Marco Russo's Blog posts of 2017
New function and the importance of variables in #dax
I recently wrote a few articles about a new function in DAX and the use of variables. For those of you using Power BI or Azure Analysis Services, you always have access to the latest version of the language. Well, in reality I see that new features appears Read more
Learn DAX, data modeling, and data visualization after MS Data Insight Summit #dax #powerbi #dataviz
I spent three days in Seattle at Microsoft Data Insight Summit , delivering a preconference day about data modeling for business users, and two workshops about DAX. All of these were sold-out, so even if you attended the conference, you might be interested Read more
User group meetings and #dax training in Minneapolis and Chicago
In the next three weeks I will deliver many speeches and training in United States. Here is the list: June 11, 2017 : Precon Data Modeling with Power BI at Microsoft Data Insights Summit (Seattle, WA) June 12, 2017 : Workshop DAX 101 at Microsoft Data Read more
How to design beautiful dashboards in Power BI – the cure: 15 rules for everyone #powerbi
Is there a secret recipe to create a beautiful dashboard? Why do we need to use “beautiful”? Would “useful” be a better adjective? If you think for a moment, you know that we are attracted by the “beautiful”. It is important for a first impression, but Read more
The new data modeling book for Power BI and Power Pivot users
In the last few years, I and Alberto Ferrari assisted many users of Power Pivot and Power BI who wanted to create their reports using these tools and were struggling with getting the desired numbers from their data. The first approach of an Excel user Read more
Small benchmark for Tabular and Power BI formula engine (FE) #ssas #tabular #powerbi
If you run SSAS Tabular or Power BI, please help me in gathering some performance data for a study I’m doing about Formula Engine performance following these steps: 1) Copy the PowerShell code below in a script Benchmark.ps1, modifying serverName, ssasInstanceName Read more
Avoid measure and column with the same name in #dax
I recently wrote an article about duplicated names in DAX to highlight a possible case where you can have a measure with the same name of a column. This is not a good idea, mainly because the syntax to reference a measure and a column is identical, and Read more
New edition of the Analysis Services Tabular book #ssas #tabular
Last year I and Alberto Ferrari wrote a new edition of the Analysis Services Tabular book, which official title is Tabular Modeling in SQL Server Analysis Services (2nd Edition) . Some delay in editing and production delayed the printing, but the book Read more
Using and optimizing DirectQuery in #powerbi and #ssas #tabular
More than one year ago, I and Alberto Ferrari started to work on DirectQuery, exploring the new implementation appeared in Analysis Services 2016 for the Tabular models, which uses the same engine of Power BI. The previous version of DirectQuery appeared Read more
Unexpected side effects of table filters in #dax
One of the side effects that you might not expect from a table filter in a CALCULATE statement is the removal of an existing filter. In reality, this is a condition that happens when you write an explicit CALCULATE in a row context, because the table Read more