'Input string was not in a correct format' when importing using MySQL database connector

[Micgig]

Dear all,

hope you are well. Wish to thank you in advance for the help.

I have been trying to import a few tables from a database hosted on Alibaba cloud/AnalyticDB/MySQL instance, using the MySQL database connector.

Regardless of the selected tables, which look all fine to me, when importing I always face the captioned error message: 'Input string was not in a correct format'.

I have tried the same process importing in Tableau and it all works fine: been able to import any of the tables without issues.

Would any of you know how to solve this?

Thank you so much,

Michele

[amitchandak]

@Micgig , can you share a sample string you have used for the connection?

Try backslash and check

Alibaba cloud\AnalyticDB\MySQL instance

[Micgig]

@amitchandak 

thanks for replying.

One table, for testing purposes, literally consists of the following data (only 1 row).

department_id	department_name	ts
23	Chengdu - Pmia	202122110301001

I don't see particular formatting reasons why Power BI couldn't load this single row.

Yes the path is correct Alibaba cloud\AnalyticDB\MySQL instance.

What do you think?

Thanks!

[v-zhangti · Accepted solution]

Hi, @Micgig 

Maybe it has something to do with the "Chengdu - Pmia" field in your table.

- + $ ( )

Display a literal character. To display a character other than one of those listed, precede it with a backslash () or enclose it in double quotation marks (" ").

The most important thing is that the "-" is for characters in numeric format. You can try replacing this string before connecting.

Please refer to the following document for character formatting requirements.

https://docs.microsoft.com/power-bi/create-reports/desktop-custom-format-strings 

Best Regards,

Community Support Team _Charlotte

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.