Pivoting Text Data
Overview
Here we explain a technique for pivoting non-numeric text data.
Pivoting Text Data
Often data needs to be transformed into a particular ‘shape’ before it can be used for further analysis, such as in the tables below, where the table on the left-hand side needs to be transformed into one that looks like the one on the right-hand side.
In the left-hand side table, column A contains the attribute, and B the values, and every 4 lines of data is a record. This kind of transformation problem is very common with older systems, when you cannot change the format of the extracted data.
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You cannot pivot Text Data directly
This is NOT how to do it. If you click on Column A above, in Power Query, and select ‘Pivot Column’, you will get the following results:
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This approach won’t work, because Power Query does not know how to uniquely identify each record set.
Steps
In the data above, every 4 consecutive rows represents a record. So you need to assign every 4 rows with a next ID number. This unique ID number can then be used, to pivot the data on, to produce the desired results.
1. Add an Index Column
- Click anywhere in the Table ➔ go to the Data tab (in Excel) ➔ click the From Table / Range icon.
In the Query Editor, add a new Index Column.
- Go to the ‘Add Column’ tab ➔ click the ‘Index Column’ icon
- Choose to add the ‘Index Column’ starting from ‘0’
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2. Divide the Index column by 4
- Click on the Index column ➔ go to the ‘Transform’ tab ➔ click on the ‘Standard’ icon
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- Choose to divide by 4 ➔ click OK
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The index column should now look as follows:
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3. Pivot the Data
Now, the data is ready to be pivoted
- Select Column 1 ➔ click the ‘Pivot Column’ icon under the ‘Transform’ tab
- Choose Column 2 as the Values column
- Under Advanced options, choose ‘Don’t Aggregate’
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The data will now pivot properly, and look as follows:
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4. Load the data to Excel
- Finally, remove the Index column as it is now no longer needed
- Close and Load the query to Excel
After some formatting, you should have a table that looks like this, showing the data in the desired layout!
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