Sort Dim Date descending without a circular dependency

[nickmart_bi]

I want to avoid using slicers on my sheet, and in the filter pane there is no obvious way to sort my DimDate[Date] column descending. I have attempted to create rankx expressions to create an ordinal/sort column, but I continue to get a circular dependency when I attempt to sort using this column. My DimDate table references the date column from my fact table and I cannot tell if this is the root of the problem, but I want the calendar to be dynamic and correctly represent my dataset. How do I sort my DimDate[Date] column descending?

DimDate = CALENDAR (

min(Fact_Table[RECORD_DATE]),

date(YEAR(today()), month(TODAY()), day(TODAY()))

)

[v-rzhou-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @nickmart_bi ,

I suggest you to create a Calendar table in Power Query Editor and add an index to sort [Date] column.

For reference: Create Calendar Table Using Power Query M Language

let
    Source = Excel.Workbook(File.Contents("C:\Users\...\Desktop\Sample.xlsx"), null, true),
    Sheet2_Sheet = Source{[Item="Sheet2",Kind="Sheet"]}[Data],
    #"Promoted Headers" = Table.PromoteHeaders(Sheet2_Sheet, [PromoteAllScalars=true]),
    #"Changed Type" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(#"Promoted Headers",{{"Date", type date}, {"Value", Int64.Type}}),
    #"Renamed Columns" = Table.RenameColumns(#"Changed Type",{{"Date", "RECORD_DATE"}}),
    RECORD_DATE1 = #"Renamed Columns"[RECORD_DATE],
    #"Converted to Table" = Table.FromList(RECORD_DATE1, Splitter.SplitByNothing(), null, null, ExtraValues.Error),
    #"Filtered Rows" = Table.SelectRows(#"Converted to Table", each ([Column1] = List.Min(RECORD_DATE1))),
    #"Renamed Columns1" = Table.RenameColumns(#"Filtered Rows",{{"Column1", "Start Date"}}),
    #"Added Custom" = Table.AddColumn(#"Renamed Columns1", "End Date", each Date.From(DateTime.LocalNow())),
    #"Added Custom1" = Table.AddColumn(#"Added Custom", "Date", each {Number.From([Start Date])..Number.From([End Date])}),
    #"Expanded Date" = Table.ExpandListColumn(#"Added Custom1", "Date"),
    #"Changed Type1" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(#"Expanded Date",{{"Date", type date}}),
    #"Removed Columns" = Table.RemoveColumns(#"Changed Type1",{"Start Date", "End Date"}),
    #"Sorted Rows" = Table.Sort(#"Removed Columns",{{"Date", Order.Descending}}),
    #"Added Index" = Table.AddIndexColumn(#"Sorted Rows", "Index", 1, 1, Int64.Type)
in
    #"Added Index"

Result is as below.

Best Regards,
Rico Zhou

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[nickmart_bi]

For my use case this worked well, adding index columns for different groups was pretty straight forward and sorting columns to adjust the direction of the index was easy. 

[Ahmedx]

pls try this

sort by Order column

Calendar = VAR BaseCalendar =
VAR _ToDay = TODAY()
RETURN
    CALENDAR ( min(Fact_Table[RECORD_DATE]), date(YEAR(_ToDay), month(_ToDay), day(_ToDay))) 
 
RETURN
    GENERATE (
        BaseCalendar,
        VAR BaseDate = [Date]
        VAR YearDate = YEAR ( BaseDate )
        VAR MonthNumber = MONTH ( BaseDate )
        VAR DayMonth = DAY(  BaseDate )
        VAR YearMonthDayNumber = (YearDate * 100 + MonthNumber)*100+DayMonth
        RETURN ROW (
            "Year", YearDate,
            "Month Number", MonthNumber,
            "Month", FORMAT ( BaseDate, "mmmm"),
            "Order", YearMonthDayNumber,
            "Year Month", FORMAT ( BaseDate, "mmm yy")
        )
    )

[nickmart_bi]

This does seem to work around the circular dependency error. Any tips how to add a descending order? So most recent to earliest date.