How to write SQL in DAX? - sql

Question

I trying to write the following SQL code in DAX.
select SUM(amount) from TABLE
where BusinessDate = '2023-02-11'
OR (Segment = 'General' and Days_Without_Payments < 210)
OR (Segment = 'Enterprise' and Days_Without_Payments < 1215)
OR (Segment = 'House' and Days_Without_Payments < 1945)
I got the first part(i-e. SUM) right, but can't get my head around the filters.
What I tried:
Measure = CALCULATE([Total Outstanding],
FILTER(VALUES(BILBL_WO[Date]),BILBL_WO[Date]=MAX(BILBL_WO[Date])),
AND(BILBL_WO[Days_Without_Payments] < 210, BILBL_WO[Segment] = "General") ||
AND(BILBL_WO[Days_Without_Payments] < 1215, BILBL_WO[Segment] = "Enterprise") ||
AND(BILBL_WO[Days_Without_Payments] < 1945, BILBL_WO[Segment] = "House")
)
Where Total Outstanding is another Measure which I created for summation of Amount.
Please help as I couldn't find something useful from internet and I am new at this. Thanks!

Answer 1

In general, when people start learning DAX, most think it is like SQL query, but that is not true because SQL is a structured query language. In contrast, DAX is a formula language used for analysis purposes similar to excel equations.
I will give you a few pointers on how to convert SQL to DAX in simple terms considering you have one table that you imported to Power BI or SSAS tabular model, which are as follow:
You need to segregate your query as follows:
Aggregation function in your example SUM (amount) in SQL query will be in DAX:
Total Outstanding = sum('BILBL_WO'[amount])
Where condition on a date column:
I usually create a date dimension and create a relation with the table that has the date column. You can do that when you go into more details relating to evaluation context in Power BI and Star schema architecture as a start, but in your case, if the column data type is a string, convert it to date type and then use the date column as a filter in the power bi report page, allowing the report users to select different dates, not just ‘2023-02-11'.
For your conditions on Segment and Days_Without_Payments, before converting it to DAX, I think your original query is missing Parenthesis. If I understand it correctly, please let me know if I am wrong.
select SUM(amount)
from TABLE
where BusinessDate = '2023-02-11'
and
(
(Segment = 'General' and Days_Without_Payments < 210)
OR
(Segment = 'Enterprise' and Days_Without_Payments < 1215)
OR
(Segment = 'House' and Days_Without_Payments < 1945)
)
Altered SQL script
If my above assumption is valid and you need to write a DAX measure with the Segment and Days_Without_Payments conditions, you can write it as follow:
Measure = CALCULATE([Total Outstanding] ,
KEEPFILTERS(
FILTER(
ALL(BILBL_WO[Segment] ,BILBL_WO[Days_Without_Payments]),
(BILBL_WO[Segment] = "General" && BILBL_WO[Days_Without_Payments] < 210)
||
(BILBL_WO[Segment] = "Enterprise" && BILBL_WO[Days_Without_Payments] < 1215)
||
(BILBL_WO[Segment] = "House" && BILBL_WO[Days_Without_Payments] < 1945))
)
)
And for more on how to filter DAX using multicolumn, see this YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQjYG6TJVp8 and follow the SQLBI channel. It will help you a lot.
I hope I helped in a way; if so, please mark this as an answer and vote for it :)