How to identify reports with Implicit Measures In Power BI
- Klaus Folz
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Introduction
Implicit measures in Power BI are automatic aggregations (such as Sum, Average, Min, Max, or Count) that Power BI creates when you drag a numeric column directly into a visual, an example of implicit measure is shown in the image below. They are easy to use and helpful at first, but they create problems later on:
Not reusable like explicit measures, they cannot be used across multiple visuals.
Very limited DAX, because you can only use basic aggregations.
They are hard to maintain, if the logic changes for example, you must update every visual manually.
If you want to create documentation and include implicit measures there, thank you but no thank you.
The Problem
In real production reports, especially large ones, implicit measures should usually be replaced with explicit measures (created in a table using DAX). The problem is: Power BI does not make implicit measures easy to find. That is why this post shows two ways to identify them:
Method 1: Manual search using PBIR format and Visual Studio Code.
Method 2: Automatic detection using Measure Killer (recommended).
Method 1: Using the PBIR format and a text editor
First, enable these two preview features in Power BI Desktop:
Power BI Project (.pbip) save option.
Store reports using enhanced metadata format (PBIR).
Then:
Save your report as a .pbip project.
Open the project folder in Visual Studio Code (or another editor).
Press CTRL + SHIFT + F to search across all files.
Search for the word: "Aggregation" as shown below.
Pros
No additional software required.
Cons
Manual and time consuming, not possible to do at scale
Hard to interpret the JSON files and which visual they define.
You must convert reports to .pbip and PBIR first.
Not practical for many reports.
Note: You can also do this with the older .pbix format, but it requires manually renaming the file to .zip, extracting it, and locating the report layout file inside the report folder. This is more complex, so this approach is not covered in this post.
Method 2: Using Measure Killer (Free Version)
Measure Killer can automatically detect visuals that use implicit measures in both PBIX and PBIP/PBIR formats, in all modes, including for several reports simultaneously in the Shared Model Offline and Online modes. This is how you do it:
Run the analysis in Measure Killer in any mode (Also works in Tenant Analysis).
Click Report Best Practices in the top right toolbar (In Tenant Analysis right click on the report then select "Best practices").
Find the rule: "Avoid using implicit measures in visuals"
Expand it to see all affected visuals.
(Optional) Right click on the visual level and select "Locate visual on page" to find it's position directly in the report.
The images below show how to analyze, open the Report Best Practices window and find the visuals using implicit measures.
Pros
Very fast.
No manual file editing.
Easy to understand.
Works with PBIX and PBIP/PBIR.
Can analyze multiple reports at once.
Feature available in free version.
Cons
You need to install Measure Killer.
As an add-on, if you want to do this at scale in the Power BI Service, you can run this for all your Power BI reports in your workspace (or even whole tenant) with the paid version of Measure Killer, request a free trial here.
Conclusion
If you cannot install tools, your only option is Method 1 using PBIR files and a text editor. However, if you can install external software, Method 2 with Measure Killer is clearly the best choice. It is faster, more reliable and works at scale across many reports and for .pbip/.pbir and .pbix formats.
You can download Measure Killer for free here.