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JeffJ625's avatar
JeffJ625
Copper Contributor
Sep 15, 2019

Formatting Issue (Getting data from 1 column into 7 columns)

Hello. I'm having a devil of a problem trying to import data from the web and getting it into Excel in roughly the same columned format.  I'm copying the relevant data (which is information that I've put together using various filter selections on a specific web site) and then pasting it into Excel.  When I do this, all of the data is shown in one long column.  It looks roughly like this (using the info from just 2 companies):

 

Loving Care Agency, Inc.

Health Services, Hospital & Health Care

$200 Million - $1 Billion

(201) 403-9300

Hasbrouck Heights, NJ

lovingcareagency.com

1971

Frontline Consulting Services Inc.

Business Services, Information Technology and Services

$100 Million - $200 Million

(704) 510-1998

Charlotte, NC

fcs-inc.com

1996

 

I need to get this data into 7 columns (Company Name; Industry; Yearly Revenue; Phone #; Location; Web Site; Year Founded). Using "Text to Columns" is no help as there are no delimiters (commas, tabs, spaces, etc.).  Is there any way to get this data into the same columns as they are presented on the original web site, or do I have to manually insert a delimiter after each line of data?  Any help will be GREATLY appreciated.  Thank you.

excel

9 Replies

  • Subodh_Tiwari_sktneer's avatar
    Subodh_Tiwari_sktneer
    Silver Contributor
    Sep 15, 2019

    JeffJ625 

    You may use Power Query to get the data in the desired format.

    To do so, follow these steps...

     

    1. Convert your one column Web Data into an Excel Table if not already formatted as an Excel Table and to do that select your data and press Ctrl+T and uncheck the CheckBox for "My table has headers" and click OK.
    2. Rename the Excel Table you just created with "WebData".
    3. Now go to Data Tab and  under Get & Transform Data group, click on Get Data --> From Other Sources --> Blank Query. This will open Power Query Editor Window.
    4. On Power Query Editor Window --> View --> and click on Advanced Editor and delete whatever you see that and paste the query given below in the Advanced Editor and click on OK.
    5. Now go to Home Tab on Power Query Editor Window and click on Close & Load. This will load the table with data in the desired format into a new sheet.

     

    Query:

     

    let
    Source = Excel.CurrentWorkbook(){[Name="WebData"]}[Content],
    #"Removed Blank Rows" = Table.SelectRows(Source, each not List.IsEmpty(List.RemoveMatchingItems(Record.FieldValues(_), {"", null}))),
    #"Changed Type" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(#"Removed Blank Rows",{{"Column1", type any}}),
    #"Added Index" = Table.AddIndexColumn(#"Changed Type", "Index", 0, 1),
    #"Inserted Modulo" = Table.AddColumn(#"Added Index", "Modulo", each Number.Mod([Index], 7), type number),
    #"Pivoted Column" = Table.Pivot(Table.TransformColumnTypes(#"Inserted Modulo", {{"Modulo", type text}}, "en-IN"), List.Distinct(Table.TransformColumnTypes(#"Inserted Modulo", {{"Modulo", type text}}, "en-IN")[Modulo]), "Modulo", "Column1"),
    #"Removed Columns" = Table.RemoveColumns(#"Pivoted Column",{"Index"}),
    #"Filled Up" = Table.FillUp(#"Removed Columns",{"1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6"}),
    #"Filtered Rows" = Table.SelectRows(#"Filled Up", each ([0] <> null)),
    #"Renamed Columns" = Table.RenameColumns(#"Filtered Rows",{{"0", "Company Name"}, {"1", "Industry"}, {"2", "Yearly Revenue"}, {"3", "Phone#"}, {"4", "Location"}, {"5", "Website"}, {"6", "Year Founded"}})
in
    #"Renamed Columns"

     

     

    Also, if you are getting the web data through the From Web under Get & Transformed Data Group, you may tweak the existing query to get the data in the desired format.

    • JeffJ625's avatar
      JeffJ625
      Copper Contributor
      Sep 15, 2019

      Subodh_Tiwari_sktneer 

       

      Subodh (and Sergei)...thank you very much for responding.  I've tried both of your Power Querys and get the same message:

       

      Expression.Error: We couldn't find an Excel table named 'WebData".

      Details:

           WebData

       

      What am I doing wrong?

      - Jeff

      • SergeiBaklan's avatar
        SergeiBaklan
        Diamond Contributor
        Sep 16, 2019

        JeffJ625 

        And much better, if you don't copy/paste from web but query the web, combine transformations suggested here with the initial query. If that's copy/paste perhaps it's worth to try query the web, finally it'll be one click solution - open the file, refresh all.

    • SergeiBaklan's avatar
      SergeiBaklan
      Diamond Contributor
      Sep 15, 2019

      Subodh_Tiwari_sktneer 

      Bit another transformation

      let

    ColumnNames = {"Company Name", "Industry", "Yearly Revenue", "Phone#", "Location", "Website", "Year Founded"},
    ItemsInGroup =7,

    Source = Excel.CurrentWorkbook(){[Name="WebData"]}[Content],
    RemoveNulls = Table.SelectRows(
        Source,
        each not List.IsEmpty(
            List.RemoveMatchingItems(Record.FieldValues(_), {"", null})
        )
    ),
    GroupsToLists = Table.FromList(
        List.Split(
            RemoveNulls[Column1],
            ItemsInGroup
        ),
        Splitter.SplitByNothing()
    ),
    GroupsToRecords = Table.ReplaceValue(
        GroupsToLists,
        each [Column1] ,
        each Record.FromList([Column1],ColumnNames),
        Replacer.ReplaceValue,{"Column1"}
    ),
    ExpandRecords = Table.ExpandRecordColumn(
        GroupsToRecords,
        "Column1", ColumnNames, ColumnNames
    )
in
    ExpandRecords

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