Definitive Guide to DAX, The: Business intelligence for Microsoft Power BI, SQL Server Analysis Services, and Excel, 2nd Edition

About

Features

• Only advanced DAX book on the market
• The authors' stellar reputation, which is largely based on high-quality books they have already authored
• The quickly increasing interest in technical content for BI professionals

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Description

• Copyright 2020
• Dimensions: 7-3/8" x 9-1/8"
• Pages: 768
• Edition: 2nd

• Book
• ISBN-10: 1-5093-0697-8
• ISBN-13: 978-1-5093-0697-8

Now expanded and updated with modern best practices, this is the most complete guide to Microsoft’s DAX language for business intelligence, data modeling, and analytics. Expert Microsoft BI consultants Marco Russo and Alberto Ferrari help you master everything from table functions through advanced code and model optimization. You’ll learn exactly what happens under the hood when you run a DAX expression, and use this knowledge to write fast, robust code. This edition focuses on examples you can build and run with the free Power BI Desktop, and helps you make the most of the powerful syntax of variables (VAR) in Power BI, Excel, or Analysis Services. Want to leverage all of DAX’s remarkable capabilities? This no-compromise “deep dive” is exactly what you need.

Perform powerful data analysis with DAX for Power BI, SQL Server, and Excel

·         Master core DAX concepts, including calculated columns, measures, and calculation groups

·         Work efficiently with basic and advanced table functions

·         Understand evaluation contexts and the CALCULATE and CALCULATETABLE functions

·         Perform time-based calculations

·         Use calculation groups and calculation items

·         Use syntax of variables (VAR) to write more readable, maintainable code

·         Express diverse and unusual relationships with DAX, including many-to-many relationships and bidirectional filters

·         Master advanced optimization techniques, and improve performance in aggregations

·         Optimize data models to achieve better compression

·         Measure DAX query performance with DAX Studio and learn how to optimize your DAX 

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction to the second edition

Introduction to the first edition

Chapter 1 What is DAX?

