If(ProductName like '*bike*', 'Bikes')

The like operator and string comparisons in Power BI

Qlik's like matches against a pattern with * (any characters) and ? (one character). DAX's closest equivalents are CONTAINSSTRING, which is case-insensitive and supports * and ?, and SEARCH. Power Query has no wildcard operator. Use Text.Contains, Text.StartsWith and Text.EndsWith, with a comparer to ignore case.

Partial / different approach DAX Power Query

Short answer: Translate x like '*bike*' to CONTAINSSTRING(x, "bike") in DAX or Text.Contains([x], "bike", Comparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) in M. For x like 'A*', use Text.StartsWith.

What it does in Qlik

string1 like string2 returns True (-1) if string1 matches the pattern, where * is any run of characters and ? is one character. For lists of patterns, use WildMatch.

Qlik example

Qlik script and chart

If(ProductName like '*bike*', 'Bikes', 'Other')
If(Code like 'A??-*', 'Type A')

Power BI equivalent

DAX

Group = IF ( CONTAINSSTRING ( T[ProductName], "bike" ), "Bikes", "Other" )
// like 'A??-*'  ->  anchor with LEFT / MID
Type A = IF ( LEFT ( T[Code], 1 ) = "A" && MID ( T[Code], 4, 1 ) = "-", "Type A" )

Power Query

Power Query M

= Table.AddColumn(Src, "Group", each
    if Text.Contains([ProductName], "bike", Comparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
    then "Bikes" else "Other", type text)
// like 'A??-*'; Text.Middle doesn't error on short codes, Text.At would
= Text.StartsWith([Code], "A", Comparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) and Text.Middle([Code], 3, 1) = "-"

Gotchas and behaviour differences

CONTAINSSTRING and SEARCH look for the pattern anywhere in the text. Qlik's like is anchored, so 'A*' means "starts with A". Add a LEFT or RIGHT check, or use Text.StartsWith in M, to anchor.
Power Query string functions are case-sensitive by default. Pass Comparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase as the last argument.

Official documentation

String operators (like) (Qlik Help)
CONTAINSSTRING function (DAX) (Microsoft Learn)
Text.Contains (Power Query M) (Microsoft Learn)
Text.StartsWith (Power Query M) (Microsoft Learn)

Match(Region, 'North', 'South') Match, MixMatch and WildMatch Match, MixMatch and WildMatch test a value against a list and return its position (or 0). They differ in case sensitivity and wildcard support, and so do DAX and Power Query, in the opposite direction from what you might expect. Partial / different approach If(cond, then, else) If and nested If Qlik's If() maps directly to DAX IF and to Power Query's if ... then ... else. Long nested Ifs are cleaner as SWITCH(TRUE(), ...). Qlik's numeric booleans (-1/0) are the main difference. Direct equivalent Mid(Code, Index(Code, '-') + 1) Left, Right, Mid, Index and Len DAX has the same 1-based functions: LEFT, RIGHT, MID, LEN, plus FIND or SEARCH in place of Index. In Power Query the functions are zero-based. Text.PositionOf returns -1 when nothing is found, where Qlik's Index returns 0, and Text.Middle starts at offset 0. Direct equivalent

Spotted an error or a better pattern? QlikToDax is maintained by a working BI consultant; corrections are welcome via the About page. Last reviewed 2026-10-25.