azure-data-factory

Azure Data Factory - data flow expression unexpectedly scrambled

I have an usual derive Columns activity in my ADF data flow, which is simply concatenation of some fields and should be error-free.

The expression in expression builder: enter image description here

First unexpected behaviour I observed is that, there is no data preview available in the expression builder (while other fields in same derive column activity have): enter image description here When I press the "Save and finish" button, the display in the Derived Column's settings show error in the expression: enter image description here I tried to investigate and reopen the expression builder, the expression is unexpectedly scrambled: enter image description here

Is there any explanation for the behaviour? And do we have some fix / workaround for me to keep the original expression?

Many thanks in advance

Solution

  • Use curl brackets in the expression to include the columns.

    toString({ContactType@ID}) + '_' + toString({ContactType@Name}) + '_' + toString({ContactType@ModifiedDate})

    enter image description here

    You can also use the CONCAT function to combine multiple string values to get a value.

    concat(toString({ContactType@ID}) , '_' , toString({ContactType@Name}) , '_' , toString({ContactType@ModifiedDate}))

    enter image description here