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knotpc's avatar
knotpc
Advocate I
7 years ago

When Importing from API's Percentage Values are Importing as Text

Having trouble importing from two different API's. The first is OECD.org, the second is stlousifed.org. I am able to successfully import data in tables. The problem I am having is that values coming from the API's for percentages are imported as "text" by Power Bi - Power Query Editor. 

 

For example 4.2 imports as text. The values need to be stored as 4.2%. The problem I am having is trying to transform them. If I select Transform - Data Type - Percentage Power Query Editor and Power Bi convert 4.2 (text) to 420.00%, which is not the correct value. As a workaround, I changed the [Value] type Text to Decimal, then I created a third calculated column called Percent = DIVIDE([Value],100) and then I Transform it to %. For a short term fix, this works kinda. Long term, as I intend to connect to numerous API's that provide the same values it will make the import tedious, not to mention storing extra unnecessary columns. 

 

Any suggestions on how to resolve this using Advanced Editor functions that do not include creating calculated columns would be much appreciated. Below is some example date. Note: Each table to the left, save the "Formulas", one is an API call. Every one of them has a percentage number is stored as "text" during import. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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