topic Re: When to use Sum and Sumx in DAX Commands and Tips

When to use Sum and Sumx

koolsid786 — Fri, 19 May 2023 01:39:22 GMT

Hello All,

I have read so many articles but not able to understand when someone should use Sum and SumX , Average and AverageX.

Can someone explain with basic example ?

Thanks

Re: When to use Sum and Sumx

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2023 01:51:45 GMT

This reference guide gives some good examples: https://dax.guide/sumx/

First examples shows similarities:

-- SUM is the short version of SUMX, when used with one column only

-- SUMX is required to evaluate formulas, instead of columns

Re: When to use Sum and Sumx

tamerj1 — Fri, 19 May 2023 02:48:20 GMT

Hi koolsid786

you can use the x aggregators when you need to get access to row context otherwise just use normal SUM, AVERAGE etc.

Re: When to use Sum and Sumx

AjithPrasath — Fri, 19 May 2023 04:35:14 GMT

SUM vs. SUMX:

SUM: The SUM function is an aggregation function that calculates the sum of a column or expression within a single table or filter context. It works on a column and returns the sum of all the values in that column.
SUMX: The SUMX function is an iterator function that allows you to perform a calculation (such as summing values) for each row of a table or an expression within a specific context. It works on an iterator table and applies the specified calculation to each row, and then aggregates the results.
AVERAGE vs. AVERAGEX:
- AVERAGE: The AVERAGE function is an aggregation function that calculates the average of a column or expression within a single table or filter context. It works on a column and returns the average value of all the values in that column.
- AVERAGEX: The AVERAGEX function is an iterator function that allows you to perform a calculation (such as averaging values) for each row of a table or an expression within a specific context. It works on an iterator table and applies the specified calculation to each row, and then aggregates the results.

Re: When to use Sum and Sumx

koolsid786 — Sun, 21 May 2023 00:24:03 GMT

Hi Ajith,

Can you please explain with Example ?

Additionally I am facing dificultiies in generating Dax formulas how to practice those ?

For Ex. In the below screen shot I have used Distinct but the Asnwer is showing that we should use Summarize ? Which function to be used when how to understand those ?

Re: When to use Sum and Sumx

koolsid786 — Sun, 21 May 2023 00:26:11 GMT

I am facing dificultiies in generating Dax formulas how to practice those ?

For Ex. In the below screen shot I have used Distinct but the Asnwer is showing that we should use Summarize ? Which function to be used when how to understand those ?

Re: When to use Sum and Sumx

AjithPrasath — Mon, 22 May 2023 05:52:11 GMT

Hi koolsid786

SUM function: The SUM function calculates the sum of a specified column in a table. It takes a column or an expression that evaluates to a column as an argument.

SUM(<column>)

Example: Consider a table called "Sales" with columns "Product" and "SalesAmount." To calculate the total sales amount, you can use the SUM function as follows:

TotalSalesAmount = SUM(Sales[SalesAmount])

SUMX function: The SUMX function calculates the sum of an expression for each row in a table or an iterator. It iterates over each row and performs the specified calculation on the expression.

SUMX(<table>, <expression>)

Example: Suppose you have a table called "Orders" with columns "Product," "Quantity," and "Price." To calculate the total revenue for each product (quantity multiplied by price), you can use the SUMX function as follows:

TotalRevenue = SUMX(Orders, Orders[Quantity] * Orders[Price])

This will iterate over each row in the "Orders" table, calculate the revenue for each row (Quantity * Price), and then sum up the results to provide the total revenue.

Best Regards,

Ajith Prasath

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