Question

How to cast a date slicer’s selection to filter another unrelated table in Power BI?

When using a date slicer in Power BI, I want to apply the slicer’s selection to filter an unrelated table dynamically. How can I make sure that the slicer influences the data in an indirect table without creating explicit relationships, reflecting the user's context and improving the overall reporting experience?

Answer 1

In Power BI, you can apply a date slicer's selection to filter an unrelated table without explicitly establishing relationships by simulating the impact of a relationship between the slicer and the unrelated table using DAX measures and TREATAS.

Steps: Use TREATAS to create a DAX Measure that applies the slicer's context to the unrelated table.

For instance:

Filtered Measure = 
CALCULATE(
    SUM('UnrelatedTable'[Value]), 
    TREATAS(VALUES('DateTable'[Date]), 'UnrelatedTable'[Date])
)

This example uses the TREATAS function to "simulate" a relationship between the unrelated table (UnrelatedTable[Date]) and the date column in the slicer (DateTable[Date]), filtering the unrelated table using the slicer's context.

To the visual, add the measure:

Any visual connected to the irrelevant table should use the measure. The date selection will now determine how the slicer affects this image.

Make sure the slicer is linked correctly:

The DateTable or any other date-related column should serve as the foundation for the slicer. Applying the slicer's context to the unrelated table is handled by the TREATAS function.