on it and so on. Somewhere down the line is what you really wanted to achieve but instead of using variables you just wrote multiple separate measures and compiled those together.

In the DAX Query view right-click the measure you want to analyse. Choose Quick queries and then Define all measures in this model option opens the select all related measures in the editor. You can make changes and update the measures in the DAX Query view.

Format query

DAX formatter is known to many as a tool to format written DAX code in a more readable layout. In DAX Query view you can write a measure to a certain table and once done click on Format query. The result is more or less the same as with DAX formatter, but again you can stay within the same application and view.

It is up to you

DAX Query view is a possibility instead of necessity. I strongly recommend exploring the tool from your perspective even if you would need to push yourself out of your comfort zone. It might shed new perspectives on Power BI Desktop as an analytics tool. I will explore more just for the sake of learning DAX a bit more.

  1. Data
  2. Tech