Rename all column headers removing part before to separator

[cgkas]

Hello to all,

I have a table with headers of the form

Table.text1.text2.text3:HeaderName1
Table.text1.text2.text3.text4.text5:HeaderName2
Table.text1.text2:HeaderName3

I´d like to remane all headers removing all the characters before the separator ":", so the new headers names would be:

HeaderName1
HeaderName2
HeaderName3

I've tried changing one header with this code:

= Table.RenameColumns(#"Step5",{{"Table.text2:HeaderName1", "HeaderName1"}})

But how can I rename all the headers in one step?

Thanks in advance

[mussaenda]

Hi, can you share sample data?

[Anonymous]

Are you looking for a generic code which will go through all the field names of any input table and correct the field names dynamically without you specifying the field names explicitly?

OR

The table and the field names are fixed and you want a code which works on the specific table only?

[cgkas]

Hello. Yes I would like to rename all headers dynamically.

I saw this function text-afterdelimiter

Maybe a combination of 

Table.TransformColumnNames() or Table.RenameColumns() with Text.AfterDelimiter()

so the idea would be to get only the text after the delimiter ":" but I don´t know how to do it.

Sample table would be like this:

+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------+-------------------------------+
| Table.text1.text2.text3:HeaderName1 | Table.text1.text2.text3.text4.text5:HeaderName2 | Table.text1.text2:HeaderName3 |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------+-------------------------------+
| 1                                   | 2                                               | 4                             |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------+-------------------------------+
| 7                                   | 3                                               | 4                             |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------+-------------------------------+

[mussaenda]

let
    Source = Table.FromRows(Json.Document(Binary.Decompress(Binary.FromText("i45WMlTSUTICYhOlWJ1oJXMgyxjCiwUA", BinaryEncoding.Base64), Compression.Deflate)), let _t = ((type text) meta [Serialized.Text = true]) in type table [#" Table.text1.text2.text3:HeaderName1" = _t, #"Table.text1.text2.text3.text4.text5:HeaderName2" = _t, #"Table.text1.text2:HeaderName3" = _t]),
    #"Changed Type" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(Source,{{" Table.text1.text2.text3:HeaderName1", Int64.Type}, {"Table.text1.text2.text3.text4.text5:HeaderName2", Int64.Type}, {"Table.text1.text2:HeaderName3", Int64.Type}}),
    #"Demoted Headers" = Table.DemoteHeaders(#"Changed Type"),
    #"Changed Type1" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(#"Demoted Headers",{{"Column1", type any}, {"Column2", type any}, {"Column3", type any}}),
    #"Transposed Table" = Table.Transpose(#"Changed Type1"),
    #"Split Column by Delimiter" = Table.SplitColumn(#"Transposed Table", "Column1", Splitter.SplitTextByDelimiter(":", QuoteStyle.Csv), {"Column1.1", "Column1.2"}),
    #"Changed Type2" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(#"Split Column by Delimiter",{{"Column1.1", type text}, {"Column1.2", type text}}),
    #"Removed Columns" = Table.RemoveColumns(#"Changed Type2",{"Column1.1"}),
    #"Transposed Table1" = Table.Transpose(#"Removed Columns"),
    #"Promoted Headers" = Table.PromoteHeaders(#"Transposed Table1", [PromoteAllScalars=true]),
    #"Changed Type3" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(#"Promoted Headers",{{"HeaderName1", Int64.Type}, {"HeaderName2", Int64.Type}, {"HeaderName3", Int64.Type}})
in
    #"Changed Type3"

Hi, please see the applied steps above.

Below is the screenshot after transformation using your provided sample data.

[cgkas]

Thanks for your help mussaenda. But I'm still think this could be reached with a single command.

[v-juanli-msft]

Hi @cgkas 

We need more steps than a single command to solve this problem. (even using the suggestion Text.AfterDelimiter)

Steps are as below:

1. add an index column

2. click on index column, unpivot other columns

3. add a custom column

4. remove column "Attribute",

click on "Custom" column, select "pivot column"

Code in Advanced editor

let
    Source = Table.FromRows(Json.Document(Binary.Decompress(Binary.FromText("i45WMlTSUTIGYjOlWJ1oJSMgywSILZViYwE=", BinaryEncoding.Base64), Compression.Deflate)), let _t = ((type text) meta [Serialized.Text = true]) in type table [#"Table.text1.text2.text3:HeaderName1" = _t, #"Table.text1.text2.text3.text4.text5:HeaderName2" = _t, #"Table.text1.text2:HeaderName3" = _t]),
    #"Changed Type" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(Source,{{"Table.text1.text2.text3:HeaderName1", Int64.Type}, {"Table.text1.text2.text3.text4.text5:HeaderName2", Int64.Type}, {"Table.text1.text2:HeaderName3", Int64.Type}}),
    #"Added Index1" = Table.AddIndexColumn(#"Changed Type", "Index", 1, 1),
    #"Unpivoted Other Columns" = Table.UnpivotOtherColumns(#"Added Index1", {"Index"}, "Attribute", "Value"),
    #"Added Custom" = Table.AddColumn(#"Unpivoted Other Columns", "Custom", each Text.AfterDelimiter([Attribute],":")),
    #"Removed Columns" = Table.RemoveColumns(#"Added Custom",{"Attribute"}),
    #"Pivoted Column" = Table.Pivot(#"Removed Columns", List.Distinct(#"Removed Columns"[Custom]), "Custom", "Value", List.Sum)
in
    #"Pivoted Column"

Best Regards
Maggie

Community Support Team _ Maggie Li
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[cgkas · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your help and time Maggi @v-juanli-msft  and @mussaenda ,

I found the solution combining Text.AfterDelimiter() with List.Zip() and List.Transform in a single command like below, maybe could help someone in the future.

let
    Source = Excel.CurrentWorkbook(){[Name="Table1"]}[Content],
    RenameColumns = Table.RenameColumns( Source, List.Zip( 
                  { 
                    Table.ColumnNames( Source ), 
                    List.Transform(Table.ColumnNames( Source ), each Text.AfterDelimiter( _, ":") ) 
                   } ) )
in
    RenameColumns

Regards