Collie R. DAX Formulas for PowerPivot: A Simple Guide to the Excel Revolution

Holy Macro! Books, 2012. — 239 p. — ISBN: 1615470158, 9781615470150Microsoft PowerPivot is a free add-on to Excel from Microsoft that allows users to produce new kinds of reports and analyses that were simply impossible before, and this book is the first to tackle DAX formulas, the core capability of PowerPivot, from the perspective of the Excel audience.
Written by the world's foremost PowerPivot blogger and practitioner, the book's concepts and approach are introduced in a simple, step-by-step manner tailored to the learning style of Excel users everywhere.
The techniques presented allow users to produce, in hours or even minutes, results that formerly would have taken entire teams weeks or months to produce and include lessons on the difference between calculated columns and measures, how formulas can be reused across reports of completely different shapes, how to merge disjointed sets of data into unified reports, how to make certain columns in a pivot behave as if the pivot were filtered while other columns do not, and how to create time-intelligent calculations in pivot tables such as "Year over Year" and "Moving Averages" whether they use a standard, fiscal, or a complete custom calendar.
The "pattern-like" techniques and best practices contained in this book have been developed and refined over two years of onsite training with Excel users around the world, and the key lessons from those seminars costing thousands of dollars per day are now available to within the pages of this easy-to-follow guide.About the Author
A former Microsoft engineering leader, Rob Collie is an entrepreneur, author, and consultant who believes Excel is enjoying a renaissance in power and importance - a trend that provides massive opportunities for the millions of Excel practioners worldwide. His passion is empowering and the Excel Professional to seize those opportunities. When he's not training, consulting, or writing, Rob can be found in his laboratory, devising new tools and techniques for the Excel community. He also operates the world's leading PowerPivot website (PowerPivotPro.com) and occassionally sleeps.A Revolution Built on YOU
What Version of PowerPivot Should You Use?
Learning PowerPivot “The Excel Way”
Loading Data Into PowerPivot
Intro to Calculated Columns
Introduction to DAX Measures
The “Golden Rules” of DAX Measures
CALCULATE() – Your New Favorite Function
ALL() – The “Remove a Filter” Function
Thinking in Multiple Tables
“Intermission” – Taking Stock of Your New Powers
Disconnected Tables
Introducing the FILTER() Function, and Disconnected Tables Continued
Introduction to Time Intelligence
IF(), SWITCH(), BLANK(), and Other Conditional Fun
SUMX() and Other X (“Iterator”) Functions
Multiple Data Tables
Time Intelligence with Custom Calendars: Advanced Use of FILTER()
Performance: How to keep things running fast
Advanced Calculated Columns
The Final Transformation: One Click That Will Change Your Life Forever
Further Proof That the Game is Changing
So Much Power, So Little Space: Further Capabilities
Four Common Error Messages
People: The Most Powerful Feature of PowerPivot