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edwardrmiles's avatar
edwardrmiles
Icon for Helper III rankHelper III
9 years ago
Solved

Invoking function causes "Expression.Error: We cannot convert a value of type Record to type Number"

 

 

Hi, I'm trying to create a function that will rename all columns in a table., but when I invoke the function (from both the query editor and navigation panel) I get the folliwng error:

 

An error occurred in the ‘fnRenameColumns’ query. Expression.Error: We cannot convert a value of type Record to type Number.
Details:
Value=Record
Type=Type

 

The function is:

 

 

let
    fnRenameColumns = (tableName as table) =>
let
    Source = tableName,
    ColumnNames = Table.FromList(Table.ColumnNames(Source)),
    Transform = Table.AddColumn(ColumnNames,"New Value",each Text.Upper(Text.Replace([Column1],"_"," "))),
    RenameColumns = Table.RenameColumns(tableName,Table.ToRows(Transform),[Comparer = Comparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase])
in
    RenameColumns
in 
    fnRenameColumns

 

 

Any ideas? Thanks!

  • MarcelBeug's avatar
    MarcelBeug
    9 years ago

    So why do you want to rename your columns, is it:

    1. Because you get the error of duplicate column names, or

    2. You want to rename your columns for another reason, but as a result you get duplicate column names?

     

    In any case if you want to rename your columns so there won't be any duplicates, then you need to find some other solution for any duplicates, typically that would be adding a seqeunce number, e.g. if you have multiple "INFO CARD LINK" columns, then the first can be "INFO CARD LINK", the second "INFO CARD LINK.1", the third "INFO CARD LINK.2"  and so on.

     

    That would require a complete different approach.

     

    Note: in Power Query, column names are case-sensitive, but when loading the result, you'll get an error (I guess that is the error you mentioned in your previous post).

4 Replies

  • MarcelBeug's avatar
    MarcelBeug
    Icon for Community Champion rankCommunity Champion

    Technically spoken you provide a record [Comparer = Comparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase] as the third argument for Table.RenameColumns, where you can only provide a number: the value for MissingField.

     

    Edit: you code works fine if you remove that third argument.

     

    My idea would be:

     

    let
        fnRenameColumns = (tableName as table) =>
    let
        Source = tableName,
        ColumnNames = Table.ColumnNames(Source),
        Transform = List.Transform(ColumnNames, each {_, Text.Upper(Text.Replace(_,"_"," "))}),
        RenameColumns = Table.RenameColumns(tableName,Transform)
    in
        RenameColumns
    in 
        fnRenameColumns

     

     

    • edwardrmiles's avatar
      edwardrmiles
      Icon for Helper III rankHelper III

      Thanks, so I added that 3rd argument because when I don't use it I get this error:

       

      An error occurred in the ‘fnRenameColumns’ query. Expression.Error: The field 'INFO CARD LINK' already exists in the record.
      Details:
          Name=INFO CARD LINK
          Value=

       

      • MarcelBeug's avatar
        MarcelBeug
        Icon for Community Champion rankCommunity Champion

        So why do you want to rename your columns, is it:

        1. Because you get the error of duplicate column names, or

        2. You want to rename your columns for another reason, but as a result you get duplicate column names?

         

        In any case if you want to rename your columns so there won't be any duplicates, then you need to find some other solution for any duplicates, typically that would be adding a seqeunce number, e.g. if you have multiple "INFO CARD LINK" columns, then the first can be "INFO CARD LINK", the second "INFO CARD LINK.1", the third "INFO CARD LINK.2"  and so on.

         

        That would require a complete different approach.

         

        Note: in Power Query, column names are case-sensitive, but when loading the result, you'll get an error (I guess that is the error you mentioned in your previous post).