Hierarchies in Tables when using Direct Lake mode

[venkatasuresh_g]

Hi 

  I  built a semantic model in fabric on Data Lake, I have a date table for which I was expecting to see Date hierarchy but I don't see one and I don't have an option to add hierarchy in on the table , is this not possible ? 

Thanks 

Suresh 

[joakimfenno]

I have the same issue
even thought I mark the table as date table it does not behave as one
Is the solution to avoid direkt lake storage? what is the suggested solution if you want to have another storage mode for specific table?

van you even mix storage modes (I read that direkt lake is a all or nothing for a semantic model)

[GilbertQ · Accepted solution]

Hi @venkatasuresh_g 

As mentioned hierarchies are not currently supported in DirectLake

[rodrigues_cleit]

Hello, 

Not sure if you guys managed to solve the issue with the Hierarchy.
After spending some time trying I found a solution:

First I created a DimDate table and populated it using a stored procedure in my Fabric Warehouse:
(This DimDate table is to attend my needs, you may need something much simpler)

DimDate Table:

-- Drop and recreate table

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS dbo.DimDate;

CREATE TABLE dbo.DimDate

(

    DateKey                INT NOT NULL,

    Date                   DATE,

    Day                    SMALLINT,

    DayName               VARCHAR(10),    

    DayShortName          CHAR(3),

    DayOfWeek             SMALLINT,

    DayOfWeekInMonth      SMALLINT,

    DayOfYear             SMALLINT,

    WeekOfYear            SMALLINT,

    WeekOfMonth           SMALLINT,

    Month                  SMALLINT,

    MonthName             VARCHAR(10),

    MonthShortName        CHAR(3),

    Quarter               SMALLINT,

    QuarterName           VARCHAR(6),

    Year                   INT,

    YearMonth             INT,

    IsWeekend             BIT,

    IsHolidayJp           BIT,

    IsHolidayId           BIT,

    FiscalDay             INT,

    FiscalMonth           INT,

    FiscalQuarter         INT,

    FiscalYear            INT,

    IsCutOff              BIT,

    CutOffDate            DATE,

    CutOffDay             SMALLINT,

-- Columns for CutOffDate hierarchy

    CutOffYear            INT,

    CutOffMonth           SMALLINT,

    CutOffMonthName       VARCHAR(10),

    CutOffQuarter         SMALLINT,

    CutOffQuarterName     VARCHAR(6),

    CutOffYearMonth       INT

);

The you create and run the Stored Procedure: (you can reduce the range of dates, otherwise it will take around 25 min to complete running the query). * The holiday attributes you can update separatelly as you wish.

CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE GenerateDates

AS

BEGIN

    DECLARE @StartDate DATE = '2024-01-01';

    DECLARE @EndDate DATE = '2032-12-31';

    DECLARE @CurrentDate DATE = @StartDate;

    DECLARE @CutOffDate DATE;

    WHILE @CurrentDate <= @EndDate

    BEGIN

        -- Calculate CutOffDate

        SET @CutOffDate = CASE DATENAME(WEEKDAY, @CurrentDate)

                            WHEN 'Friday' THEN @CurrentDate

                            WHEN 'Saturday' THEN DATEADD(DAY, 6, @CurrentDate)

                            WHEN 'Sunday' THEN DATEADD(DAY, 5, @CurrentDate)

                            WHEN 'Monday' THEN DATEADD(DAY, 4, @CurrentDate)

                            WHEN 'Tuesday' THEN DATEADD(DAY, 3, @CurrentDate)

                            WHEN 'Wednesday' THEN DATEADD(DAY, 2, @CurrentDate)

                            WHEN 'Thursday' THEN DATEADD(DAY, 1, @CurrentDate)

                         END;

        -- Check if date already exists before inserting

        IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM dbo.DimDate WHERE Date = @CurrentDate)

        BEGIN

            INSERT INTO dbo.DimDate (

                DateKey, Date, Day, DayName, DayShortName, DayOfWeek,

                DayOfWeekInMonth, DayOfYear, WeekOfYear, WeekOfMonth,

                Month, MonthName, MonthShortName, Quarter, QuarterName,

                Year, YearMonth, IsWeekend, IsHolidayJp, IsHolidayId,

                FiscalDay, FiscalMonth, FiscalQuarter, FiscalYear, IsCutOff,

                CutOffDate, CutOffDay, CutOffYear, CutOffMonth, CutOffMonthName,

                CutOffQuarter, CutOffQuarterName, CutOffYearMonth

            )

            VALUES (

                CAST(YEAR(@CurrentDate)*10000 + MONTH(@CurrentDate)*100 + DAY(@CurrentDate) AS INT),

                @CurrentDate,

                DAY(@CurrentDate),

                DATENAME(WEEKDAY, @CurrentDate),

                LEFT(DATENAME(WEEKDAY, @CurrentDate), 3),

                CASE DATENAME(WEEKDAY, @CurrentDate)

