topic Re: DAX learn in DAX Commands and Tips

DAX learn

powerbiexpert22 — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 06:25:20 GMT

i tried to understand the difference between earlier and earliest functions by going through below however i am still not clear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1SK68BYmec&pp=ygUcZWFybGllciB2cyBlYXJsaWVzdCBmdW5jdGlvbg%3D%3D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jWW9kA1lSA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s22iuxswauY&pp=ygUcZWFybGllciB2cyBlYXJsaWVzdCBmdW5jdGlvbg%3D%3D

Re: DAX learn

Cookistador — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 06:43:57 GMT

Hi powerbiexpert22

The difference between both functions is pretty confusing

EARLIER: Gets the value from the previous (outer) row context. If you have two row contexts, it grabs from the one just outside the current one. If you have more, you can specify how many levels out you want.

EARLIEST: Always gets the value from the very first (outermost) row context, no matter how many are nested.

If you only have two row contexts, they do the same thing. The difference becomes important with three or more nested row contexts.

You use EARLIER when you need the immediate Outer, you will use Earliest when you need the very first one

A small analogy could help you

Imagine you’re getting ready for a cold day and you put on several layers of clothing: A t -shirt, a sweater and a coat

EARLIER is like saying, "Let me check the layer just beneath the one I’m touching now." If you’re holding your coat, EARLIER lets you look at your sweater. If you specify two levels, you can look down to your T-shirt.

EARLIEST is like saying, "No matter how many layers I have, let me always check the very first one I put on"—your T-shirt, the bottom layer.

I hope wih these explanations it looks clearer for you, if it is not, do not hesistate for more help 🙂

Re: DAX learn

powerbiexpert22 — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 07:11:02 GMT

Hi Cookistador ,

thanks, it is more clear theoritically now, can you give me use cases or examples of above in terms of Power BI, I am not when i should use ( in which scenario) which one ?

Re: DAX learn

Cookistador — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 08:58:12 GMT

In fact, Earlier and Earliest are the same function

Earliest, it is just taking the last level for your evaluation

If you use Earlier, you can pass a second parameter

Num: (Optional) A positive number to the outer evaluation pass.

The next evaluation level out is represented by 1; two levels out is represented by 2 and so on.

When omitted default value is 1.

You can see Earlier and earliest like Parallelperiod and Lastyear, you can achieve the same result with both, but Paralleperiod has more versality

Re: DAX learn

v-sgandrathi — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 05:32:21 GMT

Hi powerbiexpert22,

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Re: DAX learn

v-sgandrathi — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 05:03:07 GMT

Hi powerbiexpert22,

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Re: DAX learn

v-sgandrathi — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 06:17:35 GMT

Hi powerbiexpert22,

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