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PL-300 · 1.3.1 · Prepare the data

Column data types

Select appropriate column data types

Choose explicit to avoid rounding, conversion, and aggregation problems.

Choose the type explicitly

Power Query Transform tab with the Data type menu showing common types and Using locale.

The selected type controls how interprets values and which transformations are available. Structured sources often provide types from their schema; text and CSV sources commonly require detection or explicit conversion.

Precision and locale

Using matters when text dates or numbers follow a regional format different from the current Power Query locale.

Pick the type from the meaning

Whole numbers are appropriate for counts and integer keys. Decimal numbers are approximate floating-point values. is suited to exact four-decimal values such as money. Date and Date/Time types enable date operations that plain text cannot.

Set the intended type before relying on sorting, aggregation, or conversion behavior.

Exam clue: money favors Fixed decimal; parsing problems often point to Using locale.

Key points

  • : exact four-decimal storage
  • Decimal: and possible rounding drift
  • Structured sources: types come from schema
  • : controls text-to-type conversion

Click an underlined term for a one-line explanation, or see them all in the glossary .

Exam trap

For exact money values, is safer than floating-point Decimal.

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