extra digits added to number when importing table

[Mariano80]

I am importing data with powerquery for further analysis

I have discovered is that the values imported contains extradigits not present in the original table.

I have googled for this problem but I have not been able to find an explanation nor a solution (  a similar issue is  this one , more than one year old, but with no feedback from Microsoft ) 

The  workaround I am using now, but I am not happy with that is the following:

1. I "increased decimal" to make sure all my digits are captured (in my source the entries do not have all the same significant digits),
2. saved as csv
3. imported impacted columns as number
4. convert columns as text (for future text match

I am not happy at all with this unwanted and unpredictable behaviour of excel.

I see a serious issue of data integrity, I really hope we can get clear guidance on how to get accurate queries in these cases.

[Mariano80]

[Mariano80]

Hello @v-stephen-msft 
thank you for your reply.

I have checked and I think that I was mislead by the behaviour of excel in the source file.

I thought I had formatted the cells as text, as after applying the format they were aligned to the left. Actually they were still formatted as number, and were effectively formatted as text only after double clicking on the cells.

I still do not understand why, if floating number error is involved, extra digits are added, instead of just cutting the digits

[v-stephen-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @Mariano80 ,

It works fine on my device. It's Power Query in Power BI Desktop.

What is your data type in Excel? 

Best Regards,

Stephen Tao

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[Mariano80]

Hello @v-stephen-msft 

I think I have found an explanation

 

I wrongfully assumed that my data were stored as text as I did "format as text" on the column. however they were not as only after  I doubleclicked on the cell the green tick warning appeared. 
 

after forcing the columns as text the issue was resolved. Specificall  I did:

• Select the full column.
• Click DATA | Text to Columns.
• In the dialog, click Next | click Next | choose Text | click Finish.