Splitter.SplitTextByLengths

Makes a function that cuts text into pieces of given lengths, one after the other: fixed-width fields.

Group: Splitters, combiners, replacers and comparers. Power Query M has it too: a query that uses it is written as in Power BI.

Syntax

Splitter.SplitTextByLengths(lengths as list, optional startAtEnd as nullable logical) as function

Returns

function. A splitter: given a text, a piece for each length.

Remarks

• A splitter is a function of one text that gives a list of texts. Table.SplitColumn and Table.FromList take one; you can also call it yourself, as the examples do.
• Lengths count characters, so the pieces line up with fixed-width files and codes.
• With startAtEnd the first length is measured from the end of the text, the next one before it; the pieces come in the text's order.

Examples

A fixed-width code

Splitter.SplitTextByLengths({2, 4, 3})("NO0150OSL")

{"NO", "0150", "OSL"}

The last fields of a code

Splitter.SplitTextByLengths({3, 4}, true)("NO0150OSL")

{"0150", "OSL"}

The first length is taken from the end, the city's three letters; then the postcode's four before them.

A fixed-width column into three

let
    Codes = #table({"Code"}, {{"NO0150OSL"}, {"SE1112STO"}})
in
    Table.SplitColumn(Codes, "Code", Splitter.SplitTextByLengths({2, 4, 3}), {"Country", "Postcode", "City"})

Related functions

Splitter.SplitTextByPositions, Text.Middle, Table.SplitColumn.

Last updated 8 November 2026 · OpenBI Studio 0.3.79