Sorting Day/Month/Year Column in Power BI

 Sorting Day/Month/Year Column in Power BI 

Problem:

When visualizing dates in Power BI or Excel, sorting them correctly can be a challenge, especially when you want to sort them by day within each month and across months. This becomes particularly tricky when filtering by year, as the sorting needs to consider both the day, month, and year components of the date.

Solution:

To address this sorting challenge, we can leverage a calculated column in Power BI or Excel that calculates a sorting value for each date. By assigning weights to the year, month, and day components of the date, we can ensure that the dates are sorted correctly in all scenarios.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Extract Day, Month, and Year Components:

• Extract the day component from the date.
• Extract the month component and multiply it by a significant weight.
• Extract the year component and multiply it by a weight if a specific year is selected.

Calculate Sorting Value:

• Combine the weighted components to create a sorting value for each date.
• Ensure that the sorting value prioritizes the year, then the month, and finally the day.

Example:

Consider a dataset with dates ranging across multiple years. When visualizing this data, we want the dates to be sorted correctly by day within each month and across months. Additionally, we want the flexibility to filter by year without disrupting the sorting order.

DAX Expression:

SortColumn = 

VAR DayNumber = DAY('DateTable'[Date])

VAR YearSuffix =

    IF(

        ISFILTERED('DateTable'[Year]),

        10000 * YEAR('DateTable'[Date]),

        0

    )

VAR MonthSort =

    100 * MONTH('DateTable'[Date])

RETURN

    (10000 * YearSuffix) + (100 * MonthSort) + DayNumber

DAX Explanation:

1. VAR DayNumber = DAY('DateTable'[Date]): This line extracts the day component from the [Date] column in the 'DateTable' table and assigns it to the variable DayNumber.
2. VAR YearSuffix = ...: This block calculates a suffix for the year component of the date. If the [Year] column in the 'DateTable' table is filtered (i.e., a specific year is selected), it multiplies the year by 10,000 to give it significant weight in the sorting operation. If no year is selected, it assigns 0 to YearSuffix.
3. VAR MonthSort = ...: This block calculates a value for each month that ensures they are sorted correctly. It multiplies the month by 100 to give it significant weight in the sorting operation.
4. RETURN ...: This block returns the final sorting value for each date. It sums up the sorting values for the year, month, and day components to create a unique sorting value for each date.

• (10000 * YearSuffix): This part ensures that the year has the highest weight in the sorting operation.
• (100 * MonthSort): This part ensures that the month has significant weight in the sorting operation but lower than the year.
• DayNumber: This part adds the day number as is.
  

This approach ensures that the dates are sorted by day first, then by month, and finally by year. It's useful for scenarios where you want the flexibility to filter by year but still maintain the correct sorting order within each month.

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