Is the Power Query Merge similar to SQL JOIN or SQL MERGE

Power Query
1

Hi there,

Is the Power BI, Power Query Merge option similar to the SQL JOIN or SQL MERGE statements?

I have merged my tables in Power BI and the result is that reports have become slow and sluggish. I would like to move the merging process to SQL Server but am not sure whether a SQL MERGE or SQL JOIN would be the same as the merges I did in Power Query.

Hope you can provide some guidance with this?

Thank you!

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@powerbideveloper

Yes it’s same. Instead of merging in PQ or SQL, you can create relations in Power BI data model.

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Hi @powerbideveloper. Yes, they are the same, but SQL also allows the developer many more join options. Aside from the standard 7 simple types of SQL joins,

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one can also use SQL to create quite a complex join criteria. I’d slightly modify Roche’s Maxim (do transformations as far upstream as possible and as far downstream as necessary) and apply this to linking as well, especially if it would benefit not only the current project but other reporting projects as well.

My 2 cents…

Greg

1 Like
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Thanks, @Rajesh!

The reason I need to do the merges is due to the relationships being problematic. So, now that I’ve confirmed that there are no other techniques being used in the Power Query merge I will go ahead and perform the necessary joins in SQL Server.

Thanks so much!

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Thanks @Greg, I agree, SQL has many great options!