You use Power Query to import two tables named Order Header and Order Details from an Azure SQL database. The Order Header table relates to the Order…

The goal is to combine two tables, Order Header and Order Details, based on a common column, Order ID. This operation is equivalent to a relational join. In Power Query, the "Merge queries" feature is used to perform join operations. It combines two existing tables by matching values in one or more corresponding columns, resulting in a single table that can include columns from both original tables. This directly addresses the requirement to create a single query with the unique columns of each table.

B. Append queries: This operation stacks rows from multiple tables vertically. It is used when the tables have the same column structure, not for joining related data based on a key.

C. Combine files: This feature is specifically for consolidating data from multiple files (e.g., CSVs or Excel workbooks in a folder) into a single table, which is not the scenario here.

1. Microsoft Power Query Documentation. "Merge queries overview." This document explicitly states

"In Power Query

you can merge two or more tables into a single table... The merge operation joins two existing tables together based on matching values from one or multiple columns."

Source: Microsoft Learn

Power Query documentation. Section: "Merge queries overview".

2. Microsoft Power Query Documentation. "Append queries." This document clarifies the function of appending: "The append operation creates a single table by adding the contents of one or more tables to another

and aggregates the column headers from the tables to create the schema for the new table." This describes a vertical combination (like SQL UNION)

not a horizontal join.

Source: Microsoft Learn

Power Query documentation. Section: "Append queries".

3. Microsoft Power Query Documentation. "Combine files overview." This document defines the specific use case for this feature: "One of the most powerful features of Power Query is the ability to combine multiple files from a given data source that have the same schema into a single logical table." This confirms it is not for joining database tables.

Source: Microsoft Learn

Power Query documentation. Section: "Combine files overview".