                    WHEN 'Saturday' THEN 1

                    WHEN 'Sunday' THEN 2

                    WHEN 'Monday' THEN 3

                    WHEN 'Tuesday' THEN 4

                    WHEN 'Wednesday' THEN 5

                    WHEN 'Thursday' THEN 6

                    WHEN 'Friday' THEN 7

                END,

                DATEPART(DAY, @CurrentDate),

                DATEPART(DAYOFYEAR, @CurrentDate),

                DATEPART(WEEK, @CurrentDate),

                DATEPART(WEEK, @CurrentDate) - DATEPART(WEEK, DATEADD(DAY, 1-DAY(@CurrentDate), @CurrentDate)) + 1,

                MONTH(@CurrentDate),

                DATENAME(MONTH, @CurrentDate),

                LEFT(DATENAME(MONTH, @CurrentDate), 3),

                DATEPART(QUARTER, @CurrentDate),

                'Q' + CAST(DATEPART(QUARTER, @CurrentDate) AS VARCHAR(1)),

                YEAR(@CurrentDate),

                YEAR(@CurrentDate) * 100 + MONTH(@CurrentDate),

                IIF(DATENAME(WEEKDAY, @CurrentDate) IN ('Saturday', 'Sunday'), 1, 0),

                0,

                0,

                DATEPART(DAY, @CurrentDate),

                CASE WHEN MONTH(@CurrentDate) >= 7 THEN MONTH(@CurrentDate) - 6 ELSE MONTH(@CurrentDate) + 6 END,

                CASE WHEN MONTH(@CurrentDate) >= 7 THEN CEILING((MONTH(@CurrentDate) - 6) / 3.0) ELSE CEILING((MONTH(@CurrentDate) + 6) / 3.0) END,

                CASE WHEN MONTH(@CurrentDate) >= 7 THEN YEAR(@CurrentDate) + 1 ELSE YEAR(@CurrentDate) END,

                IIF(DATENAME(WEEKDAY, @CurrentDate) = 'Friday', 1, 0),

                @CutOffDate,

                DAY(@CutOffDate),

                -- CutOffDate hierarchy columns

                YEAR(@CutOffDate),

                MONTH(@CutOffDate),

                DATENAME(MONTH, @CutOffDate),

                DATEPART(QUARTER, @CutOffDate),

                'Q' + CAST(DATEPART(QUARTER, @CutOffDate) AS VARCHAR(1)),

                YEAR(@CutOffDate) * 100 + MONTH(@CutOffDate)

            );

        END;

        SET @CurrentDate = DATEADD(DAY, 1, @CurrentDate);

    END;

END;

-- Execute the procedure

EXEC GenerateDates;

Once the above is done, you need to do some setups in the semantic Model view:

1 - Refresh your Semantic Model

2 - Right click on your DimDate Table and select "Make as Date Table"

3 - Toggle the button "On" and select "Date", Fabric has a bug that allows you to selec attributes with repeated values, but if you choose it the date Table won't work correctly, you need to choose an attribubute with unique values, so choose "Date".

4 - Create a Hyerarchy for CutOffDate:

5 - Set the correct attributes to your hierarchy

 6 - In order to solve the sorting problem for Alphabetic attributes such month and quarters, you need to do the following:

For each alphabetic attribute (CutOffMonthName and CutOffQuarterName) you need to choose in Sort by column the corespondent numeric attribute CutOffMonthName = CutOffMonth.

Once the above is done, you are good to go to your powerbi report:

First, refresh you report;
Second, drag and drop the CutOffDate Hierarchy to you X-Axis of you chart (In case of Vertical Bar Chart):
As you will see below, the hierarchy is built automatically.

Then, you can drill your visual char as you want:

HOPE THE ABOVE COULD HELP SOME OF YOU THAT COULDN'T FIGURE OUT THIS DIRECTLAKE LIMITATION.

[venkatasuresh_g]

Hi @GilbertQ  , Thanks for your response , When I drag year and Quarter to Y Axis it does show Hierarchy but the problem is at Quarter level it does merge Querter from all years together 

Data I have 

Visual 

Formatting in Visualization 

you can see Q1 it added 2023 and 2024 together 

[GilbertQ]

Hi @venkatasuresh_g 

Could you make sure that the Year column default setting is set to None and not to SUM?

[venkatasuresh_g]

Hi @GilbertQ ,

   Year column is already set to null as shown in below image 

It seems Microsoft just added Hierarchy option in Semantic model. I did not see that this morning but I see it now. 

 When I drill down from year to QTR it works fine as I did drill in to one year , when I drill in to next level using double down arrow , that is when QTR is being grouped. 

Thanks 

Suresh 

[Anonymous]

Thanks @GilbertQ solution

Hi,  @venkatasuresh_g 

Have you solved your problem? If so, can you share your solution here and mark the correct answer as a standard answer to help other members find it faster? Thank you very much for your kind cooperation!

Best Regards

Jianpeng Li

[venkatasuresh_g]

Hi 

    The issue was not resolved as I mentioned in my previous response 

Suresh 

[GilbertQ]

Hi @venkatasuresh_g 

Unfortunately, it is not possible to create hierarchies and use them in direct lake mode as an alternative, you can drag in the individual fields which will then automatically create the hierarchy for you.