pbiplintRules / DAX Expressions
Column references should be fully qualified
What it checks
Measures and row-level security filters that refer to a column by its bare name, [Column], instead of 'Table'[Column].
Why it matters
In DAX a bare [Name] is the convention for a measure. A column written the same way reads as a measure to everyone who maintains the model, and the two behave differently in a row context, so the expression is misread before it is ever debugged. The bare form also breaks when the column moves to another table, or when a measure with the same name is added and the engine binds to that instead.
How to fix it
Write 'Table'[Column] for every column reference. The formula bar in Power BI Desktop completes the qualified form when you start typing the table name.
Quirks
- Calculation items are in the rule's scope but never fire, because Tabular Editor does not resolve bare column references inside calculation items and pbiplint matches that.
- A bare name that matches any measure in the model is treated as a measure reference, so a column that shares its name with a measure is never flagged.
- References are found by pattern matching, so a
[Column]inside a string or a comment counts.