What is Power Query?
Power Query is a powerful data transformation and data preparation engine. It comes with a graphical interface for accessing data from various sources and a Power Query Editor for applying transformations.
The engine's availability in multiple products and services means the destination for the data depends on where Power Query is used. It enables the extract, transform, and load (ETL) processing of data, allowing users to connect to a wide range of data sources and perform various transformations.
Business users often spend a significant amount of time on data preparation, and Power Query helps address the challenges associated with this. It makes finding and connecting to data easier, provides a consistent experience across data sources, and enables rapid and iterative data shaping. Users can define a repeatable process that can be refreshed to get up-to-date data.
The Power Query user experience is offered through the Power Query Editor user interface, which aims to simplify the application of transformations. It provides a user-friendly set of components for connecting to data sources and applying transformations.
Power Query includes many prebuilt transformation functions that can be used through the graphical interface. Options range from simple operations like removing columns and filtering rows to more advanced ones like merging, appending, grouping, pivoting, and unpivoting.
In cases where the graphical editor is insufficient, the Power Query engine uses the Power Query M formula language. This scripting language allows for advanced transformations and fine-tuning of functions.
Power Query can be used in various Microsoft products and services, as shown in the provided table. It offers a valuable solution for data transformation and preparation in the context of business intelligence and data visualization.
