topic Re: I don't understand filter propagation. in DAX Commands and Tips

I don't understand filter propagation.

notofrugo90 — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 14:17:42 GMT

Please disregard what I want to achieve here. My question is purely about technial part of DAX and relationships in Power BI.

My question is about this strange behavior of DAX which I don't understand. My measure should simply count rows in DIM_VENDING_MACHINE and somehow values returned by this measure are affected by DIM_CUSTOMER. Why? I should get exactly the same number in each row of that table since filter cannot be propagated from DIM_CUSTOMER to DIM_VENDING_MACHINE because of the filter direction between DIM_VENDING_MACHINE and FAC_SALES_VENDING.

I have already achieved what I wanted. I just don't understand this behavior I noticed. And I like to understand how things work.

Re: I don't understand filter propagation.

KarinSzilagyi — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 16:51:28 GMT

Hi notofrugo90, is the "Customer Number" you're using in the table from your Dim_Customer or your "Fact_Sales_Vending"? If it's from your Dim_Customer the other dimension should not impact the count in any way. If the column is from your fact table it makes sense though, since your fact table is filtered by Dim_Vending_Machine, so the countrows gets evaluated on each row that can be found in the current filter context in your fact table.

Re: I don't understand filter propagation.

lbendlin — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 21:57:21 GMT

"Follow the arrows." Can you get there from here? In your case you cannot get from the Customer dimension to the Vending Machine dimension, as the arrows don't cooperate. So Power BI is giving you a fake result.

In your case you would need to use the Fact table and Filter transfer (via TREATAS for example) to calculate how many vending machines each customer has used in their purchases.

Re: I don't understand filter propagation.

v-menakakota — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 05:20:35 GMT

Hi notofrugo90 ,
Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum.

I would also take a moment to thank lbendlin   , for actively participating in the community forum and for the solutions you’ve been sharing in the community forum. Your contributions make a real difference.

I hope the above details help you fix the issue. If you still have any questions or need more help, feel free to reach out. We’re always here to support you .

Best Regards,
Community Support Team

Re: I don't understand filter propagation.

v-menakakota — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 04:56:09 GMT

Hi notofrugo90 ,

I hope the above details help you fix the issue. If you still have any questions or need more help, feel free to reach out. We’re always here to support you .

Best Regards,
Community Support Team

Re: I don't understand filter propagation.

juan_pablo — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 20:15:11 GMT

lbendlin

What do you mean by "fake results"? It should not affect the result per customer. Why is COUNTROWS(DIM_VENDING_MACHINE) being affected by DIM_CUSTOMER? Can you elaborate on this please?

Re: I don't understand filter propagation.

lbendlin — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:40:42 GMT

You will get all vending machines for all customers, regardless of the filter choice on DIM_Customer if you use the dimension column. If you use the fact column you get a meaningful result

Re: I don't understand filter propagation.

juan_pablo — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:05:39 GMT

But the question of notofrugo90 and mine is, why does the measure COUNTROWS(DIM_Vending_Machine) IS affected by the values of CUSTOMER_NUMBER in the DIM_CUSTOMER table as he is showing?

In the example you attached you changed the measure and the columns used, so it's a completely different model that doesn't apply for the original question.

Re: I don't understand filter propagation.

lbendlin — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 21:42:16 GMT

I cannot reproduce your results

Re: I don't understand filter propagation.

juan_pablo — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 02:30:30 GMT

Me neither because this was notofrugo90 question, but you can try help me with my post that doesn't has an answer already:

Re: REMOVEFILTERS and filter propagation Puzzle - Microsoft Fabric Community