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Anonymous's avatar
Anonymous
Not applicable
7 years ago
Solved

Assign VALUES to VAR from SWITCH statement

In DAX I want to assign different values to a VAR based on another measure. My idea was to use a switch but it doesn't work:   Intended_Measure := VAR Test = SWITCH( [SelectMeasure],1,VALUES(TABLE...
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  • AlB's avatar
    AlB
    7 years ago

    Anonymous

     

    You're right. It seems IF returns a scalar too. I would then try one of the following. In any case, I'd also be interested in seeing other approaches. Does anyone have other ideas?  It might be a good idea to open up another thread asking for them.

     

    Intended_Measure :=
VAR Test1 =
    VALUES ( TABLE[Column1] )
VAR Test2 =
    VALUES ( TABLE[Column2] )
RETURN
    IF (
        [SelectMeasure] = 1,
        CALCULATE (SUM ( [Measure] ), FILTER ( OTHERTABLE, OTHERTABLE[Columnx] IN Test1 )
        ),
        IF (
            [SelectMeasure] = 2,
            CALCULATE (SUM ( [Measure] ), FILTER ( OTHERTABLE, OTHERTABLE[Columnx] IN Test2 )
            )
        )
    )

    or without the VARs:

     

    Intended_Measure :=
IF (
    [SelectMeasure] = 1,
    CALCULATE (SUM ( [Measure] ), FILTER ( OTHERTABLE, OTHERTABLE[Columnx] IN VALUES ( TABLE[Column1] ) )
    ),
    IF (
        [SelectMeasure] = 2,
        CALCULATE (SUM ( [Measure] ), FILTER ( OTHERTABLE, OTHERTABLE[Columnx] IN VALUES ( TABLE[Column2] ) )
        )
    )
)
AlB's avatar
AlB
Community Champion
7 years ago

Hi Anonymous

 

SWITCH( ) returns a scalar. You are attempting to return a table. Try with nested IFs:

 

Intended_Measure :=
VAR Test =
    IF (
        [SelectMeasure] = 1,
        VALUES ( TABLE[Column1] ),
        IF ( [SelectMeasure] = 2, VALUES ( TABLE[Column2] ) )
    )
RETURN
    ( ..... )
Anonymous's avatar
Anonymous
Not applicable
7 years ago

Hello AlB,

I changed the SWITCH to a nested IF but I run into the same problem.

I'm using the TEST variable as a condition in the return clause:

 

Intended_Measure :=
VAR Test =
    IF (
        [SelectMeasure] = 1,
        VALUES ( TABLE[Column1] ),
        IF ( [SelectMeasure] = 2, VALUES ( TABLE[Column2] ) )
    )
RETURN
    ( CALCULATE(SUM([Measure]), FILTER(OTHERTABLE, OTHERTABLE[Columnx] in TEST)) )

 

I receive the error:

The function expects a table expression for argument '', but a string or numeric expression was used.

 

If I use VALUES(TABLE[Column1]) in the filter clause it works correctly.

  • AlB's avatar
    AlB
    Community Champion
    7 years ago

    Anonymous

     

    You're right. It seems IF returns a scalar too. I would then try one of the following. In any case, I'd also be interested in seeing other approaches. Does anyone have other ideas?  It might be a good idea to open up another thread asking for them.

     

    Intended_Measure :=
VAR Test1 =
    VALUES ( TABLE[Column1] )
VAR Test2 =
    VALUES ( TABLE[Column2] )
RETURN
    IF (
        [SelectMeasure] = 1,
        CALCULATE (SUM ( [Measure] ), FILTER ( OTHERTABLE, OTHERTABLE[Columnx] IN Test1 )
        ),
        IF (
            [SelectMeasure] = 2,
            CALCULATE (SUM ( [Measure] ), FILTER ( OTHERTABLE, OTHERTABLE[Columnx] IN Test2 )
            )
        )
    )

    or without the VARs:

     

    Intended_Measure :=
IF (
    [SelectMeasure] = 1,
    CALCULATE (SUM ( [Measure] ), FILTER ( OTHERTABLE, OTHERTABLE[Columnx] IN VALUES ( TABLE[Column1] ) )
    ),
    IF (
        [SelectMeasure] = 2,
        CALCULATE (SUM ( [Measure] ), FILTER ( OTHERTABLE, OTHERTABLE[Columnx] IN VALUES ( TABLE[Column2] ) )
        )
    )
)
    • Anonymous's avatar
      Anonymous
      Not applicable
      7 years ago

      AlB

       

      My plan B is using your second approach with a SWITCH.
      The issue is that I have 3 filters to apply. I believe it is way cleaner to keep a single measure with the VALUES in 3 variables rather than nesting measures one upon each other.

      Thanks in any case.

      • AlB's avatar
        AlB
        Community Champion
        7 years ago

        Anonymous

        I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Keep in mind though that measures too  can only hold scalars, not tables.