Like a table, but able to lay values out in stepped form over several dimensions, total them automatically and drill down through hierarchies; a Power BI visual.
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In the Ultra Transcenders books
Each book explains Matrix in context, with comparison tables and the common traps.
Terms in this definition
- LIKE
Compares strings with a pattern that can contain the % and _ wildcards. Because it only understands character patterns, searching big volumes of text this way is much slower than using full-text search.
- Event
Table in Log Analytics where entries from Windows event logs are kept.
- VALUES
Returns in DAX the distinct column values, or table rows, still visible after filters are applied, sometimes with an extra blank entry. CALCULATE often takes the result as a table filter.
- OVER
Gives a T-SQL window function its window: PARTITION BY, ORDER BY and, if wanted, a ROWS or RANGE frame. Rankings and running totals can then be worked out while every row is kept.
- Drill down
Going from a summary to finer detail within a hierarchy, for instance from regional sales to city sales; drilling up reverses it. Power BI visuals and semantic models both support this.
- Custom visual
A chart or other visual added to Power BI from outside its built-in set, whether from AppSource, a company store or a .pbiviz file. Administrators can roll out visuals for everyone in the organisation or limit users to certified ones.
Related terms
- Artifact
A piece of architecture output that captures a single facet of the architecture, taking the form of a catalogue, a matrix or a diagram.
- Custom totals
Lets a table or matrix column total show something other than the default, such as an average, minimum, maximum, count, distinct count or no total, based on the rows shown; you pick Customize total calculation. Power BI builds this with a visual calculation and appends _Base to the source column's name.
- FIRST
A DAX function available only inside visual calculations. It fetches the value at the start of one axis of the visual's matrix, which makes it handy for comparing each point with the first; its opposite is LAST.
- Gap analysis
A way of checking an architecture by setting baseline building blocks against target ones in a matrix, revealing anything added, removed or left out by mistake.
- ISINSCOPE
Handy in matrix visuals, this DAX check returns TRUE if a given column is the grouping level being computed right now within a hierarchy, so each level can use its own logic.
- Shared management
An operating model from the Cloud Adoption Framework. Central platform teams supply the foundation and its products; workload teams then run themselves freely inside its guardrails. Suited to medium and large organisations, it relies on a responsibility matrix and agreed service levels between the groups.
- Show value as
Avoids writing a measure when a number in the Values well should appear as a percentage of the grand total; a matrix can also show it as a percentage of each row or column total.