Control what columns to export & load to Power BI with lists in Power Query|Maintain Headers in list
By default when you export any tables in Power Query the names of the columns are automatically recognised and hard coded by Power Query. This can lead to a number of inefficiencies in Power BI:
1) data transformation refresh time;
2) Hard coding lead to future re-work (e.g. when column names are changed/removed you have to update each step where the column names are mentioned in each query)
3) When a new column needs to be added in each step in a query the hard coding part need to be extended to include the name of the new column;
The approach that I use very often is a hard coded list with column names that is acting as a source for any references to the columns in a query. This results in:
1) A single location where you maintain the list of columns names;
2) You don't need to repeat yourself by typing the same names in multiple steps in a query;
3) Better readability;
4) Faster export time as you only select what is required;
5) Fewer chance for data type errors due to the fewer columns;
Links to previous videos:
How to combine Excel files from a folder:
• Combine excel files from a folder using Po...
How to combine CSV files from a folder:
• Combine CSV files in Power Query with auto...
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