Keep leading zeroes when export to CSV using R or Python script

[magnus_b]

I am using Power BI to automate some CSV exports, and I can't find a way to keep leading zeroes. I have tried converting the data type to string, but still leading zeroes are omitted. The issue is not present when running the scripts directly in R or Python, so it seems to be related to Power BI.

Here are some examples scripts that can be used to reproduce the issue:

Using R script:

let
    Source = Table.FromRows(Json.Document(Binary.Decompress(Binary.FromText("i45WMjA3MDUzU4rViVYyNDQwMDICMw2MDQwMgcxYAA==", BinaryEncoding.Base64), Compression.Deflate)), let _t = ((type nullable text) meta [Serialized.Text = true]) in type table [Column1 = _t]),
    #"Changed Type" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(Source,{{"Column1", type text}}),
    #"Run R script" = R.Execute("# 'dataset' holds the input data for this script#(lf)#(lf)dataset$Column1 <- as.character(dataset$Column1)#(lf)fileName <- paste(""C:/test.txt"")#(lf)write.table(dataset, sep = "","", file = fileName, quote = FALSE, row.names = FALSE, col.names = FALSE)",[dataset=#"Changed Type"])
in
    #"Run R script"

Using Python script:

let
    Source = Table.FromRows(Json.Document(Binary.Decompress(Binary.FromText("i45WMjA3MDUzU4rViVYyNDQwMDICMw2MDQwMgcxYAA==", BinaryEncoding.Base64), Compression.Deflate)), let _t = ((type nullable text) meta [Serialized.Text = true]) in type table [Column1 = _t]),
    #"Changed Type" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(Source,{{"Column1", type text}}),
    #"Run Python script" = Python.Execute("# 'dataset' holds the input data for this script#(lf)import pandas#(lf)data = pandas.DataFrame(dataset)#(lf)data = data.astype(str)#(lf)data.to_csv('C:/test.txt')",[dataset=#"Changed Type"])
in
    #"Run Python script"

Input data is:

070566
110022
030012 

Expected output is:

070566
110022
030012

Actual output is:
70566
110022
30012

Appreciate any help!

[samdthompson · Accepted solution]

Hello, I did it successfully using column from example, generating this (obviously you might need to change the locationdata type):

Table.AddColumn(#"Changed Type", "Custom", each Text.PadStart(Text.From([Column1], "en-NZ"), 6, "0"), type text)

[samdthompson · Accepted solution]

Hello, I did it successfully using column from example, generating this (obviously you might need to change the locationdata type):

Table.AddColumn(#"Changed Type", "Custom", each Text.PadStart(Text.From([Column1], "en-NZ"), 6, "0"), type text)

[caito]

Thanks for this! I needed to keep leading zeros for numbers 1 to 9. This worked for me when I edited it like this: 

Text.PadStart(Text.From([Company No], "en-FI"), 1, "'"), type text)

[magnus_b]

Hi! Unfortunately, the resulting .txt file still showing without leading zeroes:

Here is the PQ script I am now running:

let
    Source = Table.FromRows(Json.Document(Binary.Decompress(Binary.FromText("i45WMjA3MDUzU4rViVYyNDQwMDICMw2MDQwMgcxYAA==", BinaryEncoding.Base64), Compression.Deflate)), let _t = ((type nullable text) meta [Serialized.Text = true]) in type table [Column1 = _t]),
    #"Changed Type" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(Source,{{"Column1", type text}}),
    AddColumn = Table.AddColumn(#"Changed Type", "Custom", each Text.PadStart(Text.From([Column1], "nb-NO"), 6, "0"), type text),
    #"Run R script" = R.Execute("# 'dataset' holds the input data for this script#(lf)#(lf)dataset$Column1 <- as.character(dataset$Column1)#(lf)fileName <- paste(""C:/test.txt"")#(lf)write.table(dataset, sep = "","", file = fileName, quote = FALSE, row.names = FALSE, col.names = FALSE)",[dataset=AddColumn])
in
    #"Run R script"

[mahoneypat]

You may have to do it in your code R (or Python).  For example, using the str_pad function in the stringer library.

Pat

[magnus_b]

Yeah, I did try that as well. It seems that even though the datatype in the Python/R script is definately a string, it will for some reason be converted to numbers in the CSV export. This behavior happens only when running the script in Power BI.

[samdthompson · Accepted solution]

Ah man thats crazy. I am out of ideas other than to stick some weird character at the front then strip it out in the CSV itself:

Table.AddColumn(#"Changed Type", "Custom", each Text.PadStart(Text.From([Column1], "en-NZ"), 7, "|0"), type text).

[magnus_b]

I could do that, but then I would need to have a separate process to strip it again, since I need to deliver the CSV files in a that specific format... Thanks for the help though!