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fschiro's avatar
fschiro
Frequent Visitor
6 years ago
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What does the dot command do [column].[column]

What does the dot "." command do in Dax? In a quick measure I noticed 'DimDate'[Date].[Date] I went to find documentation as to what was the purpose of the .[Date] in the [Date].[Date], but I c...
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  • Mariusz's avatar
    Mariusz
    6 years ago

    Hi fschiro 

     

    Its a DAX reference to auto date hierarchy table that you can not see it in your model as it's hidden, normally you would use it if you do not have a date dimension.

     

    Best Regards,
    Mariusz

    If this post helps, then please consider Accepting it as the solution.

    Please feel free to connect with me.
    Mariusz Repczynski

     

fschiro's avatar
fschiro
Frequent Visitor
6 years ago

Nathaniel_C
Is there any documentation on this?
Can I create data that utilizes this? Meaning, can I create a column that contains subvalues which I can reference with dot?

Nathaniel_C's avatar
Nathaniel_C
Community Champion
6 years ago

Hi fschiro , 

I just came across this blog. At the end he says, " 

An afterthought

Also, please keep in mind that the dot symbol in List.Generate does not have the same meaning as in other languages either. There are no object methods in M, and there are no namespaces, so the dot is just another character without any special meaning. It could have been a dash or an underscore - it wouldn't have mattered."

 

So unlike other languages he says it doesn't mean anything. If you find different, let us know. 

 

If this solves your issues, please mark it as the solution, so that others can find it easily. Kudos are nice too.
Nathaniel

https://potyarkin.ml/posts/2017/loops-in-power-query-m-language/