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

Vote for your favorite vizzies from the Power BI Dataviz World Championship submissions. Vote now!

Reply
Anonymous
Not applicable

Download zipped files from API

Hello, I am trying to extract data from an API, but the files are zipped, and I can't get Power Query to properly decode the underlying CSV file.  I have tried various iterations of Mark White's BI Blog solution (which I have simply copied & pasted, I am completely ignorant of how it works), but I run into "An error occurred in the ‘’ query. Expression.Error: We cannot convert a value of type Binary to type Text."

 

Is there a way to pull a zipped file directly from an online data source?  An example file is: 

https://www.petrinex.gov.ab.ca/publicdata/api/files/AB/VOL/2021-11/CSV

 

Thanks for any help you can provide!

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
AlexisOlson
Super User
Super User

Using @artemus Unzip code from here, I managed to get this to load as follows:

let
    Source = fn_Unzip(Web.Contents("https://www.petrinex.gov.ab.ca/publicdata/api/files/AB/VOL/2021-11/CSV")),
    Content = fn_Unzip(Source{0}[Content]){0}[Content],
    #"Imported CSV" = Csv.Document(Content,[Delimiter=",", Columns=30, Encoding=1252, QuoteStyle=QuoteStyle.None]),
    #"Promoted Headers" = Table.PromoteHeaders(#"Imported CSV", [PromoteAllScalars=true])
in
    #"Promoted Headers"

 

View solution in original post

2 REPLIES 2
AlexisOlson
Super User
Super User

Using @artemus Unzip code from here, I managed to get this to load as follows:

let
    Source = fn_Unzip(Web.Contents("https://www.petrinex.gov.ab.ca/publicdata/api/files/AB/VOL/2021-11/CSV")),
    Content = fn_Unzip(Source{0}[Content]){0}[Content],
    #"Imported CSV" = Csv.Document(Content,[Delimiter=",", Columns=30, Encoding=1252, QuoteStyle=QuoteStyle.None]),
    #"Promoted Headers" = Table.PromoteHeaders(#"Imported CSV", [PromoteAllScalars=true])
in
    #"Promoted Headers"

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

Yes, works perfectly!!  Thank you!

Helpful resources

Announcements
Power BI DataViz World Championships

Power BI Dataviz World Championships

Vote for your favorite vizzies from the Power BI World Championship submissions!

Sticker Challenge 2026 Carousel

Join our Community Sticker Challenge 2026

If you love stickers, then you will definitely want to check out our Community Sticker Challenge!

January Power BI Update Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - January 2026

Check out the January 2026 Power BI update to learn about new features.

FabCon Atlanta 2026 carousel

FabCon Atlanta 2026

Join us at FabCon Atlanta, March 16-20, for the ultimate Fabric, Power BI, AI and SQL community-led event. Save $200 with code FABCOMM.