Michael Kellett – Mym111

What is Tabular Editor?

Tabular Editor (TE) is a lightweight external tool that lets you peek under the hood of a Power BI data model and modify it in ways the standard Power BI Desktop interface can’t. In simple terms, it’s an editor for your Power BI semantic model – you can create or edit DAX measures, calculated columns, relationships, and more, all within an interface designed for efficiency. There are two versions: Tabular Editor 2 (free) and Tabular Editor 3 (paid). The free TE2 already supports plenty of tasks (writing DAX, batch renaming fields, using a deployment wizard, etc.), while the commercial TE3 adds advanced conveniences like a fancy DAX editor with IntelliSense and other premium features. No matter the version, Tabular Editor integrates with Power BI Desktop (appearing under the External Tools ribbon) and empowers you to do more than Power BI’s native UI allows.

Fast Bulk Edits and Measure Management

One of the primary benefits of Tabular Editor is speed and efficiency when making model changes. Instead of editing things one by one in Power BI (and waiting for each change to process), TE lets you make many changes at once and then apply them in a single save operation. This “offline” editing workflow is much faster, especially on large models, compared to Power BI’s always-synchronized mode. For example, you can duplicate several measures at once and tweak their formulas without the usual lag you’d face doing it inside Power BI. Only when you’re done do you hit Save in Tabular Editor, and all those changes get pushed to the Power BI model in one go.

Bulk editing capabilities are a huge time-saver. With Tabular Editor, you can multi-select or script changes across many objects simultaneously:

• Batch rename columns or measures: If you realize your fact table’s fields need more friendly names, you can rename dozens of columns in one operation. TE even supports using find-and-replace or regular expressions to update names in bulk. This beats renaming fields one by one in Desktop.
• Update multiple measures together: Need to add “Forecast” to 10 measure names or adjust all your profit-related measures to use a different calculation? You can do it in a single editing pane. For instance, duplicating a measure several times and editing each copy (e.g. creating variations of a Total Sales measure for different scenarios) is quick and doesn’t require waiting for Power BI to recalc after each edit.
• Hide or adjust many fields at once: Tabular Editor exposes all object properties in a uniform grid, so you can multi-select fields and set them all to hidden, or change their data type, formatting, etc., in one shot. This uniform property editing is much more convenient than clicking through each field’s options in Power BI.

Advanced users can even automate repetitive tasks using C# scripting in TE. For example, you might write a small script to add a standard prefix to all measure names or to create a set of measures from a template. This level of automation is not possible in Power BI alone, but Tabular Editor’s scripting opens up endless possibilities for customizing and managing your model efficiently.

Primary Use #1 – Write and Manage DAX Easily

Why: Power BI’s formula bar is cramped. TE3’s editor has auto-complete, formatting, and error checking.

Example:
Suppose you want a measure for Total Revenue. In TE3, create a new measure under the Sales table:

Total Revenue = SUM(Sales[Revenue])

• Start typing SUM( → TE3 suggests functions and fields.
• If you mistype Revnue, it underlines the error immediately.
• Hit F6 to auto-format and clean up your code.

Pro tip: You can open multiple measures in one window, edit them side-by-side, and use find/replace.
This is great if you need to create Total Profit, Total Cost, etc., with a similar formula.

Primary Use #2 – See Dependencies and Rename Safely

Why: Models get messy. TE3 shows you which measures depend on which others, so you don’t break things accidentally.

Example:

• You have a measure Total Sales.
• Another measure Sales Growth % is defined as:

Sales Growth % =
DIVIDE(
    [Total Sales] - [Sales LY],
    [Sales LY]
)

In TE3, right-click Sales Growth % → Show Dependencies.
You’ll see it depends on Total Sales and Sales LY.

Now, if you rename Total Sales to Sales Amount, TE3 automatically updates all dependent formulas.
In Power BI Desktop, renaming would break them, and you’d have to fix each one by hand.

Primary Use #3 – Create Calculation Groups (Time Intelligence)

Why: Instead of dozens of duplicate measures (Sales YTD, Sales MTD, Sales QTD, Profit YTD, etc.), you can create one reusable set of rules.

Example:

1. In TE3, right-click Tables → Create → Calculation Group. Name it Time Intelligence.
2. Add items:
   • MTD = CALCULATE(SELECTEDMEASURE(), DATESMTD(Date[Date]))
   • YTD = CALCULATE(SELECTEDMEASURE(), DATESYTD(Date[Date]))
   • PY = CALCULATE(SELECTEDMEASURE(), SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(Date[Date]))

Now, instead of separate measures for Sales YTD, Profit YTD, etc., you just keep your base measures (Total Sales, Total Profit) and let the Time Intelligence group apply the period logic dynamically.

On a report, drop Total Sales in a visual, add the Time Intelligence group on columns, and you’ll see Current, MTD, YTD, PY all at once.

When done editing in TE3:

• Click Save → changes are pushed back into your Power BI model.
• Switch back to Power BI Desktop, refresh visuals, and you’re ready to go.

Where to Learn More

• Tabular Editor Docs – detailed tutorials and scripts.
• Pricing – license info, with free trial available.
• Community blogs (SQLBI, Power BI community) – lots of ready-made scripts and examples.