SharePoint Online List connector - column names change depending on user

[Anonymous]

I'm having the following issue with the SharePoint Online List Connector (implementation 2.0) in Power Query (both in Power BI Desktop and Excel).

When I run the query using an account that is a member of the tenant in which the list was created, Power Query returns the display names of the list's custom columns (instead of internal names) and the system column names (Modified, Created, etc.) are returned in my computer's language (Polish), even though the list, SharePoint site and tenant are set to English/UK.

However, when a guest user to the tenant runs the same query, it returns internal names of custom columns and the system column names are returned in English (even if the user's language is not English, e.g. Romanian or Czech).

Can the 2.0 connector be 'forced' to use only internal names for custom columns and English for system columns? Currently, additional logic would have to be added to each query to determine whether internal or display names are returned and whether English is used for system columns.

As an aside, the 1.0 implementation returns internal names of custom columns and the system columns are returned in English.

[Anonymous]

Hi @Anonymous ,

What are the ”display names“ and ”internal names“ of the list's custom columns you mentioned?

The result of my own test is that if I choose a language other than English (such as Polish) when creating my SharePoint site, then when using the 2.0 connector to connect to the site, except for some data I created in English in the site, the other column names are displayed in Polish, and the content in the column is displayed in the language set by my browser, and the column names of the data columns I created myself are in English.

Best Regards,
Dino Tao
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[Anonymous]

Hi @Anonymous,

when you add a column to a SharePoint list and give it a name, that name becomes the internal name of the column. As far as I know, you cannot change the internal name of the column. Of course, you can change the (display) name of the column, and it will appear in the list under the new name, but it's internal name will always be the same.

For example, if you add a column and name it FxRate, this will be the internal name of the column. If you then rename the column to, say, Exchange Rate (I refer to this changed name as the display column name), it will appear in the SharePoint list (and most other applications) under the changed name, but in some applications it will still be referenced by its internal name. For instance, if you sort the column, you should notice that it is referenced by its internal name in the URL.

So, my issue is that when a (member) user runs the report, Power Query returns the display name. However, when a guest user runs the same query, internal names are returned. There is also that issue with the list system columns being translated for a (member) user.
This happens in implementation 2.0. In implementation 1.0, only internal names are returned.