Unknown Data Type Icon

[jmuehlenbrock]

Hi folks,

I am pretty new to Power BI so this might be a very beginner question. When I tried to use PBI time functions like MONTH() in calculated fields (measures) I noticed that I cannot select any date fields within the formula. 

I am (live) connected to a SSAS cube with these settings for the field in question:

Visual Studio Data Field Properties

In Power BI I see the data field indicated with this small icon for which I cannot find any specification or description in the forums:

But what I found is a different icon in an Excel-based dataset where I defined the data type in Power BI modelling tab directly. See:

What is the difference between these two icons? 

Any help appreciated!

jmuehlenbrock

[jmuehlenbrock]

So what I have found after some further investigation is that the mentioned icon indicates a row level identifier. 

(src: https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/Field-list-question/td-p/17312)

But I still don't get why I cannot use this field in a formula where a date is needed. When I put this field to the filter pane it is possible to use relative date filters, so I guess that the field itself IS recongnized as a date. 

[v-lid-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @jmuehlenbrock ,

Based on this document, This icon is mean: Identity field: Fields with this icon are unique fields, set to show all values, even if they have duplicates.

But if you want to create a measure, we cannot just use Month('Auftragsdatum'[Auftragsdatum]) to get the month, we need to get a certain value of this field such as following:

MonthMeasureOfLatestDate = MONTH(MAX('Auftragsdatum'[Auftragsdatum]))

Best regards,