Power Pivot Principles: The A to Z of DAX Functions – INT

In our long-established Power Pivot Principles articles, we continue our series on the A to Z of Data Analysis eXpression (DAX) functions.  This week, we look at INT.

The INT function

The INT function is a function that rounds a number down to the nearest integer.  This function is particularly useful when you need to work with whole-number logic, such as categorising values, stripping time from datetime stamps or preparing numeric inputs for lookup.  It operates using the following syntax:

There is one [1] main argument in this function (excluding numbering):

• number: this argument is the number you want to round down to the highest (lower) integer.

Here are a few remarks about the INT function:

• TRUNC and INT are similar in that both return integers.  TRUNC removes the fractional part of the number.  INT rounds numbers down to the nearest integer based on the value of the fractional part of the number
• INT and TRUNC are different only when using negative numbers: TRUNC(-4.3) returns -4, but INT(-4.3) returns -5 because -5 is the lower number.

For instance, if you want to see how INT handles 12.5, you can create a straightforward measure:

This will return a single-row table showing:

This shows that INT(12.5) simply truncates the decimal 0.5, resulting in 12.

As we mentioned in the Remarks, a common point of confusion arises when using the INT function with negative decimal numbers.  Let’s evaluate how INT works with the number -12.5:

This will return a single-row table showing:

The INT function removes the decimal part by rounding down to the nearest whole number, even for negative numbers.

So instead of returning -12, INT(-12.5) rounds down to -13.  If you get confused, just think of the following number line:

 Come back next week for our next post on Power Pivot in the Blog section.  In the meantime, please remember we have training in Power Pivot which you can find out more about here.  If you wish to catch up on past articles in the meantime, you can find all of our Past Power Pivot blogs here.