Power Query

Import data in Excel, Power Pivot, Power BI

Marco Russo, SQLBI marco@sqlbi.com
Alberto Ferrari, SQLBI alberto.ferrari@sqlbi.com

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Sponsors

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Agenda

What is Power Query

Connectors
Transformations
The M Language
Query Folding

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 WHAT IS POWER QUERY

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What is Power Query

Excel Add-In for Excel 2010 and Excel 2013

Free download
Features
Data Discovery
Data Transformation
Hidden features
Language M

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Power Query Elements

Connectors
Transformations (UI)
The M Language
Sharing Queries and Functions

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 CONNECTORS

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Connectors

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 TRANSFORMATIONS

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Transformations

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Combine Table Operations

Merge
Like a LEFT JOIN
Only include matching Rows
= INNER JOIN
Append
Like a UNION
Matches columns with the same name

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Reduce Filter Rows

Filters useful to import from reports

Remove Duplicates at column level
First value found on other columns

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Sort Order by

Applied to one column at a time

Every step in a query keeps data order
If undefined, sort order depends on data
source

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Transform

Data Type: type cast

Split Column: fixed length or separator
Unpivot: normalize N column in N rows

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Create Insert Columns

Merge Columns concatenate values with a

separator
Insert Index Column row number
Sum/Product sum or multiply by row

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Advanced Editor

A query is an expression written in M

language
Query text can be edited (and copied)

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 THE M LANGUAGE

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M

Functional language similar to F#

No real iterative statements
Lambda functions
Flexible, can be invoked dynamically
Expression.Evaluate()

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Expressions

An expression return a value

1 + 1 is an expression
1 + 1 is evaluated to 2 (returned value)
Values can be:
Primitive (numbers, Boolean, text)
Table, List, Record, Function (data and code!)

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Record

Defined between square brackets. Inline

fields, nesting is possible.
Evaluation of first record produces the
second record in the example.
[
Sales = [ FirstHalf = 1000, SecondHalf = 1100 ],
Total = Sales[FirstHalf] + Sales[SecondHalf]
]

[
Sales = [ FirstHalf = 1000, SecondHalf = 1100 ],
Total = 2100
]

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List

Use curly braces for both definition and

access.
[ Sales = {
[ Year = 2007,
FirstHalf = 1000,
SecondHalf = 1100,
Total = FirstHalf + SecondHalf // 2100 ],
[ FirstHalf = 1200,
SecondHalf = 1300,
Total = FirstHalf + SecondHalf // 2500 ]
},
TotalSales = Sales{0}[Total] + Sales{1}[Total] // 4600
]

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Positional Access

Curly braces access to position in a list (0-

based index).
Same access for a row in a table.
Customer{0} // First row in Customer
Customer{1} // Second row in Customer
Customer{0}[Name] // Value of Name column in first Customer

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Function

Syntax is lambda-expression
(x) => x + 1 // Add 1
(x, y) => x + y // Sum two values

[
Add = (x, y) => x + y,
OnePlusOne = Add(1, 1), // 2
OnePlusTwo = Add(1, 2) // 3
]

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Error Handling

Syntax try / otherwise.

let
Source = Excel.CurrentWorkbook(){[Name="Sales"]}[Content],
DuplicatedColumn = Table.DuplicateColumn(Source, "Value", "Copy of Value"),
RemovedColumns = Table.RemoveColumns(DuplicatedColumn,{"Copy of Value"}),
InsertedCustom = Table.AddColumn(RemovedColumns, "Custom",
each try Number.From( [Value] )
otherwise null ),
ChangedType = Table.TransformColumnTypes(InsertedCustom,
{{"Custom", type number}})
in
ChangedType

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let / in

Define a set of values (let) used in an

expression that will be evaluated later (in).
let Sales2007 = [ Year = 2007,
FirstHalf = 1000,
SecondHalf = 1100,
Total = FirstHalf + SecondHalf // 2100
],
Sales2008 = [ Year = 2008,
FirstHalf = 1200,
SecondHalf = 1300,
Total = FirstHalf + SecondHalf // 2500
]
in Sales2007[Total] + Sales2008[Total] // 4600

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Query Folding

Expression evaluation can be pushed to data

source
Only certain data sources
e.g. SQL Server, OData
Only certain operations
You can stop that:
Using Table.Buffer()
Combining different data sources
Writing explicit SQL queries

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Evaluations

Dont forget to compile evaluations form here

http://speakerscore.com/sqlsat454

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THANKS!

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