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Add Todays Date to Header of existing column|Power Query|Excel Forum|My Online Training Hub

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sp_CrumbsHome HomeExcel ForumPower QueryAdd Todays Date to Header of existi…
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Add Todays Date to Header of existing column
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Dave Green
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February 24, 2019 - 7:55 am
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Hi

I have a situation where i need to import data every other day as a new column and i need to be able to change the header of the imported column to Todays Date  - as Text so it stays permenantly to the date of the import.

Is this possible in Power Query?

I am using Excel 2016

 

Many thanks for any pointers

GreenBoy

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Mynda Treacy
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February 24, 2019 - 1:45 pm
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In theory yes, but I haven't seen your data so it's difficult to be specific.

Assuming the new data has a column header that is today's date, or at least different to all column headers in the existing query, then you can merge the new query with the existing one it will be added as a new column. You can then rename the column with today's date.

That said, it's not the correct format to have a column for each date's data. Better to have a column that contains the date and then a column/s that contain the other information. From there you can create a PivotTable to show the dates across the columns.

Mynda

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Dave Green
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February 24, 2019 - 7:21 pm
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Thanks Mynda

After scratching around for a while i found this solution - not too elegant, but works

I grab the new data,

demote the headers,

add a custom column filled with today's date called today, 

add conditional column that looks for the header in the data column i want to keep if found use value in the custom column else use value from the Data column

Promote headers

delete unwanted columns, 

Merge to original data set

And that's it  - as i say not elegant but it works

Lesson learnt - the solution isn't always a cool function in M code, but sometimes just a bunch of simple steps to move stuff around.... 

 

Thanks again

GreenBoy

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Mynda Treacy
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February 25, 2019 - 8:43 am
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Glad you found a solution. I wouldn't worry about having a load of steps to get to the end result. It often doesn't make the query any less efficient than a single custom M function 🙂

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