Forum Discussion
Why do I get a DataFormat.Error when data source is Sharepoint?
Hello,
I'm relatively new to Power Bi and I'm currently playing around with it trying to teach myself how to use it.
I came across a problem where If I go to refresh the data I get the following error message...
"OLE DB or ODBC error: [DataFormat.Error] External table is not in the expected format."
The Excel spresheet I use is a simple spredsheet with around 10 columns, standard text and numbers, no formulas, no specific formatting and was created from scratch and not exported from any third party system.
I use the 64-bit version of Power Bi desktop, I have a 64-bit operating system and I downloaded the 64-bit version of AccessDatabaseEngine.
Interestingly when I use the exact same spredsheet which is saved directly on my pc and use the data source as Excel I don't get the error. It's only if I use Sharepoint as the data source so not sure if this has anything to do with the error.
I have also noticed that when I open up my data source and view the data an extra row has been added and each cells shows 'error'. When I go to delete it, it shows the following error...
"An error occurred in the 'Transform File' query. DataFormat.Error: External table is not in the expected format. Details: 6f4e8d20-c6aa-40ae-ad6c-f6c92ff466ca.XLS."
I have gone through pretty much all the threads relating to this however, non of them solved the issue.
Any help will be much appreciated.
Many thanks
4 Replies
Hi CMMkamil ,
You may use the early versions of Excel workbooks (.XLS files of type Excel 97-2003), it will cause problems sometimes.
You can try the latest version of Excel and open .XLS file, save it as .an XLSX file to try again.
Refer the Microsoft document:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/desktop-access-database-errors
Best Regards,
Yingjie Li
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