Understanding the data model

    Understanding the direction of a relationship

DAX for Excel users

    Cells versus tables

    Excel and DAX: Two functional languages

    Iterators in DAX

    DAX requires theory

DAX for SQL developers

    Relationship handling

    DAX is a functional language

    DAX as a programming and querying language

    Subqueries and conditions in DAX and SQL

DAX for MDX developers

    Multidimensional versus Tabular

    DAX as a programming and querying language

    Hierarchies

    Leaf-level calculations

DAX for Power BI users

Chapter 2 Introducing DAX

Understanding DAX calculations

    DAX data types

    DAX operators

    Table constructors

    Conditional statements

Understanding calculated columns and measures

    Calculated columns

    Measures

Introducing variables

Handling errors in DAX expressions

    Conversion errors

    Arithmetic operations errors

    Intercepting errors

    Generating errors

Formatting DAX code

Introducing aggregators and iterators

Using common DAX functions

    Aggregation functions

    Logical functions

    Information functions

    Mathematical functions

    Trigonometric functions

    Text functions

    Conversion functions

    Date and time functions

    Relational functions

Conclusions

Chapter 3 Using basic table functions

Introducing table functions

Introducing EVALUATE syntax

Understanding FILTER

Introducing ALL and ALLEXCEPT

Understanding VALUES, DISTINCT, and the blank row

Using tables as scalar values

Introducing ALLSELECTED

Conclusions

Chapter 4 Understanding evaluation contexts

Introducing evaluation contexts

    Understanding filter contexts

    Understanding the row context

Testing your understanding of evaluation contexts

    Using SUM in a calculated column

    Using columns in a measure

Using the row context with iterators

    Nested row contexts on different tables

    Nested row contexts on the same table

    Using the EARLIER function

Understanding FILTER, ALL, and context interactions

Working with several tables

    Row contexts and relationships

    Filter context and relationships

Using DISTINCT and SUMMARIZE in filter contexts

Conclusions

Chapter 5 Understanding CALCULATE and CALCULATETABLE

Introducing CALCULATE and CALCULATETABLE

    Creating filter contexts

    Introducing CALCULATE

    Using CALCULATE to compute percentages

    Introducing KEEPFILTERS

    Filtering a single column

    Filtering with complex conditions

    Evaluation order in CALCULATE

Understanding context transition

    Row context and filter context recap

    Introducing context transition

    Context transition in calculated columns

    Context transition with measures

Understanding circular dependencies

CALCULATE modifiers

    Understanding USERELATIONSHIP

    Understanding CROSSFILTER

    Understanding KEEPFILTERS

    Understanding ALL in CALCULATE

    Introducing ALL and ALLSELECTED with no parameters

CALCULATE rules

Chapter 6 Variables

Introducing VAR syntax

Understanding that variables are constant

Understanding the scope of variables

Using table variables

Understanding lazy evaluation

Common patterns using variables

Conclusions

Chapter 7 Working with iterators and with CALCULATE

Using iterators

    Understanding iterator cardinality

    Leveraging context transition in iterators

    Using CONCATENATEX

    Iterators returning tables

Solving common scenarios with iterators

    Computing averages and moving averages

    Using RANKX

    Changing calculation granularity

Conclusions

Chapter 8 Time intelligence calculations

Introducing time intelligence

    Automatic Date/Time in Power BI

    Automatic date columns in Power Pivot for Excel

    Date table template in Power Pivot for Excel

Building a date table

    Using CALENDAR and CALENDARAUTO

    Working with multiple dates

    Handling multiple relationships to the Date table

    Handling multiple date tables

Understanding basic time intelligence calculations

    Using Mark as Date Table

Introducing basic time intelligence functions

    Using year-to-date, quarter-to-date, and month-to-date

    Computing time periods from prior periods

    Mixing time intelligence functions

    Computing a difference over previous periods

    Computing a moving annual total

    Using the right call order for nested time intelligence functions

Understanding semi-additive calculations

    Using LASTDATE and LASTNONBLANK

    Working with opening and closing balances

Understanding advanced time intelligence calculations

    Understanding periods to date

    Understanding DATEADD

    Understanding FIRSTDATE, LASTDATE, FIRSTNONBLANK, and LASTNONBLANK

    Using drillthrough with time intelligence

Working with custom calendars

    Working with weeks

    Custom year-to-date, quarter-to-date, and month-to-date

Conclusions

Chapter 9 Calculation groups

Introducing calculation groups

Creating calculation groups

Understanding calculation groups

    Understanding calculation item application

    Understanding calculation group precedence

    Including and excluding measures from calculation items

Understanding sideways recursion

Using the best practices

Conclusions

Chapter 10 Working with the filter context

Using HASONEVALUE and SELECTEDVALUE

Introducing ISFILTERED and ISCROSSFILTERED

Understanding differences between VALUES and FILTERS

Understanding the difference between ALLEXCEPT and ALL/VALUES

Using ALL to avoid context transition

Using ISEMPTY

Introducing data lineage and TREATAS

Understanding arbitrarily shaped filters

Conclusions

Chapter 11 Handling hierarchies

Computing percentages over hierarchies

Handling parent/child hierarchies

Conclusions

Chapter 12 Working with tables

Using CALCULATETABLE

Manipulating tables

    Using ADDCOLUMNS

    Using SUMMARIZE

    Using CROSSJOIN

