I have had the idea of power query self referencing tables in my head for over a year, and today was the day that I tested a few scenarios until I got a working solution. Let me start with a problem description and then my solution. Add Comments to a […]
Level: Beginners Microsoft recently announced a new conditional column feature in Power Query (Power BI Desktop version) that warrants a blog post. This feature makes the process of creating banded columns much easier for the average user. I blogged about banded columns using DAX here, and now there is this […]
Level: Beginners Edit: Sep 2019 What is Power BI? Microsoft Power BI Expert, Matt Allington, explains This ‘What is Power BI’ post is the third in my “what is” series having previously blogged about “What is Power Pivot” and “What is Power Query”. This topic is the hardest of the […]
Level: Beginners Edit: Sep 2019 I am still astounded by the number of people I meet that have never heard of Power Query and Power Pivot. The good news is there are lots of people out there in for a pleasant surprise. I think Power BI will solve the “lack […]
Edit: Feb 2017. Microsoft has released an update that solves the problem described in this article. This article still has learning value however you should also take a look at the announcement from Microsoft here https://blogs.office.com/2017/02/08/january-2017-updates-for-get-transform-in-excel-2016-and-the-power-query-add-in/ There are many ways to combine data from multiple files into a single file/table in […]
This is the second of a series of articles where I explain different methods of combining data from multiple files into a single workbook/table. In the first article I described how to use a function to combine data from identical Excel Workbooks into a single file using Power Query. Next […]
I have blogged about these concepts before but thought there was value in creating a couple of clear blog posts covering step by step instructions on 2 good ways to combine multiple Excel Workbooks with Power Query. Both of these approaches require that the Excel files are identical in structure […]
I had an interesting problem this week with a client that uses a 445 calendar. The problem is that they had some monthly budget figures that they wanted to track against actual sales on a weekly basis. We agreed to do a straight line split of the budget into weeks […]
Power Pivot and Power Query are the best things to happen to Excel since the invention of Excel itself. Once you start using these tools there is no turning back. But someone asked me the other day “Is it possible to use Power Query with a traditional pivot table?” (ie […]
Microsoft has released a couple of long over due fixes to some long standing Excel 2013 bugs, both of which have been quite painful in their own way. Unfortunately for me the timing couldn’t have been worse. I literally just placed the order for the print run of my new […]
Before showing you how to do cross join in power query, let me tell you a story. I had a situation this week where I need to create a budget table in Power Pivot. I had a choice of either loading a weekly budget as a single record per store […]
The long awaited book from Ken Puls and Miguel Escobar has just been released in digital edition. I read this book over the weekend and wanted to share my experience with anyone considering buying this book or wanting to learn more about Power Query. This book is 220+ pages of […]
Level: Beginners Recently I was working for a client that required the matching of a list of data sent from a customer against some internal business data. This type of data matching is actually an audit process that I would have historically done with MS Access, but it occurred to me […]
Level: Beginners When you write a Power Query workbook in Excel 2013, you are given 4 choices of what to do with results. One of the choices is to load the resulting query directly to the Power Pivot data model. This choice does not exist in Excel 2010. It is […]
I am really looking forward with anticipation and excitement about the future of http://PowerBI.com. Microsoft has just released the August 2015 update to Power BI Desktop just 1 month after PowerBI.com becoming generally available (GA). Power BI Desktop used to be called Power BI Designer, and it is the tool […]
Level: Beginners I have blogged before about how to combine multiple files in a folder using Power Query. The way I have always done it is to use a Function, and this is not hard to do if you follow the instructions I provided on my last blog on this topic […]
Level: Beginners I have been working with a client here in Sydney were we are producing some Human Resource (HR) reporting tools to analyse what is happening across the business. HR data is quite often very sensitive because it can contain personal information as well as salary information. A lot […]
Level: Beginners Edit: March 2021 I love books. Even in this world of the Internet I still like to buy a good book of structured “curated content” that takes the reader on a journey. There are quite a few books out there about the various Microsoft BI products. I plan […]
Level: Beginners It can be reasonably difficult to find the exact download you need for the various Power Products in the Microsoft BI stack. Some of these products (particularly Power Pivot) have a number of versions. This article is provided to help you get the correct download first time. You […]
level: Intermediate I have written a couple of posts here and here about the problems and dangers of using Power Query with Power Pivot. Well I am very pleased to say that I now fully understand the problem, how it is caused and how it can be avoided. Edit: Nov […]