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Anonymous's avatar
Anonymous
Not applicable
5 years ago

DAX Newbie Question - Base Table Expected

I know that I can define variables & reuse them in subsequent expressions to create more readable code. I've seen others (better) do it Keep coming across '... base table is expected' For example ...
MattAllington's avatar
MattAllington
Icon for Community Champion rankCommunity Champion
5 years ago

It looks to me you are approaching DAX as if it were a query tool replacement for SQL. This is not its primary purpose and in fact this is quite a niche approach. Power BI is a model based tool. You build a model which includes tables, relationships and measures, and then visualise the data using visuals in a report. You can do all of this and never write a single dax query - the queries are managed by the visuals. 

I have taught thousands of people DAX, and i see this all the time with people coming from a rdbms background. Take a step back and explain what are you trying to do. Chances are there is a better way. 

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    Not applicable
    5 years ago

    Hi Matt, thank you for the response. I guess I didn't explain myself very well. It is the "... base table expected" that was throwing me for a while. Found this Implementing Input Table in DAX Query – Prologika and has put me on the right track. Cross-posting here just in case others may end up in the same place as I did.

     

    New (ish) to DAX, but no stranger to SQL, C#, Java and way back when Turbo Pascal. Also no stranger to Kimball (ish) EDW, althougth Inmon was the fashion when I first started. "Clicky-clicky, draggy-droppy", as the saying goes, is all very well, just not always what you want.

     

    Many thanks