FIRSTNONBLANKVALUE DAX Function (Time Intelligence)  Context Transition

Returns the first non blank value of the expression that evaluated for the column.

Syntax

FIRSTNONBLANKVALUE ( <ColumnName>, <Expression> )
Parameter Attributes Description
ColumnName
Iterator

The source values.

Expression
Row Context

The expression to be evaluated for each value.

Return values

Scalar A single value of any type.

The first non-blank value of Expression iterating ColumnName in natural ascending order.

Notes

In order to use any time intelligence calculation, you need a well-formed date table. The Date table must satisfy the following requirements:

  • All dates need to be present for the years required. The Date table must always start on January 1 and end on December 31, including all the days in this range. If the report only references fiscal years, then the date table must include all the dates from the first to the last day of a fiscal year. For example, if the fiscal year 2008 starts on July 1, 2007, then the Date table must include all the days from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008.
  • There needs to be a column with a DateTime or Date data type containing unique values. This column is usually called Date. Even though the Date column is often used to define relationships with other tables, this is not required. Still, the Date column must contain unique values and should be referenced by the Mark as Date Table feature. In case the column also contains a time part, no time should be used – for example, the time should always be 12:00 am.
  • The Date table must be marked as a date table in the model, in case the relationship between the Date table and any other table is not based on the Date.
The result of time intelligence functions has the same data lineage as the date column or table provided as an argument.

Remarks

This function can cause performance and memory issues. Consider alternative calculations in DAX.

The Expression is evaluated in a filter context obtained by a context transition. Therefore, even though the function iterates a column, it doesn’t provide a row context.

The ColumnName argument can be any of the following:

  • A reference to a column. Only in this case a context transition applies because the column reference is replaced by
  • A table expression that returns a single column.
  • A Boolean expression that defines a single column.

Even though this function is commonly used for dates, it can be applied to a column of any data type.

The syntax:

FIRSTNONBLANKVALUE ( 
    <ColumnName>, 
    <Expression> 
)

corresponds to:

CALCULATE (
    <Expression>, 
    FIRSTNONBLANK ( 
        <ColumnName>, 
        CALCULATE ( <Expression> )
    )
)
» 2 related articles
» 3 related functions

Examples

--  FIRSTNONBLANKVALUE and LASTNONBLANKVALUE return the first and last 
--  non blank values in the selection.
EVALUATE
CALCULATETABLE ( 
    ADDCOLUMNS ( VALUES ( 'Date'[Date] ), "Sales Amount", [Sales Amount] ),
    'Date'[Date] >= DATE ( 2007, 2, 8 ) &&
    'Date'[Date] <= DATE ( 2007, 2, 15 ) 
)

EVALUATE
CALCULATETABLE ( 
    { FIRSTNONBLANKVALUE ( 'Date'[Date], [Sales Amount] ) },
    'Date'[Date] >= DATE ( 2007, 2, 8 ) &&
    'Date'[Date] <= DATE ( 2007, 2, 15 ) 
)

EVALUATE
CALCULATETABLE ( 
    { LASTNONBLANKVALUE ( 'Date'[Date], [Sales Amount] ) },
    'Date'[Date] >= DATE ( 2007, 2, 8 ) &&
    'Date'[Date] <= DATE ( 2007, 2, 15 ) 
)

Date Sales Amount
2007-02-08 (Blank)
2007-02-09 70,032.69
2007-02-10 27,487.70
2007-02-11 28,419.46
2007-02-12 64,176.29
2007-02-13 56,046.10
2007-02-14 26,612.37
2007-02-15 (Blank)
Value
70,032.69
Value
26,612.37

Related articles

Learn more about FIRSTNONBLANKVALUE in the following articles:

  • Semi-Additive Measures in DAX

    Values such as inventory and balance account, usually calculated from a snapshot table, require the use of semi-additive measures. In Multidimensional you have specific aggregation types, like LastChild and LastNonEmpty. In PowerPivot and Tabular you use DAX, which is flexible enough to implement any calculation, as described in this article. » Read more

  • Optimizing LASTNONBLANK and LASTNONBLANKVALUE calculations

    This article explains the behavior of LASTNONBLANK, LASTNONBLANKVALUE, and similar DAX functions, also providing patterns for performance optimization. » Read more

Related functions

Other related functions are:

Last update: Dec 6, 2024   » Contribute   » Show contributors

Contributors: Alberto Ferrari, Marco Russo, Kenneth Barber

Microsoft documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dax/firstnonblankvalue-function-dax

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Context Transition

This function performs a Context Transition if called in a Row Context. Click to read more.

Row Context

This expression is executed in a Row Context. Click to read more.

Iterator

Not recommended

The use of this function is not recommended. See Remarks and Related functions for alternatives.

Not recommended

The use of this parameter is not recommended.

Deprecated

This function is deprecated. Jump to the Alternatives section to see the function to use.

Volatile

A volatile function may return a different result every time you call it, even if you provide the same arguments. Click to read more.

Deprecated

This parameter is deprecated and its use is not recommended.

DirectQuery compatibility

Limitations are placed on DAX expressions allowed in measures and calculated columns.
The state below shows the DirectQuery compatibility of the DAX function.

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