Understand DAX Context in Power BI: CALCULATE, Filter Context & Row Context (Part 2)

Video by: Reid Havens

The single biggest concept separating DAX beginners from confident report builders is context. This interactive guide breaks down how Power BI evaluates every formula you write: what filter context is, how CALCULATE manipulates it, the difference between row context and filter context, how context transition bridges the two, and why iterator functions like SUMX create their own row context. If CALCULATE has ever confused you, start here.

Topics covered:

• The mental model shift: why DAX doesn't think like Excel

• Query context: how rows and columns shape evaluation

• Filter context: slicers, relationships, and implicit filters

• CALCULATE: overriding, replacing, and adding filter arguments

• Row context: calculated columns, iterators, and the current row

• Context transition: what happens when CALCULATE meets row context

• Iterator functions: SUMX, AVERAGEX, and row-by-row evaluation

RELATED CONTENT 🔗

DAX Context (Part 2)
Analytic Endeavors

[DAX] Lib - From Zero to Community Hero (with Jake Duddy)

LIVESTREAM DATE/TIME 📅

MAY 15TH 2026 (Pacific Time)

DESCRIPTION 📄

User-defined functions landed in DAX last September, and SQLBI launched DAXLib alongside them as a community repo for sharing libraries. There are already 30+ packages people can pull straight into their models. If you've built a UDF that made your own life easier, odds are someone else is working around the same problem.

This stream is about closing that gap. Jake Duddy joins me to walk through what it actually takes to turn a working UDF into a published DAXLib package that other people can install and use. Jake recently contributed EvaluationContext.Colour (a HEX manipulation library for SVG and conditional formatting work), so he's been through the workflow recently and has the bruises to show for it.

What we'll cover:

• DAXLib: what it is and why SQLBI built it

• Model-independent vs model-dependent functions, and which belong in a library

• Packaging a UDF for publication

• Submitting through GitHub

• What separates a useful contribution from noise

• Q&A throughout

GUEST BIO (Jake Duddy)👤

Jake Duddy is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and Power BI SME based in Birmingham, UK. He runs the Evaluation Context blog covering Power BI, Fabric, DAX, and SSAS, and speaks regularly at SQLBits, the Power BI & Fabric Summit, and the Microsoft Data Platform Group Birmingham. Links to DAXLib, Jake's blog, and his EvaluationContext.Colour library are in the comments. #PowerBI #DAX #MicrosoftFabric #DAXLib #UDF

RELATED CONTENT 🔗

DAX Lib
Jake's LinkedIn

Data Modeling vs DAX in Power BI: Solving Problems the Right Way (with Markus Ehrenmuller-Jensen)

LIVESTREAM DATE/TIME 📅

February 6th 2026 - 9:30AM (Pacific Time)

DESCRIPTION 📄

When should you solve a problem in the data model, and when should you solve it with DAX?

In this livestream, Markus Ehrenmuller-Jensen will walk through practical scenarios where you can take either route: modeling changes, DAX measures, or even report-level settings. Instead of “it depends,” you’ll see how to choose a clear, maintainable approach.

In this session, we discuss:

• How a solid data model can simplify or eliminate complex DAX

• When it actually makes sense to push logic into DAX instead of the model

• Typical patterns: role-playing dimensions, cascading filters, synced slicers, and more - Trade-offs around performance, maintainability, and usability

• How to think about long-term governance when mixing modeling and DAX solutions

Whether you’re a Power BI developer who loves writing measures or a data model purist, this session will help you decide where each piece of logic really belongs.

GUEST BIO 👤

​Markus Ehrenmuller-Jensen is the founder of Savory Data, with a career spanning project leadership, data engineering, and business intelligence architecture since 1994. He holds degrees in software engineering and business education and serves as a professor of databases and project engineering at HTL Leonding, a technical college. He is also certified in PL-300 (Power BI Data Analyst), DP-203 (Azure Data Engineer Associate Certification), DP-600 (Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate), and DP-700 (Fabric Data Engineer Associate).

Markus actively contributes to the global data community, speaking regularly at international conferences such as SQL Bits in London, Power BI Next Step in Copenhagen, Data Saturdays throughout Europe, and SQL Days. He co-founded SQL PASS Austria in 2013 and the Power Platform User Group Austria in 2016; both organizations merged in 2021 to form Data Community Austria. Since 2014, he has organized Data Community Austria Day in Vienna, fostering knowledge sharing among data professionals. In recognition of his technical leadership and community involvement, Markus has been honored as a Microsoft Data Platform Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 2017.​

In addition to his speaking engagements, Markus contributes articles to reputable journals and has authored the book "Data Modeling with Microsoft Power BI," published in June 2024.

RELATED CONTENT 🔗

Markus's Website
Markus on LinkedIn
Markus on Bluesky
Data Modeling with Power BI (O’Reilly)
Selection2List DAX Package
Markus's GitHub

Dynamic Matrix Columns in Power BI: Show/Hide Based on Row Hierarchy

Video by: Reid Havens

Ever wish your Power BI matrix could respond intelligently to what’s visible in the row hierarchy? In this video, I’ll show you how to create a dynamic matrix where column values, like department, title, or other employee attributes appear or disappear based on what’s selected in your row-level hierarchy.

We’ll combine a few clever modeling tricks to keep your matrix clean, relevant, and user-driven. Tune in to learn more!

RELATED CONTENT 🔗

Field Parameters in Power BI