Power Query: PDF Pandemonium – Part 6
20 October 2021
Welcome to our Power Query blog. This week, I continue transforming some data that is coming in from a PDF file by working with last week’s function.
The tent business is doing well, and the UK division have plans to expand the workforce. I have a PDF file, and it contains tables for 10 stores. Last week, I created a function to apply to the Stores table.
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In the Stores query, I need to make sure I only have the columns I need. To do this, I will remove the ‘Demote Headers’ step. I can reapply it before I invoke the function.
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This means I have the store names in the headings to choose:
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This gives me the store columns, and I can demote the headers again:
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Stores is ready to use as the Source for fn_store. I go back to fn_store:
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I need to provide a column from the Stores query.
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I use Column1:
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Invoking this query will give me a table:
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I rename this table Expansion by Store. I am going to use the M code already generated as a basis for this query.
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I take the M code created for Column1, and replicate it for 10 columns. I have renamed the steps to make it clear what I am planning. I will rename the final ‘in’ statement when I have finished:
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I have created a table for each store; now I just need to append them. The M code function to append is Table.Combine({table1, table2,….}). I add this line to the M code in the Advanced Editor.
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I click ‘Done’ to see the results:
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I have the results in the format I wanted for all stores. I can now ‘Close & Load’. I will choose ‘Close & Load to…’ so that I can load to ‘Connection Only’ to begin with to avoid loading all queries.
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I can then right-click on the queries I want to load, and position them together:
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I load the tables onto a worksheet:
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I check the data types and the report is ready.
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Come back next time for more ways to use Power Query!