Power Query in Power BI is a powerful data transformation and preparation tool. It enables users to connect to various data sources, clean, reshape, and transform data before loading it into Power BI for analysis and visualization.
It has a graphical user interface and a Power Query Editor that records and labels each transformation applied to the data. The transformations are recorded as steps in the background and can be viewed and modified in the Query Settings pane. Users can also write their own steps using the Power Query M Language in the Advanced Editor. It can help users to work more efficiently by allowing them to visually perform data transformations and save them for future use.
Key Features of Power Query:
Data Connectivity: Connects to multiple data sources, including Excel, SQL databases, cloud services, and APIs.
Data Transformation: Offers a user-friendly interface for data cleaning, such as removing duplicates, filtering, splitting columns, and changing data types.
Query Editor: Provides an intuitive, code-free environment to apply transformations and view results in real time.
M Language: Allows advanced users to write custom transformations using the underlying “M” scripting language.
Reusability: Supports saving query logic to refresh data with updated inputs automatically.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with Power BI, Excel, and other Microsoft tools, enhancing workflow efficiency.
It is essential for preparing raw data and ensuring it is in the optimal format for insightful analytics and reporting.
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