Text.FromBinary

Text.FromBinary is a Power Query M function that decodes binary data into a text value using a specified encoding type. The function returns the decoded text value.

Compatible with: Power BI Service Power BI Desktop Excel Microsoft 365

Syntax

Text.FromBinary(
   binary as nullable binary,
   optional encoding as nullable number,
) as nullable text

Argument	Attribute	Description
binary
encoding	optional	Uses the TextEncoding.Type to specify the text’s binary encoding format. By default, if not provided, the argument uses TextEncoding.Utf8 (UTF8 binary form). Other available options are: – TextEncoding.Unicode: use the UTF16 little-endian binary form. – TextEncoding.Utf16: use the UTF16 little-endian binary form. – TextEncoding.BigEndianUnicode: use the UTF16 big endian binary form. – TextEncoding.Windows: use the Windows binary form. – TextEncoding.Ascii: use the ASCII binary form.

Description

The Text.FromBinary function converts binary data back into a text string in Power Query M. You can specify an encoding type to use for the decoding operation.

Examples

The Text.FromBinary function can be particularly useful in certain scenarios, such as identifying diacritic characters in a text string. Let’s explore how this function works with a couple of examples.

Converting Text with Diacritics to Binary and Back

Suppose you have the text “Oldřich Nejedlý” and want to convert it to binary using Text.ToBinary. Then, you convert it back to text using Text.FromBinary. Instead of returning the original diacritic characters (like ř), it returns a question mark (?) wherever it encounters such a character.

// Output: "Old?ich Nejedl?"
let
  toBinary = Text.ToBinary( "Oldřich Nejedlý", 1361 ),
  toText = Text.FromBinary( toBinary )
in 
  toText

This method can help you identify how many diacritic characters are in a string and their positions, based on where the question marks appear in the output. Let’s take another example with the text “Dražan Jerković”.

// Output: "Dra?an Jerkovi?"
let
  toBinary = Text.ToBinary( "Dražan Jerković", 1361 ),
  toText = Text.FromBinary( toBinary )
in 
  toText

To find the positions of these question marks, you can use the Text.PositionOfAny function with the Occurrence.All enumeration. This will help you locate where the diacritic characters were originally placed in the text.

// Output of toText = "Dra?an Jerkovi?"
// Output of Positions = { 3, 11 }
let
  toBinary = Text.ToBinary( "Dražan Jerković", 1361 ),
  toText = Text.FromBinary( toBinary ), 
  Positions = Text.PositionOfAny( toText, { "?" }, Occurrence.All ) 
in 
  Positions

Related functions

Other functions related to Text.FromBinary are:

• Text.From
• Text.ToBinary
• Text.ToList

Contribute » | Contributors: Rick de Groot
Microsoft documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powerquery-m/text-frombinary