Forum Discussion

S_M's avatar
S_M
Helper III
9 years ago

Unable to create relationships between tables

I am pulling a customer table which is basically a sales table with all columns, except customer email, removed. I then 'remove duplicates' on the customer email column in Editor, essentially giving me a distinct list of all customer emails that have made a purchase with us. However, when i try to create a relationship between this column and 'customer email' in the sales table, i get an error stating that one of the 2 columns being related must be without duplicates - as i already do a distinct on the customer table, this should not happen.

Does anyone know if using a 'remove duplicates' is the reason this issue occurs and if there is a work around ?

 

 

Thanks! 

6 Replies

  • Hi S_M

    Could you please explain the scenario with example :-

    Like 

    Dataset 1

    id   xyz   abc

    1    a      b

     

    Dataset 2

    id   xyz   abc

    1    a      b

     

    Relationship between Dataset 1 and Dataset 2 

    and in which step you are facing challenge.

     

    • S_M's avatar
      S_M
      Helper III

      Hi kaushikd,

      To break it down : I have a sales table (Table1):

      order_number  customer_email

      1                       [email protected]  

      2                       [email protected]

      3                       [email protected]

      4                       [email protected]

       

       

      I use Table1 to create a new customers table (Table2) which only has the row 'customer_email', removing duplicates, so essentially it looks like this : 

       

      Table2:

       

      customer_email

      [email protected]

      [email protected]

      [email protected]

       

       

      I am now trying to relate Table2 to Table1 using 'customer_email' as primary key, however it doesnt allow me to create a relationship by saying that both tables do not contain distinct values. So i am stumped at why this would happen and how to go about it 

       

      • kaushikd's avatar
        kaushikd
        Resolver II

        S_M

         

        Hi I have taken the same data as you have provided:-

        and tried the following followed the steps:-

         

        1. Imported the Table1

        order_number  customer_email

        1                       [email protected]  

        2                       [email protected]

        3                       [email protected]

        4                       [email protected]

        from excel file

         

        2. Go to Edit Query--> Right Click on Table1-->Select Duplicate-->Renamed the new Table as Table2

        3. For Table2-->Right Click on order_number Column and Remove.-->Right Click on customer_email Column and Remove Duplicates.

        4. Close and Apply.

        5.Go to Relationship 

        you will find power bi will automatically do a join for both the table or else please do it by your own.

         

         

        If this help you out please accept this as a solution thanks

         

    • ovetteabejuela's avatar
      ovetteabejuela
      Impactful Individual

      I would also try to do a little validation.

       

      You can export the table to excel and do a Remove Duplicates there and see if it did find duplicates.