Analyze DirectQuery requests using DAX Studio

This article describes how DAX Studio can analyze the SQL queries sent to a relational database by Power BI or Analysis Services Tabular in DirectQuery mode.

The recent release of DAX Studio 2.5 introduced a new feature to analyze MDX and DAX queries running in DirectQuery mode on a Power BI or an Analysis Services (SSAS) Tabular model. From an architectural point of view, you can imagine DirectQuery as an alternative storage engine to VertiPaq (which uses an in-memory compressed columnar store). When you use a model in DirectQuery mode, the formula engine sends requests to the storage engine in forms of SQL queries. You can capture them using SQL Profiler, but in order to analyze a specific MDX or DAX query, having the query captured in DAX Studio makes your life easier.

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