Use FIRSTNONBLANK() with String and Date

[sananakbar56]

Hi all, I need help with using FIRSTNONBLANK() sorting a string column by date. Unfortunately, when I sort it by the string, it returns me the min(string) because A is lower than B and B lower than C so it will always sort alphabetically and give me first row by alphabet.

As shown below, for CustomerID  = 1, two products were returned (Apples and Bananas) on 1/2/2021 and 1/5/2021 respectively, it is showing me Apples as the FirstReturnProduct because alphabetically, it is lower than Bananas. However, we can see that Bananas was returned before Apples and I want to be showing Bananas in the FirstReturnProduct column for CustomerID = 1. 

The same applies for CustomerID = 2 where it displayes Oranges instead of Peaches as the FirstReturnProduct because O < P but I want to be showing peaches since it had an earlier Return Date. 

CustomerID	Purchase	TransactionType	TransactionDate	FirstReturnProduct
1	Bananas	NULL	1/1/2021	Apples
1	Bananas	Return	1/2/2021	Apples
1	Bananas	NULL	1/3/2021	Apples
1	Apples	NULL	1/4/2021	Apples
1	Apples	Return	1/5/2021	Apples
2	Peaches	NULL	1/6/2021	Oranges
2	Peaches	Return	1/7/2021	Oranges
2	Oranges	Return	1/8/2021	Oranges
2	Oranges	NULL	1/9/2021	Oranges
2	Oranges	NULL	1/10/2021	Oranges

Below is what I want to get

CustomerID	Purchase	TransactionType	TransactionDate	FirstReturnProduct
1	Bananas	NULL	1/1/2021	Bananas
1	Bananas	Return	1/2/2021	Bananas
1	Bananas	NULL	1/3/2021	Bananas
1	Apples	NULL	1/4/2021	Bananas
1	Apples	Return	1/5/2021	Bananas
2	Peaches	NULL	1/6/2021	Peaches
2	Peaches	Return	1/7/2021	Peaches
2	Oranges	Return	1/8/2021	Peaches
2	Oranges	NULL	1/9/2021	Peaches
2	Oranges	NULL	1/10/2021	Peaches

Any help would be appreciated. 

[colacan · Accepted solution]

Hi sanaankbar56,

I was very clear with your requirement and I have tested it as below.

from above table, the "FirstRetnFruit" is the measure for for it.

The code is as I showed at my previous answer.

Hope this helps you. Thanks

[sananakbar56]

It worked now. We were missing one filter. 

FirstReturnProduct =
           CALCULATE(

                      FIRSTNONBLANKVALUE(

                            Fruits[TransactionDate],

                            SELECTEDVALUE( fruits[Purchase] )

                      ),

                     ALLEXCEPT( Fruits, Fruits[CustomerID] ), Fruits[TransactipnType]  = "Return"

           )

Thanks a lot for your help. I have accepted this as solution. 

[sananakbar56]

Thankyou for responding. Yes, that brings me very close but I think this is not factoring in the Transaction Type column. Currently, it is taking the first product purchased by each customer and returning that. What I am looking for is the first time there was a Return flag (Transaction Type = Return ) for each customer. 

I think another dataset which represents this problem is below and the FirstReturnProduct Column is what I want. 

CustomerID	Purchase	TransactionType	TransactionDate	FirstReturnProduct
1	Melons	NULL	1/1/2021	Bananas
1	Bananas	Return	1/2/2021	Bananas
1	Bananas	NULL	1/3/2021	Bananas
1	Apples	NULL	1/4/2021	Bananas
1	Apples	Return	1/5/2021	Bananas
2	Avocado	NULL	1/6/2021	Peaches
2	Peaches	Return	1/7/2021	Peaches
2	Oranges	Return	1/8/2021	Peaches
2	Oranges	NULL	1/9/2021	Peaches

[colacan]

Hi sananakbar56,

Please try below code:

FirstReturnProduct =
           CALCULATE(

                      FIRSTNONBLANKVALUE(

                            Fruits[TransactionDate],

                            SELECTEDVALUE( fruits[Purchase] )

                      ),

                     ALLEXCEPT( Fruits, Fruits[CustomerID] )

           )

Hope this helps you. Thanks

[sananakbar56]

Thankyou for responding. Just to clarify it more, I am looking for cases where the Transaction Type is Return. For example, the earliest return for CustomerID = 1 was 1/2/2021 and the Product was Bananas which is then supposed to appear on the last column. I am looking to get the First Product Returned for each customer ID.