Forum Discussion
Losing a column when importing PDF
Are all columns coming in, but your M code isn't handleing a 2 or 3 column table depending on the file? If so, check out this blog post. Removing/Selecting Columns - Pitfall #5 in #PowerBI and #PowerQuery - DataChant - particularly the MissingField.Ignore discussion.
Hi edhans
Depending on the file (all have the same structure) it recognizes 2 or 3 tables.
When there are 2 tables there are no problems, but when it recognizes 3 there is a column that is not loaded I don't know why. It's not that I deleted it during transformation or something like that, it is missing from the beginning.
Without code or samples, next to impossible for me to help here. Not sure what the issue is. How to get good help fast. Help us help you.
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How to provide sample data in the Power BI Forum - Provide data in a table format per the link, or share an Excel/CSV file via OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.. Provide expected output using a screenshot of Excel or other image. Do not provide a screenshot of the source data. I cannot paste an image into Power BI tables.Okay edhans , I'll try to explain better the issue:
So, I have a folder with some PDFs, while loading them, power query sometimes detects 2 tables and sometimes 3 tables.
I'm not going to focus a lot on this image cause when I get 2 tables there are no issues.
What we need to know here is that both tables are loaded with 21 columns and the same structure (after loading I need to do some transformations but that's not a problem).
Let's see when I get 3 tables:
This is the case where I'm having problems. I get 3 tables instead of 2 for a different PDF, but it has the same structure as the previous one.
In this particular case, the first table has 21 columns with some null columns I need to delete etc. After some transformations, I end up with these columns: {Delegaciones, Total Revenues, Personnel Expenses, Subcontract, Other Expenses, Total Expenses, Gross Margin B. Activity, Indirect Costs Location, Gross Margin Location, Indirect Costs Location, Overheads, MB3}. No issues with this first table.
The problems come with the second and third tables. First of all, instead of taking 21 columns with all the data (as it does with the first table or with the previous PDF) it takes in the second table 9 columns and in the third table 11 columns.
The fact that doesn't let me continue is that when this happens, the column "Gross Margin B. Activity" disappears, it never gets loaded neither in table 2 or 3.
I hope I've explained myself and help you help me 🙂