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

Data Days is here! Join us now for 60+ days of learning, challenges, and connection. Learn more

Reply
Anonymous
Not applicable

Issues with removing data in column using Text.remove

Hi all,

 

I’ve spend a lot of time in fixing the error (youtube, this forum).  What i did?: I’ve imported a table into excel, for which I want to transform (delete) data with power query. I only want to keep data with values “PD-*” So * is a wildcard, hence can be each number.

 

Below are the values in a coumn, the only value I want to keep from below example is PD-35:

Column values: PR-00001;WL-00009;PD-35

 

Power Query:

= Table.TransformColumns(#"Duplicated Column", {{"Linked Issues - Copy", each if Text.Contains(_,"PR-") then Text.Remove {"P""R""-""0""9"} else if Text.Contains(_,"WL-") then Text.Remove {"W""L""-""0""9"} else _, type text}})

After executing above Query its throwing the following error:

 

Error:

Expression.Error: We cannot apply an index of type Text.

Details:

    Value=[Function]

    Index=P"”R"-"0"9

 

So simply I get an error in all fields containing either of above values I also tried to play with Text.BetweenDelimiters  or “replace” but I cannot get it to work. I hope someone can help me out.

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

NewStep=Table.TransformColumns(PreviousStepName,{"ColumnName",each Text.Combine(List.Select(Text.Split(_,";"),each Text.StartsWith(_,"PD-")),";")})

View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5
Anonymous
Not applicable

Thanks for you swift reply. The query applies a filter, i would like the query to remove all values that does not start with "PD-"

 

example of values in column

ExampleExpect after query removed data
PR-00001;WL-00009;PD-35PD-35
XL-00001;PD-0016;WL-00010;PD-0016
XL-00001;PD-0016;PD-00015;PD-0016;PD-00015;    (Exeptional case, above two is most important)

NewStep=Table.TransformColumns(PreviousStepName,{"ColumnName",each Text.Combine(List.Select(Text.Split(_,";"),each Text.StartsWith(_,"PD-")),";")})

Anonymous
Not applicable

Thanks this did the job!

Sure, no prob.  Here you are. 

let
    Source = Table.FromRows(Json.Document(Binary.Decompress(Binary.FromText("i45WCgjSNQACQ+twHzDD0jrARdfY1FopVidaKcIHKgkUA1JmUEWGBjikwbSBIUx3ZBSEEeCCEIAoARkQCwA=", BinaryEncoding.Base64), Compression.Deflate)), let _t = ((type nullable text) meta [Serialized.Text = true]) in type table [Example = _t]),
    #"Changed Type" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(Source,{{"Example", type text}}),
    #"Added Custom" = Table.AddColumn(#"Changed Type", "Custom", each Text.Combine ( List.Select(Splitter.SplitTextByDelimiter(";", QuoteStyle.None)([Example]), each Text.StartsWith(_, "PD-")), ";"), type text)
in
    #"Added Custom"

jennratten_0-1658844976506.png

 

jennratten
Super User
Super User

Hello - if you'd only like to keep rows that have a value beginning with 'PD-' in the 'Linked Issues - Copy' column, you can do it like this:

Table.SelectRows(#"Changed Type", each Text.StartsWith([#"Linked Issues - Copy"], "PD-"))

 

jennratten_0-1658836462094.png

 

Helpful resources

Announcements
Fabric Data Days is here Carousel

Fabric Data Days 2026

Don't miss out on Data Days, June 15 through August 7. Learn Fabric, Power BI, SQL, AI and more.

May Power BI Update Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - May 2026

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

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.