Hey Technical and Reporting wizards!
Have you ever wanted to create a formula in Microsoft Excel starting with the result you need, even if you’re not sure how to get there? If you know what you want but aren’t sure of the steps, Power Query offers a simple and powerful way to make it happen!
You will need to already be in the Power Query-verse for this one-step wonder. To enter Power Query Editor, simply click inside your data range or table, go to Data > From Table/Range
Now for the one step to rule them all! Simply go to Add Column > Column From Examples. Then, enter sample values in a new column. Start typing in what you want the value to be.
Use the formula bar to see the formula being generated, which you can also edit, if needed.
Et voilà! Okay, maybe it technically took more than one step—but “one-step wonder” just sounded better!
Check out the infographic below for a quick illustration of this sort of one-step wonder.