Perspective and culture properties
Note
This page was created with the help of AI.
This page covers the properties of perspectives and cultures. For properties that most objects share, see Common properties.
To add or remove perspectives and cultures, use the Perspectives and Cultures collections on the model (see @object-properties-model), or right-click the Perspectives or Translations folder in the TOM Explorer. Tabular Editor 2 uses the same folder names. See Perspectives and Translations. To create and change perspectives and cultures with a C# script, see How to Work with Perspectives and Translations.
Perspective
A perspective is a named subset of the model: a selection of tables, columns, measures and hierarchies for a group of users. For example, a Sales perspective shows only the objects that the sales team needs. In client tools that support perspectives, such as Excel, users pick a perspective and see only the objects in it. Power BI report authors can't pick a perspective in the field list, but you can use one when you connect to the model through the XMLA endpoint or in a personalized visual.
In the Power BI service, you connect to a perspective through the XMLA endpoint by adding Cube=<perspective name> to the connection string. That only changes which objects the schema information lists, and DAX queries can still use every table and measure in the model.
Note
Perspectives don't restrict access. A user can query every object in the model, whichever perspective they use. To restrict access, use Roles and Row-Level Security.
A perspective has no properties of its own beyond the common ones. You choose which objects it contains on the objects themselves, with InPerspective (see Shown in Perspective), or, in Tabular Editor 3, for many objects at once in the Perspective Editor.
The Best Practice Analyzer (BPA) rule Perspectives Should Contain Objects flags perspectives that contain no tables, and Translate Perspective Names for All Cultures flags perspectives whose name isn't translated in every culture.
Common properties
- Name
- Description
- Annotations
- Extended Properties
- Object Type
- Translated Names
- Translated Descriptions
Culture
A culture holds the translations of the model for one language: the translated names, descriptions and display folders of its objects, and the linguistic metadata for that language. Client tools show the culture that matches the user's language settings, and the untranslated names when no culture matches.
The Name of a culture is the culture code, for example da-DK or fr-FR. It must be a valid culture name, and each culture can only appear once in the model. In Tabular Editor 3, the Properties view labels it Language and lists the cultures to pick from.
Translations are edited on each object, with TranslatedNames, TranslatedDescriptions and TranslatedDisplayFolders, or, in Tabular Editor 3, for many objects at once in the Metadata Translation Editor. To exchange translations with translators, see Import/Export Translations.
The translation statistics properties show how much of the model is translated in this culture, for each type of object. Tabular Editor computes them, and they aren't stored in the model. Each value has the form 12 of 40, the number of translations out of the total number of objects of that type in the model, hidden objects included. For names, a translation only counts when it isn't empty and differs from the object's untranslated name. To find the objects that are missing a translation, use the BPA rules Translate Visible Object Names for All Cultures, Translate Descriptions for All Cultures and Translate Display Folders for All Cultures.
Common properties
Altered
Altered · bool (empty when mixed) · Basic · compatibility level 1571+ · shortcut to the Altered flag of every translation in the culture
Each translation in a culture carries an altered flag in the Tabular Object Model (TOM), which translation tools use to mark translations that a person has reviewed or changed. This property sums up the flags of all translations in the culture:
true: every translation has the flag setfalse: no translation has the flag set- empty: some translations have it and some don't
Set it to true or false to set or clear the flag on every translation in the culture at once. The Properties view shows this property at compatibility level 1571 and higher.
Warning
You can't undo a change to Altered.
The flag isn't saved in model files. Microsoft's TOM library doesn't write it to Tabular Model Scripting Language (TMSL), which covers .bim files, folders in the JSON format and deployment scripts, or to Tabular Model Definition Language (TMDL). The flag is lost when you save the model to a file and open it again.
When you set the flag through a live connection to a server, the server keeps it. On SQL Server 2025 Analysis Services, it survives a reconnect and shows in the TMSCHEMA_OBJECT_TRANSLATIONS DMV. A TMSL script generated from that server still leaves it out, so the flag is lost as soon as the model is saved to a file or deployed from one.
Content
Content · string · Linguistic Metadata · compatibility level 1465+
The linguistic schema of the culture: the natural-language metadata that Power BI Q&A used before it was retired. It contains the synonyms for tables, columns and measures, and phrasings that describe how objects relate, for example that customers buy products. The Synonyms property on each object reads and writes the synonyms stored here.
The content is a large JSON or XML document, depending on ContentType, and Power BI Desktop maintains it. The Properties view shows this property at compatibility level 1465 and higher.
In Tabular Editor 3, select ... on the property to edit the content in a multi-line text editor. Tabular Editor doesn't validate the document, and it sets ContentType from the first character: content that starts with { is JSON, anything else is XML. Clearing the content removes the linguistic metadata from the culture. Tabular Editor reads and writes Synonyms only from JSON content.
Content Type
ContentType · ContentType · Linguistic Metadata · read-only · compatibility level 1465+
The format of Content, Json for models created by Power BI or Xml for the older format. It's empty when the culture has no linguistic metadata. Tabular Editor sets it when you edit Content. The Properties view shows this property at compatibility level 1465 and higher.
Translated Table Names
StatsTableCaptions · string · Translation Statistics · read-only · computed
How many table names are translated.
Translated Column Names
StatsColumnCaptions · string · Translation Statistics · read-only · computed
How many column names are translated.
Translated Column Folders
StatsColumnDisplayFolders · string · Translation Statistics · read-only · computed
How many column display folders are translated. The total is the number of columns in the model, including columns that have no display folder, so the first number is usually lower than the second, even when every display folder is translated.
Translated Measure Names
StatsMeasureCaptions · string · Translation Statistics · read-only · computed
How many measure names are translated.
Translated Measure Folders
StatsMeasureDisplayFolders · string · Translation Statistics · read-only · computed
How many measure display folders are translated. The total is the number of measures in the model, including measures that have no display folder.
Translated Hierarchy Names
StatsHierarchyCaptions · string · Translation Statistics · read-only · computed
How many hierarchy names are translated.
Translated Hierarchy Folders
StatsHierarchyDisplayFolders · string · Translation Statistics · read-only · computed
How many hierarchy display folders are translated. The total is the number of hierarchies in the model, including hierarchies that have no display folder.
Translated Level Names
StatsLevelCaptions · string · Translation Statistics · read-only · computed
How many hierarchy level names are translated. The BPA rule Translate Hierarchy Level Names for All Cultures flags the levels of visible hierarchies that have no translated name.