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Power BIbi_tool~10 mins

Why connecting to data sources is the first step in Power BI - Formula Trace Breakdown

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Sample Data

Sample sales data showing sales ID, product name, quantity sold, and price per unit.

CellValue
A1SalesID
B1Product
C1Quantity
D1Price
A2101
B2Apples
C210
D22
A3102
B3Bananas
C35
D31.5
A4103
B4Cherries
C420
D43
Formula Trace
Total Sales = SUMX(Sales, Sales[Quantity] * Sales[Price])
Step 1: Sales[Quantity] * Sales[Price]
Step 2: SUMX(Sales, [20, 7.5, 60])
Cell Reference Map
   A       B         C       D
1 SalesID Product  Quantity  Price
2  101    Apples      10       2
3  102    Bananas      5      1.5
4  103    Cherries    20       3

Arrows: Quantity and Price columns feed into the formula calculation.
The formula uses Quantity (column C) and Price (column D) from each row to calculate sales amount.
Result
   A       B         C       D         E
1 SalesID Product  Quantity  Price   Total Sales
2  101    Apples      10       2          
3  102    Bananas      5      1.5         
4  103    Cherries    20       3          
5                                      87.5
The total sales value 87.5 is calculated by multiplying quantity and price for each row and summing them up.
Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions
Test your understanding
Why do we need to connect to data sources first in Power BI?
ABecause Power BI can create reports without any data.
BBecause data sources provide the raw data needed for analysis.
CBecause connecting to data sources changes the data automatically.
DBecause data sources are only used for formatting visuals.
Key Result
SUMX iterates over each row in a table, performing row-wise calculations and then sums the results.