    Using UNION

    Using INTERSECT

    Using EXCEPT

Using tables as filters

    Implementing OR conditions

    Narrowing sales computation to the first year’s customers

    Computing new customers

    Reusing table expressions with DETAILROWS

Creating calculated tables

    Using SELECTCOLUMNS

    Creating static tables with ROW

    Creating static tables with DATATABLE

    Using GENERATESERIES

Conclusions

Chapter 13 Authoring queries

Introducing DAX Studio

Understanding EVALUATE

    Introducing the EVALUATE syntax

    Using VAR in DEFINE

    Using MEASURE in DEFINE

Implementing common DAX query patterns

    Using ROW to test measures

    Using SUMMARIZE

    Using SUMMARIZECOLUMNS

    Using TOPN

    Using GENERATE and GENERATEALL

    Using ISONORAFTER

    Using ADDMISSINGITEMS

    Using TOPNSKIP

    Using GROUPBY

    Using NATURALINNERJOIN and NATURALLEFTOUTERJOIN

    Using SUBSTITUTEWITHINDEX

    Using SAMPLE

Understanding the auto-exists behavior in DAX queries

Conclusions

Chapter 14 Advanced DAX concepts

Introducing expanded tables

    Understanding RELATED

    Using RELATED in calculated columns

Understanding the difference between table filters and column filters

    Using table filters in measures

    Understanding active relationships

    Difference between table expansion and filtering

    Context transition in expanded tables

Understanding ALLSELECTED and shadow filter contexts

    Introducing shadow filter contexts

    ALLSELECTED returns the iterated rows

    ALLSELECTED without parameters

The ALL* family of functions

    ALL

    ALLEXCEPT

    ALLNOBLANKROW

    ALLSELECTED

    ALLCROSSFILTERED

Understanding data lineage

Conclusions

Chapter 15 Advanced relationships

Implementing calculated physical relationships

    Computing multiple-column relationships

    Implementing relationships based on ranges

    Understanding circular dependency in calculated physical relationships

Implementing virtual relationships

    Transferring filters in DAX

    Transferring a filter using TREATAS

    Transferring a filter using INTERSECT

    Transferring a filter using FILTER

    Implementing dynamic segmentation using virtual relationships

Understanding physical relationships in DAX

Using bidirectional cross-filters

Understanding one-to-many relationships

Understanding one-to-one relationships

Understanding many-to-many relationships

    Implementing many-to-many using a bridge table

    Implementing many-to-many using a common dimension

    Implementing many-to-many using MMR weak relationships

Choosing the right type of relationships

Managing granularities

Managing ambiguity in relationships

    Understanding ambiguity in active relationships

    Solving ambiguity in non-active relationships

Conclusions

Chapter 16 Advanced calculations in DAX

Computing the working days between two dates

Showing budget and sales together

Computing same-store sales

Numbering sequences of events

Computing previous year sales up to last date of sales

Conclusions

Chapter 17 The DAX engines

Understanding the architecture of the DAX engines

    Introducing the formula engine

    Introducing the storage engine

    Introducing the VertiPaq (in-memory) storage engine

    Introducing the DirectQuery storage engine

    Understanding data refresh

Understanding the VertiPaq storage engine

    Introducing columnar databases

    Understanding VertiPaq compression

    Understanding segmentation and partitioning

    Using Dynamic Management Views

Understanding the use of relationships in VertiPaq

Introducing materialization

Introducing aggregations

Choosing hardware for VertiPaq

    Hardware choice as an option

    Set hardware priorities

    CPU model

    Memory speed

    Number of cores

    Memory size

    Disk I/O and paging

    Best practices in hardware selection

Conclusions

Chapter 18 Optimizing VertiPaq

Gathering information about the data model

Denormalization

Columns cardinality

Handling date and time

Calculated columns

    Optimizing complex filters with Boolean calculated columns

    Processing of calculated columns

Choosing the right columns to store

Optimizing column storage

    Using column split optimization

    Optimizing high-cardinality columns

    Disabling attribute hierarchies

    Optimizing drill-through attributes

Managing VertiPaq Aggregations

Conclusions

Chapter 19 Analyzing DAX query plans

Capturing DAX queries

Introducing DAX query plans

    Collecting query plans

    Introducing logical query plans

    Introducing physical query plans

    Introducing storage engine queries

Capturing profiling information

    Using DAX Studio

    Using the SQL Server Profiler

Reading VertiPaq storage engine queries

    Introducing xmSQL syntax

    Understanding scan time

    Understanding DISTINCTCOUNT internals

    Understanding parallelism and datacache

    Understanding the VertiPaq cache

    Understanding CallbackDataID

Reading DirectQuery storage engine queries

    Analyzing composite models

    Using aggregations in the data model

Reading query plans

Conclusions

Chapter 20 Optimizing DAX

Defining optimization strategies

    Identifying a single DAX expression to optimize

    Creating a reproduction query

    Analyzing server timings and query plan information

    Identifying bottlenecks in the storage engine or formula engine

    Implementing changes and rerunning the test query

Optimizing bottlenecks in DAX expressions

    Optimizing filter conditions

    Optimizing context transitions

    Optimizing IF conditions

    Reducing the impact of CallbackDataID

    Optimizing nested iterators

    Avoiding table filters for DISTINCTCOUNT

    Avoiding multiple evaluations by using variables

Conclusions

9781509306978   TOC   5/23/2019

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