Writing queries with M

Once you become more confident with modifying existing steps that were created using the UI, you can further explore M language by creating elements such as values, lists, or tables without connecting to data sources, but directly coding from the Advanced Editor. In this recipe, we will see how M language works when writing queries from scratch. You will perform numerical operations, define variables, and create lists and simple tables.

Getting ready

In this recipe, you need to download the FactInternetSales.csv file.

In this example, we will refer to the C:\Data folder.

How to do it…

Once you open your Power BI Desktop application, you are ready to perform the following steps:

1. Click on Get Data and select the Blank query connector:
   

   Figure 7.33 – Text/CSV connector

2. The Power Query UI will pop up and you will see an empty query with its default name as Query1:

   Figure 7.34 – Blank query

3. Browse to the Home tab and...