Forum Discussion

iamprajot's avatar
iamprajot
Responsive Resident
8 years ago
Solved

SELECTCOLUMNS or Table.SelectColumns ?

Hi I need to create a new table using columns from existing few tables and I need to know what is the best option to go for.   SELECTCOLUMNS or let     Source = Table.SelectColumns('Original So...
Need Help
  • v-yuta-msft's avatar
    v-yuta-msft
    8 years ago

    Hi iamprajot,

     

    Yes, you can use DAX functions like SUMMARIZE() or ADDCOLUMNS() or ( SELECTCOLUMNS(), UNION() ) to create a custom table from exsiting tables.

     

    Regards,

    Jimmy Tao

v-yuta-msft's avatar
v-yuta-msft
Community Support
8 years ago

Hi iamprajot,

 

Using M code can be faster that DAX, if your data in these column is large, I recommend you to use M code because M code is more efficient than DAX in data model transforming.

 

Regards,

Jimmy Tao

iamprajot's avatar
iamprajot
Responsive Resident
8 years ago
thanks but that is a different dimension which I am not planning to explore, right now just gonna practise DAX as learning M Code is gonna consume time and also I need to add calculated columns, retrieving values from another few tables which needs hands on on M Code.
So is there any other way to do this, create a new table containing normal columns and complex calculated columns using columns from existing few tables.
  • v-yuta-msft's avatar
    v-yuta-msft
    Community Support
    8 years ago

    Hi iamprajot,

     

    Yes, you can use DAX functions like SUMMARIZE() or ADDCOLUMNS() or ( SELECTCOLUMNS(), UNION() ) to create a custom table from exsiting tables.

     

    Regards,

    Jimmy Tao

    • DAXRichArd's avatar
      DAXRichArd
      Resolver I
      7 years ago

      Hi Jimmy Tao,

       

      Great article. Big thanks for your post.


      When creating a table using your guidance above, is there a way to exclue brining in blanks?

       

      I've successfully used the function string in the attached image and it works. But if the column I reference has blanks, PowerBI won't create the table.

       

      I'm hoping you could provide a solution where I can exclude blanks and successfully create a table.


      I've tried NOT BLANK(), NOT IS BLANK, and tried using a boolean arguement (IF), but I can't figure it out.

       

       

      Thx

      DAX Richard

       

    • DAXRichArd's avatar
      DAXRichArd
      Resolver I
      7 years ago

      CANCEL REQUEST FOR HELP

       

      I figured it out.

      TEST =
      DISTINCT (
      SELECTCOLUMNS (
      FILTER ( 'Merged Tables', [Airline Name] <> BLANK () ),
      "Airline Name", 'Merged Tables'[Airline Name]
      )
      )