Forum Discussion

annerogers's avatar
annerogers
Helper I
9 years ago
Solved

DATEDIFF calculation error

Hi all, I am trying to use date diff to calculate the number of days between start date and end date.  I keep getting the error below, but when I go back into the data model to look across the rows o...
Need Help
  • fhill's avatar
    fhill
    9 years ago

    OK, good news!  DateDiff doesn't freak out over Nulls, it just returns another Null.  (See screen shot 3).  It also has no issues with days equal to each other... (Sorry for those wrong paths).   (also screen shot 3).  

     

    This is my formula if you want NULLS to pass thru for no End Date.  (Best practics)

    DateDiff2 = IF(Table1[Start_Date]<=Table1[End_Date],DATEDIFF(Table1[Start_Date],Table1[End_Date],DAY),(DATEDIFF(Table1[End_Date],Table1[Start_Date],DAY)*-1))

     

    This is another option if you want 0 instead of NULL for a null end date.  

    DateDiff2 = IF(ISBLANK(Table1[End_Date]),0,IF(Table1[Start_Date]<=Table1[End_Date],DATEDIFF(Table1[Start_Date],Table1[End_Date],DAY),(DATEDIFF(Table1[End_Date],Table1[Start_Date],DAY)*-1)))

     

    See if this works and sort the result ascending... i'm curious what PowerBI is seeing that's still making it think the dates are reveresed...  (Please let me know, I'm sucked into the mystery now...)

     

    FOrrest

     

fhill's avatar
fhill
Resident Rockstar
9 years ago

Double check you don't have any Start Date = End Date situations.  If you do, you can easily add an IF(StartDate = EndDate , 0 , <Your current DateDiff Logic>)

annerogers's avatar
annerogers
Helper I
9 years ago

I do have some that are the same.  There are also some where there is not yet an end date.  Would I do something different for them?

 

I will try making the change above.  Thank you for your help.

Anne