Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Be one of the first to start using Fabric Databases. View on-demand sessions with database experts and the Microsoft product team to learn just how easy it is to get started. Watch now

Reply
TheSott94
Frequent Visitor

'OLE DB or ODBC error: [Expression.Error] The value "" cannot be converted to the Table..'

Hi all,

 

I'm pulling xml data from a folder using Power Bi Desktop.

 

When I have expanded all the columns, I get the following error message when trying to apply the query changes.

 

The changes could not be saved to the server. Error returned: 'OLE DB or ODBC error: [Expression.Error] The value "" cannot be converted to the Table..'.

 

I can't figure out what kind of value "" can be.

 

The folder is contained on a local network path, and contains various file extension: for expanding only the .xml files i actually filter only the ".xml" in the column extension.

 

Has anyone else come across this error message?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Manuel

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
TheSott94
Frequent Visitor

Hi, @v-yalanwu-msft 

 

I solved in another way that I post here in the hope that it will be of help to someone.

 

First, I started to expand from the beginning of the query the columns and locate which column was causing the issue. 

 

Second, i removed the passage where I expand the problematic column and i added a custom column which has this function:

 

Table.AddColumn(#"Problematic Column", "NameNewColumn", each if [#"ProblematicColumn"] is table then "[Table]" else if [#"ProblematicColumn"] is record then "[Record]" else if [#"ProblematicColumn"] is list then "[List]" else if [#"ProblematicColumn"] is function then "[Function]" else [#"ProblematicColumn"])

 

Third, i used filter in the "NameNewColum" trying to locate if there was any other values besides [Tabel] and I actually found that there was some rows without any kind of values (note that the column quality tools always reported 100% valid values). I proceeded to filter only the table values then. 

 

Fourth, i proceeded to expand the problematic column with the filter applied and then the error does not show up anymore.

 

Hopefully this will be helpful for someone in the future,

 

Manuel

View solution in original post

2 REPLIES 2
TheSott94
Frequent Visitor

Hi, @v-yalanwu-msft 

 

I solved in another way that I post here in the hope that it will be of help to someone.

 

First, I started to expand from the beginning of the query the columns and locate which column was causing the issue. 

 

Second, i removed the passage where I expand the problematic column and i added a custom column which has this function:

 

Table.AddColumn(#"Problematic Column", "NameNewColumn", each if [#"ProblematicColumn"] is table then "[Table]" else if [#"ProblematicColumn"] is record then "[Record]" else if [#"ProblematicColumn"] is list then "[List]" else if [#"ProblematicColumn"] is function then "[Function]" else [#"ProblematicColumn"])

 

Third, i used filter in the "NameNewColum" trying to locate if there was any other values besides [Tabel] and I actually found that there was some rows without any kind of values (note that the column quality tools always reported 100% valid values). I proceeded to filter only the table values then. 

 

Fourth, i proceeded to expand the problematic column with the filter applied and then the error does not show up anymore.

 

Hopefully this will be helpful for someone in the future,

 

Manuel

v-yalanwu-msft
Community Support
Community Support

Hi, @TheSott94 ;
Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Yalan Wu
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

In addition, if you can please share a pbix file to test, it is hard to troubleshooting without any detail information and sample data.

https://forum.enterprisedna.co/t/ole-db-or-odbc-error-expression-error-we-cannot-convert-the-value-t...

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/OLE-DB-or-ODBC-error-Expression-Error-We-cannot-convert-the...

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Power-Query/OLE-DB-or-ODBC-error-Expression-Error-We-cannot-convert...

 


Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Yalan Wu
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Helpful resources

Announcements
Las Vegas 2025

Join us at the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference

March 31 - April 2, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Use code MSCUST for a $150 discount!

Dec Fabric Community Survey

We want your feedback!

Your insights matter. That’s why we created a quick survey to learn about your experience finding answers to technical questions.

ArunFabCon

Microsoft Fabric Community Conference 2025

Arun Ulag shares exciting details about the Microsoft Fabric Conference 2025, which will be held in Las Vegas, NV.

December 2024

A Year in Review - December 2024

Find out what content was popular in the Fabric community during 2024.