Understanding the DAX studio navigation options
DAX Studio is loved by many attendees from our Power BI training in Australia because it gives users extra power to enrich their data model and quickly solve business problems with just a few lines of code. This blog presents a guide to get familiar with the Studio’s user interface.
If you’re a beginner and you’re looking for a step-by-step guide to get started with studio, then we recommend you to read the following blog before moving further:
Before exploring the navigation options, here’s a step-by-step guide to connect your Power BI model to DAX studio.
Connecting DAX studio with Power BI
It can be connected with Power BI using 2 methods:
Launching it directly from your system
To launch this directly from your system:
- Open DAX_Tools_And_Other_Resources_1.pbix…
- Click on the shortcut on desktop.
A pop-up menu appears.
- Select the check box at the left of PBI/SSDT Model.
- Select the Power BI file from drop down.
- Click Connect.
Launching from Power BI Desktop
To Launch It from Power BI desktop:
- Open DAX_Tools_And_Other_Resources_1.pbix…
- Click on External tools in the top ribbon.
- Click on DAX Studio.
Getting Started with DAX Studio
Its interface displaying query editor and metadata panel
Whatever method you use; you can start working with the database using its features accessible from the user interface once you open app.
Let’s walk through each of the panel:
Metadata Panel
Showing query editor with expanded metadata panel on left
In the Metadata panel, you can find all the tables, columns and DAX measures in your data model. If you have marked a table as Date Table, a specific clock icon appears on it. It’s always a good idea to disable the auto Date/time option in Power BI File.
To Disable Date/time option:
- Click on File.
- Click on Options and Settings > Options.
- Click on Data Load.
- Disable the check box next to Auto Date/Time.
- Click ok.
DAX Studio data load settings with auto date intelligence option highlighted
If Date/time is not disabled, DAX Studio will also show all the local date tables created automatically by Power BI.
The Ribbon
You can access all the features of it Studio through the ribbon. Here is the preview of its most important options.
Home Tab:
The functions for each of the buttons are:
- Executes the query.
- Clears the cache for the current database.
- Output target to specify where you want to send the query results.
- Displays a drag and drop query builder.
- Uses com to provide a nicely formatted query.
- Imports performance data from Power BI Performance Analyzer.
- Shows the connection to the Power BI Desktop file.
- Use to refresh the metadata manually.
Advanced Tab:
The functions for each of the buttons are:
- Display information and matrices about your model.
- Exports data to CSV files or SQL Server tables.
- Launch an Excel file connected to the current data source.
Help Tab:
This tab is mainly about general info and help.
The Query Pane:
This is the query pane where you write, edit, format and view your queries.
Output, results and history pane
This pane has three tabs:
Output:
This tab shows the general information on query run time.
Results:
Results tab gives the output of the query.
Query History:
The Query History tab keeps a log of currently executed queries.
Advanced Scenarios with DAX Studio:
Now that you have gained a basic knowledge of DAX studio’s navigation pane, you’re good to get your hands on some advanced scenarios:
Conclusion:
DAX studio is a power full query building tool. It helps you to write, analyze and optimize your queries. It is one of the external tools which can be connected to your Power BI desktop and help you build queries in it’s user interface. This blog presents a guide for connecting your Power BI desktop model with studio and understanding its navigation pane.
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