Power Query: Next (Row) Please
12 February 2020
Welcome to our Power Query blog. This week, I look at referencing other rows.
John, my reliable imaginary salesperson, has been filling in data again. This time, I have some information on items purchased by customers in December:
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/main/blog-pictures/2020/power-query/167/image1.png/e774d10cbbb9450fc45efbe51abdf434.jpg)
John has decided to combine the item and the description in the same column, so I need to move the description into a separate column and remove the extra rows.
This week, I look at a simple solution, where I use the ‘Fill Up” feature.
I extract my data to Power Query using the ‘From Table’ option on the ‘Get & Transform’ section on the ‘Data’ tab.
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/main/blog-pictures/2020/power-query/167/image2.png/f32e5a15e2cf9c3e4d2d058458ce054d.jpg)
My data has headers, so I accept the defaults.
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/main/blog-pictures/2020/power-query/167/image3.png/f1140ff857fc3b6f5f97a6a24f4a6fc7.jpg)
I can add a conditional column from the ‘Add Column’ tab. This will create my Description column.
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/main/blog-pictures/2020/power-query/167/image4.png/72aa864d2854c6fefb1083fba0ab5792.jpg)
I click ‘OK’ to create my new column.
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/main/blog-pictures/2020/power-query/167/image5.png/36776d1da4d05b45bb5a5d09375f407c.jpg)
I need to fill up so that the description appears next to the rest of the data. I can do this by right-clicking the Description column selected.
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/main/blog-pictures/2020/power-query/167/image6.png/23912d3b1671861e02bebcd5183f1607.jpg)
I need to fill up so that the description appears next to the rest of the data. I can do this by right-clicking the Description column selected.
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/main/blog-pictures/2020/power-query/167/image7.png/6f49c288a0d88a66b427eaf4ece923d6.jpg)
I need to remove the extra row which only contains the description. I can do this by filtering on Customer.
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/main/blog-pictures/2020/power-query/167/image8.png/b9ee28d90e6b5bc92ea4aeafdad51628.jpg)
If I uncheck null, I will then only see rows with customer data.
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/main/blog-pictures/2020/power-query/167/image9.png/0485ccbc83bdeec1d741bad442a1ea5f.jpg)
Finally, I rename Item Code/Description to Item Code.
![](http://sumproduct-4634.kxcdn.com/img/containers/main/blog-pictures/2020/power-query/167/image10.png/daf8c4f0259ce428269c0d3d4badd32b.jpg)
My data is now in a standard format so I can link it to other tables. Next time. I’ll look at another solution using duplicate queries.
Come back next time for more ways to use Power Query!