Implicit and Explicit Measures in Power BI

1. Implicit and Explicit Measures in Power BI Power BI Tips and Timesavers https://www.bensound.com/ (energy) https://www.bensound.com/

2. What are the key differences between implicit and explicit measures in Power BI We will also explain the “Discourage Implicit Measures” feature and its significance

3. Understanding Implicit and Explicit Measures Implicit Measures What are Implicit measures in Power BI?Implicit measures are the measures that are automatically created in Power BI, for example when you drag a field into a visual and you see a list of options to aggregate

4. Important features of Implicit Measures Power BI creates these automatically, often correctly assuming the right type of aggregation you may want to use Options for aggregation cover the whole range of data ONLY, and include the basic options of sum, average, count and more Best for quickly drafting ideas and concepts, require no DAX knowledge and are easy for users to begin to use Limitations of Implicit Measures The range of aggregations are very limited to basic aggregations The limitations can lead to inconsistencies in more complicated models

5. Understanding Implicit and Explicit Measures Explicit Measures What is an explicit measure in Power BI? Explicit measures are where the report developer has used DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) to create a detailed measure value An example of an Explicit measure would be Total Impressions = sum('Sample GSC Data'[Impressions])

6. Important features of Explicit Measures These are not created automatically, the users write them using DAX formulas Options for aggregation are not limited to the standard options, now DAX language can be used to good effect to create powerful measures They take a little longer to do as there is the extra step of creating the measure fields, but once created they can be reused Advantages of Explicit Measures The reusability of the measures means that the measures can be consistently applied. Far more complex measures can be created, with filters, extra rules and so on. limited only by your DAX knowledge

7. Which should you use? Advanced, large reports Small, simple reports Consider using more explicit measuresor….Use the Discourage Implicit Measures setting  You can get away with using the implicit measuresThe limitations are unlikely to cause many issues

8. The 'Discourage Implicit Measures' feature Power BI has a setting which can help in the adoption of explicit measures to aid in the adoption of good practice"Why can I only use measures on a card?“ The setting had been enabled to discourage the use of implicit measures

9. How To enable the Discourage Implicit Measures feature Go to the model view Expand the properties and data panels on the right

10. How To enable the Discourage Implicit Measures feature In the data panel, click on semantic modelthen in the properties panel, check the discourage implicit measures option The aggregation options disappear

11. You have seen some examples of how explicit measures can be used to enforce better reporting disciplines across your reportsIn many organisations there are efforts made to centralise and standardise the business calculations, often these are documented rigorously and quality standards checked and enforced

12. For more Tips, Tricks and Timesaversvisit our blogBusiness Analytics Blog – Select DistinctCredit: simon.harrison@selectdistinct.co.uk