Choose columns from list

[whiskeybravo91]

Howdy. I've got monthly data that I receive across 2000 zones, of which I only need a few hundred. I have a list of the ones I need and I'm trying to use  table.removecolumns with the list as a reference but keep getting errors. I know I could manually just pick the ones I need, but where's the query fun in that? Sample data below, I can provide a sanitzed pbi book if needed

Date	1	2	3
12/1	34	46	54
12/2	23	52	75
12/3	23	56	34
12/4	43	62	42

Zone

2

4

5

[parry2k]

can you make sure the type of that column is text.

[whiskeybravo91]

Yes I can.

[v-kkf-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @whiskeybravo91 ,

Please make sure the type of the list is in text format in the Power Query Editor instead of Desktop model. 

Or you can try the Number.ToText function to convert the type of the list to text.

= Table.RemoveColumns(#"Changed Type", List.Transform(pixellist, each Number.ToText(_)))

If the problem is still not resolved, please provide detailed error information or the expected result you expect. Let me know immediately, looking forward to your reply.
Best Regards,
Winniz
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[whiskeybravo91]

I found the error. The list I had contained selections from another tab, not just the tab I was using for the example. So the data is broken across zones, zones 1-10 on a tab, 11-20 on a tab, etc etc. The list I was using had all the ones I needed across all the tabs. Once I adjusted the list to just have the values on the 1st tab, it worked like a dream. Thank you!

[parry2k]

@whiskeybravo91 what is pixellist? 

[whiskeybravo91]

the list of zones I need

[parry2k]

@whiskeybravo91 or you can add a step by removing a column and changing that remove column step to this

in the following code, columntoremove is  a table that has a list of columns you want to remove and remove is a column in that table, you can change these values as per your table/column names

Table.RemoveColumns(#"Some Ste",ColumnToRemove[Remove])

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[whiskeybravo91]

I've been trying that but I keep getting this error:

[parry2k]

@whiskeybravo91 you should unpivot your data and then it is super easy to filter.

✨ Follow us on LinkedIn and  to our YouTube channel

Learn about conditional formatting at Microsoft Reactor

My latest blog post The Power of Using Calculation Groups with Inactive Relationships (Part 1) (perytus.com) I would ❤ Kudos if my solution helped. 👉 If you can spend time posting the question, you can also make efforts to give Kudos to whoever helped to solve your problem. It is a token of appreciation!

⚡ Visit us at https://perytus.com, your one-stop-shop for Power BI-related projects/training/consultancy.