How do I select attributes from another selection of elements

Question

I am using Excel's Power Query in order to test a SQL query that I am eventually going to use in order to make a pivot table that stays updated with the database. The database is accessed through an ODBC.

The problem is not related to Power Query itself but simply the SQL request. Here I am trying to select all bills from the "facturation" (French database) table that are from the current year (2021). I am naming this selected data FACTURES_ANEE_COURANTE.

Then I want to also select some attributes of those items from 2021 in order to display them in the pivot table, but only on the selection that I just made in order to only select (and show) bills from the current year.

select * as FACTURES_ANNEE_COURANTE 
from facturation 
where year(date_fact)=2021 limit 3, select date_fact from FACTURES_ANNEE_COURANTE

I only have very basic knowledge of SQL and therefore this does not seem to work, the second part of my request that is (the first one works). I'm trying to do this in order to be able to show these specific attributes in the pivot table. What's the proper way to select attributes only from my first selection of elements from my table facturation?

Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

A major advantage of Power Query is being able to generate complex logic without needing to be able to code in SQL. So I would abandon writing hand coded SQL - there's no need.

Before PQ came out I had 2 decades of experience writing complex SQL. After PQ came out I've written almost none - the SQL code generated by PQ is good enough, you can easily add complex transformations that are hard/impossible in SQL, and overall developing and debugging is 10x easier.

For your scenario, I would build a PQ query just using the navigation to select your facturation table. Then I would use the PQ UI to Filter (instead of a SQL where clause) and Choose Columns (to restrict the columns returned).

Whatever other transformations you need are likely met using a button in the PQ UI.