Recycling Date Tables

Hi learning_dax ,

The standard methodology is to make one Date Dimension that you reuse in all of your reports.  You can do this by creating a template with just the date dimension in it, or you could do another common method and put that query editor into notepad and then copy/paste it into the advanced editor.  This method means you never have to re-do or add any steps in each subsequent reprot.

You are correct though that you can't get "today" as today's date without a refresh of the data.  All the formula's inside the dimension, just like all of the data in a query, are only as current as the last refresh.

However, the common method for that is to publish the report and have the Service automatically update it for you.

There are lots and lots of Date Dimension examples on the internet (some DAX and some M).  Personally, I prefer the M method so that other people who don't know DAX can more easily configure the dimension in the future.  That said, since you asked for an example, here is one that you can start with:  https://epmstrategy.com/why-create-a-date-table-in-power-bi/