Uri.BuildQueryString

Uri.BuildQueryString is a Power Query M function that assembles a record query into a URI query string, escaping characters as necessary. The function returns a properly formatted and escaped URI query string based on the input record.

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

Syntax

Uri.BuildQueryString( query as record ) as text

Description

The Uri.BuildQueryString function encodes a record (a collection of key-value pairs) into a URL-encoded query string. This is useful for constructing URLs with parameters, especially when special characters and spaces must be represented in a way that adheres to URL encoding standards.

Examples

Encode a query string which contains some special characters.

// Output: "a=1&b=%2B%24"
Uri.BuildQueryString( [a = "1", b = "+$"] )

Suppose you want to create an authorization URL to connect to the Discord API. Here’s a simplified example of how this logic might look:

let
  authorize_uri = "https://discord.com/api/oauth2/authorize?",
  myRecord =
    [
        client_id = "111222333",
        redirect_uri = "http://localhost/discord/redirect",
        response_type = "code",
        scope = "identify email connections guilds guilds.members. read"
    ],
// Generates: "client_id=111222333&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%2Fdiscord%2Fredirect&response_type=code&scope=identify%20email%20connections%20guilds%20guilds.members.%0D%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20read"
  queryString = Uri.BuildQueryString( myRecord ),
  AuthorizeURL = authorize_uri & queryString
in
  AuthorizeURL

The Uri.BuildQueryString function takes the record myRecord as input and converts it into a properly encoded query string that can be appended to a URL. So how does that work?

• Input (myRecord): myRecord is a collection of key-value pairs that represent the parameters required for the authorization URL:
• Output (queryString): The Uri.BuildQueryString function takes the record (myRecord) and converts it into a properly encoded query string. For example:
  • Special characters like / in redirect_uri are encoded as %2F.
  • Spaces in scope are encoded as %20.
• Final URL (AuthorizeURL): The base URL (authorize_uri) is combined with the encoded query string (queryString) to produce the final authorization URL: “https://discord.com/api/oauth2/authorize?client_id=111222333&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%2Fdiscord%2Fredirect&response_type=code&scope=identify%20email%20connections%20guilds%20guilds.members.read”

This URL can be used to initiate the OAuth2 authorization flow for your application.

Related functions

Other functions related to Uri.BuildQueryString are:

• Uri.Combine
• Uri.EscapeDataString
• Uri.Parts

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