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

Did you hear? There's a new SQL AI Developer certification (DP-800). Start preparing now and be one of the first to get certified. Register now

Reply
Anonymous
Not applicable

Help me validate an AlphaNumeric Text column with specific rules/pattern

I have student data from several sources that I can merge into a single table. 

Some sources are better at maintaining their data than others, and I'd like to "validate" a column if possible. 

 

Students in the UK have a 13-digit unique pupil number. This is made up of 1 letter at the start, followed by 12 numerical digits. 

 

I wanted to add a custom column in my PowerBI table which can return either a "Yes" or "No" (if the UPN matches the aforementioned rule - 1 letter, 12 digits).

 

For some reason, PowerBI doesn't like the following query...

 

= Table.AddColumn(#"Changed Type1", "UPN Validated", each IF(AND(NOT(ISNUMBER(LEFT([#"Unique Identifier*"], 1))),ISNUMBER(RIGHT([#"Unique Identifier*"], 12))), "Yes", "No"))

 

Can someone please help me figure out what's wrong with this formula? 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
Vijay_A_Verma
Most Valuable Professional
Most Valuable Professional

Use this

= Table.AddColumn(#"Changed Type1", "UPN Validated", each [First = Character.ToNumber(Text.Start([Unique Identifier], 1)), Last = Text.End([Unique Identifier], 12), a = First > 64 and First < 91, b = Value.FromText(Last) is number and Text.Length(Last) = 12, result = if (a and b) then "Yes" else "No"][result])

See the sample test code

let
    Source = Table.FromRows(Json.Document(Binary.Decompress(Binary.FromText("JYy7DcAgEMV2oU7xuM+7oyQZA1GyQJT9lSh0lmV5jNJDMtBcQUWZxygfpdCyVfAXp2jCNFhpspM0UNRr0PtuFGqB9IBvUb8JPfWi7c39rGeVOV8=", BinaryEncoding.Base64), Compression.Deflate)), let _t = ((type nullable text) meta [Serialized.Text = true]) in type table [#"Unique Identifier" = _t]),
    #"Added Custom" = Table.AddColumn(Source, "UPN Validated", each [First = Character.ToNumber(Text.Start([Unique Identifier], 1)), Last = Text.End([Unique Identifier], 12), a = First > 64 and First < 91, b = Value.FromText(Last) is number and Text.Length(Last) = 12, result = if (a and b) then "Yes" else "No"][result])
in
    #"Added Custom"

 

View solution in original post

2 REPLIES 2
Vijay_A_Verma
Most Valuable Professional
Most Valuable Professional

Use this

= Table.AddColumn(#"Changed Type1", "UPN Validated", each [First = Character.ToNumber(Text.Start([Unique Identifier], 1)), Last = Text.End([Unique Identifier], 12), a = First > 64 and First < 91, b = Value.FromText(Last) is number and Text.Length(Last) = 12, result = if (a and b) then "Yes" else "No"][result])

See the sample test code

let
    Source = Table.FromRows(Json.Document(Binary.Decompress(Binary.FromText("JYy7DcAgEMV2oU7xuM+7oyQZA1GyQJT9lSh0lmV5jNJDMtBcQUWZxygfpdCyVfAXp2jCNFhpspM0UNRr0PtuFGqB9IBvUb8JPfWi7c39rGeVOV8=", BinaryEncoding.Base64), Compression.Deflate)), let _t = ((type nullable text) meta [Serialized.Text = true]) in type table [#"Unique Identifier" = _t]),
    #"Added Custom" = Table.AddColumn(Source, "UPN Validated", each [First = Character.ToNumber(Text.Start([Unique Identifier], 1)), Last = Text.End([Unique Identifier], 12), a = First > 64 and First < 91, b = Value.FromText(Last) is number and Text.Length(Last) = 12, result = if (a and b) then "Yes" else "No"][result])
in
    #"Added Custom"

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

Thank you so much Vijay! 

That worked perfectly 🙂

 

Helpful resources

Announcements
April Power BI Update Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - April 2026

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

Fabric SQL PBI Data Days

Data Days 2026 coming soon!

Sign up to receive a private message when registration opens and key events begin.

New to Fabric survey Carousel

New to Fabric Survey

If you have recently started exploring Fabric, we'd love to hear how it's going. Your feedback can help with product improvements.

Power BI DataViz World Championships carousel

Power BI DataViz World Championships - June 2026

A new Power BI DataViz World Championship is coming this June! Don't miss out on submitting your entry.