Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Get certified in Microsoft Fabric—for free! For a limited time, get a free DP-600 exam voucher to use by the end of 2024. Register now

Reply
Cymbolz
Helper III
Helper III

Understanding DATESYTD, DATESBETWEEN and similar functions

I am trying to understand what is happening beneath the surface with functions like DATESYTD and DATESBETWEEN.  The scenario:

 

  • A measure [Total]
  • A calendar table Calendar with columns Date, Year, Month, Day
  • A matrix with rows Year, Month and value [Total]
  • Some YTD measures (below)

Measure 1 - Using TOTALYTD - ok

Measure 2 - Using CALCULATE and DATESYTD

Measure 3 - Using CALCULATE and DATESBETWEEN

 

All three work as expected and produce the expected result.  Curiosity has me wondering how the 2nd and 3rd are doing so relative to the matrix layout.  In my expressions I do not refer to of modify (clear) the filters on Year, Month, Day.  

Given DATESYTD and DATESBETWEEN return a single column table.  

If I wrote the expression using the custom technique with FILTER then I'd need to explicitly clear the filters on those columns or the entire Calendar table. 

I assume DATESYTD and DATESBETWEEN are doing this but is there any documented details on how these functions work?  

 

Measure 2 = CALCULATE ( [Total, DATESYTD ( 'Calendar'[Date] ) )
Measure 3 = CALCULATE ( [Total], DATESBETWEEN ( 'Calendar'[Date], STARTOFYEAR ( 'Calendar'[Date] ), LASTDATE ( 'Calendar'[Date] ) ) )

Note, am not concerned about the theory of other functions (unless they relate to this topic), am well aware of when and how simple functions like MAX/MIN should be used.

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
marcorusso
Most Valuable Professional
Most Valuable Professional

4 REPLIES 4
Cymbolz
Helper III
Helper III

Giving this a slight bump.  Anyone?

@marcorusso time for the super heros of DAX to have an input? 🙂

marcorusso
Most Valuable Professional
Most Valuable Professional

Thank you @marcorusso, hit the nail on the head (again!).

 

Mid-way through the article I was saying to myself "but it works irrespective of Mark as Date table" as that was part of my testing.  Only a couple of paragraphs later did I read about when the Date column is the key in the relationship.

 

My life feels much more complete now Smiley Very Happy

Helpful resources

Announcements
November Carousel

Fabric Community Update - November 2024

Find out what's new and trending in the Fabric Community.

Live Sessions with Fabric DB

Be one of the first to start using Fabric Databases

Starting December 3, join live sessions with database experts and the Fabric product team to learn just how easy it is to get started.

Las Vegas 2025

Join us at the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference

March 31 - April 2, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Use code MSCUST for a $150 discount! Early Bird pricing ends December 9th.

Nov PBI Update Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - November 2024

Check out the November 2024 Power BI update to learn about new features.

Top Solution Authors