Marco Russo

The new calendar-based time intelligence functions offer greater flexibility than the classic ones.

Learn DATEADD parameters for controlling different granularity shifts.

#dax #powerbi

https://www.sqlbi.com/articles/understanding-dateadd-parameters-with-calendar-based-time-intelligence/

This article+video shows how to create a DAX measure that displays information from multiple columns in a transaction into a single column of a matrix.
Showing more in less space!

#powerbi #dax

https://www.sqlbi.com/articles/show-transaction-details-on-the-matrix-visual-in-power-bi/

Power BI Desktop is showing black icons for many users due to a WebView2 regression. I wrote a short article explaining the issue and a safe workaround.

https://www.sqlbi.com/blog/marco/2026/01/24/fixing-the-black-icons-issue-in-power-bi-desktop-understanding-the-problem-and-a-temporary-workaround/

"It depends" is the only 100% accurate answer in Business Intelligence.

What is your “it depends” KPI?

This comic from SQLBI Newsletter #311: https://www.sqlbi.com/nl/v/2444/

News about The Definitive Guide to DAX, Third Edition.
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟯 is available as a 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 (𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗗𝗙). 
The 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 of the book is now available on Amazon in the United States, Canada, and Mexico for 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴.
https://www.sqlbi.com/books/the-definitive-guide-to-dax-third-edition/

This article analyzes the performance of regular versus limited relationships in DAX to understand the implications of using limited relationships.

#powerbi #dax #optimization

https://www.sqlbi.com/articles/analyzing-the-performance-of-limited-and-regular-relationships/

There are two types of people after a breakup:
those who talk to their friends, and those who open DAX Studio.

If your data model could give you life advice, what would it be?

How many other times should I read that a dimensional model exists only because the third-normal-form is slower?

Dude, next time you write a statement like this, pause for a minute.
I don't ask you to study; this would be clearly too much to ask.
Just ask your favorite LLM.

You're welcome.

A recap of the news in the DAX and SQLBI world in 2025 and a preview of what is coming in 2026.Happy New Year!All links in blog post: https://www.sqlbi.com/b... What happened in DAX in 2025

*2025 DAX recap*
UDFs
Calendar-based time intelligence
21 new DAX functions

*SQLBI*
Definitive Guide to DAX 3rd ed.
SQLBI+ content
DAX Lib
DAX Optimizer Basic

Blog: https://www.sqlbi.com/blog/marco/2025/12/29/what-happened-in-the-dax-world-in-2025/

Video:

𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: The third edition of *The Definitive Guide to DAX* is available in all formats.

The 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 version experienced 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀. If you bought it, you have 7 days to request a refund.

Read more in the FAQ: https://www.sqlbi.com/books/the-definitive-guide-to-dax-third-edition/

This article+video describes the data model and DAX measures to analyze campaign effectiveness 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 by separating 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 from 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀.

#dax #powerbi

https://www.sqlbi.com/articles/measuring-the-impact-of-promotions-on-sales-in-power-bi/

DAX Lib is an open-source repository of User-Defined Functions (UDFs) for Power BI, Fabric, and Analysis Services. Learn how simple it is to import a library... Introducing DAX Lib

𝗗𝗔𝗫 𝗟𝗶𝗯 is quickly becoming the shared home for UDFs in DAX: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝟯𝟬+ 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 that you can import into your Power BI models using TMDL scripts.

Watch what DAX Lib is, why it matters, and how you can start using it.

The Definitive Guide to DAX, Third Edition - SQLBI The Definitive Guide to DAX is an authoritative resource for mastering the DAX language, which is pivotal for creating measures for semantic models in Micro

The 3rd edition of The Definitive Guide to DAX is available.

We have seen quality issues with the Kindle format. You might want to wait for that.

PDF is the best format for rendering, with no quality issues.

Enjoy DAX!

Should you use RANK or stick with RANKX?
In which scenarios is one better than the other?
Make an informed choice with this article + video!

#powerbi #dax

https://www.sqlbi.com/articles/using-rank-instead-of-rankx-in-dax/

Cyber Monday is your last stop if you missed Black Friday!

This is your last chance to enjoy 20% off all SQLBI video courses!
https://sqlbi.com/campaign/cyber-monday/

#dax #powerbi #fabric #ssas #training

In some countries, it's already Cyber Monday!

Save 20% on all SQLBI video courses!
https://sqlbi.com/campaign/cyber-monday/

#dax #powerbi #fabric #ssas #training

It's Black Friday all over the world!

Enjoy 20% off all SQLBI video courses.
https://sqlbi.com/campaign/black-friday/

#powerbi #dax #fabric #ssas #training

It's already Friday in the Far East, and...

Black Friday is active for you on SQLBI!

Enjoy 20% off all SQLBI video courses.
https://sqlbi.com/campaign/black-friday/

#powerbi #dax #fabric #ssas #training

If you are at PASS Summit 2025, look for me at the Tabular Editor booth in the Exhibit Hall.
I will show a sneak preview of DAX Optimizer basic edition: no emails, no data access, no external tools required.
The easiest way to verify if your semantic model can be optimized.
Coming soon...

Learn the differences between model-dependent and model-independent DAX user-defined functions in this article+video.
Bonus: tips to publish libraries of functions on daxlib.org.

#dax #powerbi 

https://www.sqlbi.com/articles/model-dependent-and-model-independent-user-defined-functions-in-dax/

Top 10 products are a classic. Reporting which products are in the top 10 for several years is more challenging.

We are looking for 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀: how to find them in DAX in this article+video.

#powerbi #dax

https://www.sqlbi.com/articles/find-the-products-in-the-top-10-every-year-with-dax/

The DAX Package Manager (in Tabular Editor 3) is now the benchmark for future implementations of DAX Library integration in other external tools.
It's so fast that I thought it didn't work when I installed the first library.
Kudos to the TE3 team!

#powerbi #dax

I don’t know. This should be foundational knowledge in data analytics. Would you deliver a third-normal-form session to a DBA? In theory no. In practice, it could be helpful even if it shouldn’t.

Me too, but it’s not always necessary and there are many data marts without a DWH with happy users. Just don’t assume you have a DWH if you have only a data mart.

I think that it’s a correct statement.
Only because you can it doesn’t mean you should, but that’s a different conversation.

I start to believe that one of the biggest misconceptions in data analytics is that dimensional modeling is for the data warehouse, whereas it is really for the data mart.

Someone should fix that.

Today you have one task: update DAX Studio to 3.4.0.

If you have a model with DAX UDFs (user-defined functions) or Calendars, here is the version that correctly handles autocompletion and VPAX export.

𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘁? Now you can!

https://daxstudio.org/blog/v3_4_0-release/

Yes please!

This article+video describes when to use VALUES in the table grouped by SUMMARIZE, also mentioning why SUMMARIZECOLUMNS does not have that option.

#powerbi #dax

https://www.sqlbi.com/articles/using-values-in-summarize/

And why this platform ignored my new lines to give a sense of distance between #1 and #2?
Meh.