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Power BI: Use Switch over IF To Make Life Easier

 


The IF function in DAX is a very popular logical function.  It will perform a logical check on a value expression and produce a value of True or False.  Based on the resulting True or False you can then decide what value you want to be reported.  Your value can be a hardcoded string value or some other calculation.  When you only have two outcomes to choose from the IF statement is very straightforward.  But what if you have 3 or more outcomes.  Then you will need to use more than one IF statement.  Instead of reporting a value or calculation for your first false result, you will code in another IF statement to run.  The more outcomes you need the more IF statements you will use.  This can be tiring to code and hard to read.  Here is where the SWITCH function comes into play.

 

The SWITCH function allows for an easier-to-read function compared to nested IF statements. The SWITCH function can always be used in place of the IF function.  The basic workings of the SWITCH function are you decide what expression you want to be checked.  Then you decide what value to look for and what result you want to be returned.  If you have multiple values to check for and multiple results you can just string them along by using commas. 

 


The SWITCH function has to be tweaked to check for inequalities because the SWITCH function is set to only search for a unique match and NOT a range of values.  To work around this issue we will incorporate the TRUE() function.  Take a look at this video to see how to take your complex IF statements and translate them into easier SWITCH statements.


If you enjoy this blog or any of my other videos and are interested in formal training on Power BI, Power Apps, Azure, or other Microsoft products you can use my code "Matt20" at check out when purchasing any private training or On-Demand Learning classes from https://pragmaticworks.com/pricing/

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