A measurement is the quantification of an attribute by comparison with a standard. The quantity measured is usually a number. The word measure is also used to describe the size of something, such as a room or an object.
A simple explicit measure in Power BI is created when you use an expression like the aggregation function Sum and filter on a field such as SalesAmount from the FactInternetSales table. Power BI also has quick measures that you can use for common calculations.
They are calculated in real time
A measurement is a comparison of an unknown quantity with a known quantity. It also involves an exchange of energy, which limits accuracy. Although there is no such thing as a universal unit of measurement, laws have been created to define common benchmarks for measurement. These include axioms of length, equivalence, and relativity.
The biggest difference between calculated columns and measures is that the value of a measure is evaluated at query time and uses memory and CPU. Calculated columns, on the other hand, are evaluated during data refresh and depend on the context of a report (e.g. slicers, rows and column selection in a pivot table, visual-, page-, and axes-level filters in a chart).
When you create a measure, it appears in the Fields list with a calculator icon next to it. Then, you can use it in your visualizations and reports. If you want to create a quick measure, use the dialog box in Report View or Data View to do so.
They are not stored in memory
Measures are evaluated at query time, so they don’t need to be stored in the database. This saves memory and disk space, especially for large datasets. They are also more flexible than a calculated column, which requires a table to store its values.
Explicit measures are most often used in the VALUES area of a PivotTable or PivotChart, but they can also be included in the ROWS or AXIS areas as well. They can be extended to become a KPI or formatted using one of the many strings available for numeric data.
In addition to a powerful data modeling capability, Measures eliminate problems like inconsistent formulas (Cut/Paste, Inserting/Deleting rows, cell formatting etc.). These issues usually go unnoticed until someone makes a bad decision based on them, potentially damaging the company business.
They are easy to create
Measures are a way to represent a calculation that can be used in visualizations. They are usually represented as a column in a table or on the y-axis of a bar chart. They are built from an expression consisting of aggregation functions and fields. These functions can be either standard, such as SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, or MAX, or custom.
When creating a new Measure, select the table where you want to add it from the Fields pane. This assures that the new measurement is created in the right table, where its value will be updated automatically in response to changes in the report context (rows, columns, and filters).
A measure can be implicit or explicit. Implicit measures use a standard aggregation function such as SUM or COUNT and are tightly coupled to the field on which they are based. Explicit measures can be added to PivotTables and PivotCharts, as well as Power View reports. Explicit measures can also be extended to create KPIs and formatted using the standard data formats for numeric values.
They are flexible
Measures are the units used to compare objects and phenomena. They are a cornerstone of trade, science and quantitative research across a broad range of disciplines. However, the process of measurement is complex. For example, nothing inherent in nature dictates that an inch is a certain length or that a mile is a specific distance. Rather, these standards arise from historical agreements. These agreements have evolved to create a set of standardized measurements, called the International System of Units (SI), which reduce all physical quantities to a combination of seven base units.
A measurement is a comparison of an unknown quantity with a known or standard quantity. This comparison is based on a number of principles, such as the axioms of measurement. The axioms of measurement include axioms of order, axioms of extension, axioms of difference, and axioms of conjointness. Moreover, they also include the axioms of error. There are several types of errors that can occur in the process of measurement, such as arithmetic and geometric.