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gparrin71's avatar
gparrin71
New Member
4 years ago
Solved

Update column with PQuery

Hi,

How can I update,with powerquery, the first column of the attached photo with the data of the second if the value is different?

 

Tnks a lot

Gianni

  • Are the columns already in one table?

     

    If not merge the two tables in power query on a common set of columns.

     

    You can then create custom columns with if statements that take the 2nd value unless it's null in which case use the 1st.

     

    Finally remove the old columns and renames the new ones correctly.

6 Replies

  • bcdobbs's avatar
    bcdobbs
    Community Champion

    Are the columns already in one table?

     

    If not merge the two tables in power query on a common set of columns.

     

    You can then create custom columns with if statements that take the 2nd value unless it's null in which case use the 1st.

     

    Finally remove the old columns and renames the new ones correctly.

  • Thanks to the immediate response.
    Yes, they are already in a table.
    I'm just starting out with custom columns. Can you tell me how to do it?

    • bcdobbs's avatar
      bcdobbs
      Community Champion

      No problem.

       

      I started with a demo table like this:

      Then clicked Add Column >> Custom Column

       

      Syntax I used was:

      if [New Column A] = "" 
      then [Original Column A]
      else [New Column A]

      (Note that if, then and else have to be lower case in Power Query M )

       

      Results in:

       

      • bcdobbs's avatar
        bcdobbs
        Community Champion

        Depending on your source you might have nulls instead of empty text so the following is more hardened:

        if [New Column A] = "" or [New Column A] = null
        then [Original Column A]
        else [New Column A]

         

  • Hi,

    The function you suggested gives me the same problem I had with a function I had already tried. The status "ORDERED" does not change to "DELIVERED"

     

    Tanks

    Gianni

    • bcdobbs's avatar
      bcdobbs
      Community Champion

      Can you send a demo pbix file? Think i'm

      missing something about your specification.