Excel BI - PowerQuery Challenge 170

excel-challenges
power-query
Calculate the sum of sale for Weekdays and Weekends. Also list down the highest and lowest selling items on the basis of total sale
Published

March 24, 2026

Illustration for Excel BI - PowerQuery Challenge 170

Challenge Description

Calculate the sum of sale for Weekdays and Weekends. Also list down the highest and lowest selling items on the basis of total sale

Solutions

library(tidyverse)
library(readxl)

input = read_excel("Power Query/PQ_Challenge_170.xlsx", range = "A1:C92")
test  = read_excel("Power Query/PQ_Challenge_170.xlsx", range = "E1:H3")

result = input %>%
  mutate(week_part = ifelse(wday(Date) %in% c(1, 7), "Weekend", "Weekday")) %>%
  summarise(total = sum(Sale), 
            .by = c(week_part, Item)) %>%
  mutate(min = min(total),
         max = max(total),
         full_total = sum(total),
         .by = c(week_part)) %>%
  filter(total == min | total == max) %>%
  mutate(min_max = ifelse(total == min, "min", "max")) %>%
  select(-c(total, min, max)) %>%
  pivot_wider(names_from = min_max, values_from = Item, values_fn = list(Item = list)) %>%
  mutate(min = map_chr(min, ~paste(.x, collapse = ", ")),
         max = map_chr(max, ~paste(.x, collapse = ", "))) 

colnames(result) <- colnames(test)

identical(result, test)
# [1] TRUE

  • Logic:

    • Reads the workbook range needed for the challenge

    • Reshapes the data into the structure required by the result table

    • Aggregates or ranks values at the relevant grouping level

    • Builds helper columns that drive the final output

  • Strengths:

    • The R solution stays close to the workbook logic and keeps the transformation compact.

  • Areas for Improvement:

    • The code assumes the workbook layout and selected ranges remain stable.

  • Gem:

    • The best part of the solution is choosing the right intermediate shape before formatting the final output.
import pandas as pd

input = pd.read_excel("PQ_Challenge_170.xlsx", sheet_name="Sheet1", usecols="A:C")
test = pd.read_excel("PQ_Challenge_170.xlsx", sheet_name="Sheet1", usecols="E:H", nrows=2)

result = input.copy()
result["week_part"] = result["Date"].apply(lambda x: "Weekend" if pd.to_datetime(x).weekday() in [5, 6] else "Weekday")
result["total"] = result.groupby(["week_part", "Item"])["Sale"].transform("sum")
result["min"] = result.groupby(["week_part"])["total"].transform("min")
result["max"] = result.groupby(["week_part"])["total"].transform("max")
result["full_total"] = result.groupby(["week_part"])["Sale"].transform("sum")
result = result.drop(columns=["Date"])
result["min_max"] = result.apply(lambda row: "min" if row["total"] == row["min"] else ("max" if row["total"] == row["max"] else "none"), axis=1)
result = result[result["min_max"] != "none"].reset_index(drop=True)
result = result[["Item", "week_part", "min_max",  "full_total"]].drop_duplicates().reset_index(drop=True)
result["Item"] = result.groupby(["full_total", "min_max", "week_part"])["Item"].transform(lambda x: ", ".join(x))
result = result.drop_duplicates().reset_index(drop=True)
result = result.pivot(index=["week_part", "full_total"], columns="min_max", values="Item").reset_index()
result.columns = test.columns

print(result.equals(test)) # True

  • Logic:

    • Reads the workbook range needed for the challenge

    • Reshapes the data into the structure required by the result table

    • Aggregates or ranks values at the relevant grouping level

  • Strengths:

    • The Python version follows the same workbook rule in a direct pandas-oriented implementation.

  • Areas for Improvement:

    • As with the R version, any workbook layout change would require small adjustments.

  • Gem:

    • The implementation stays close to the source challenge instead of adding unnecessary abstraction.

Difficulty Level

This task is moderate:

  • It combines reshaping, grouping, or parsing steps that are common in Power Query style problems.

  • The main challenge is reproducing the workbook output structure exactly.