How to give variable values an alias?

[trijoco]

Hi, I've been tasked with modifying an old Power BI report and was wondering if there's a way to give the values of a variable a different name, or alias, to make them easier to understand.

Specifically, we have a JobStatus column in a table (https://imgur.com/a/npA0MQO) and I'm wanting to either change the possible values of the variable, or give them an alias as per https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/Aliases-for-values-in-a-column/td-p/92182 eg 0 -> Incomplete, 10 -> Processing, 20 -> Complete

I realise that there's no way you could know what my Power BI report looks like and where the JobStatus variable is, but any general guidance on how I might access it would be greatly appreciated. The desktop environment is a bit confusing and there's no obvious way to change anything from the sidebar that comes up (https://imgur.com/a/HnaKuAT)

Thank you.

[d_gosbell]

This is actually pretty easy. The best way to do this is to create a separate table (maybe called JobStatuses)

eg.

JobStatus	JobStatusDesc
0	Incomplete
10	Processing
20	Complete

Then create a many to 1 relationship between your existing JobStatus column and the JobStatus column in this new table

ExistingTable[JobStatus]  *  ---> 1   JobStatuses[JobStatus]

Then I would suggest hidding the existing [JobStatus] column and replacing anywhere that you used it with the new  JobStatuses[JobStatusDesc] column.

[trijoco]

Hi d_gosbell, thanks for the reply! Unfortunately I'm totally new to Power BI so I just wanted to confirm your instructions:

1. Create JobStatuses table using the 'Enter Data' option in desktop app and follow that through

2. Follow instructions in https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/desktop-create-and-manage-relationships to create a many to 1 relationship (I'm guessing the JobStatuses table just gives an alternate, worded value to JobStatus that is switched to)

3. Replace instances of JobStatus with JobStatusDesc

Again, I really appreciate the help, this seems easier than expected.

[d_gosbell · Accepted solution]

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@trijoco wrote:

Hi d_gosbell, thanks for the reply! Unfortunately I'm totally new to Power BI so I just wanted to confirm your instructions:

1. Create JobStatuses table using the 'Enter Data' option in desktop app and follow that through

2. Follow instructions in https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/desktop-create-and-manage-relationships to create a many to 1 relationship (I'm guessing the JobStatuses table just gives an alternate, worded value to JobStatus that is switched to)

3. Replace instances of JobStatus with JobStatusDesc

Again, I really appreciate the help, this seems easier than expected.

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Yes, that should be all you need to do.