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While transforming your data, you may need to change the data type of one or more columns. For example, data of String type may be the easiest to manipulate. Since there are no mismatched values for String data type, you may wish to change a column's data type to this baseline type.
- Data types that you see in the Transformer page represent types that are understood by the product.
Tip: You can use the Change Column Type transformation to override the data type inferred for a column. However, if a new transformation step is added, the column data type is re-inferred, which may override your specific typing. You should consider applying Change Column Type transformations as late as possible in your recipes.
For more information on the available data types, see Supported Data Types.
Change Type
You can change a column's data type in one of the following ways:
Change from Column Menus
You can change the data type for individual columns through the following column menus:
To the left of the column name, you can click the icon and select a new data type from the list.
Figure: Column Data Type Menu
To the right of the column name, you can click the caret to open the column menu. Select Change Type and make a selection from the sub-menu.
Tip: Both of the above methods become individual steps in your recipe.
Change Data Type for Multiple Columns
If you must change the data type for multiple columns to a single data type, you can use a transformation like the following, which changes the columns LastName, FirstName, and Address to String data type.
| Transformation Name | Change column type |
|---|---|
| Parameter: Column 1 | LastName |
| Parameter: Column 2 | FirstName |
| Parameter: Column 3 | Address |
| Parameter: New Type | String |
NOTE: When specifying a data type by name, you must use the internal value for the data type. The value in the column menu is the display name for the type.
For more information, see Valid Data Type Strings.
Change Datetime Data Type
If you are changing a column's data type to Datetime, you must also select a format string to apply to the column.
Via column menus
You can apply a Datetime data type through the column menus. When you choose the Datetime data type, you must apply a format for your Datetime values. For more information, see Choose Datetime Format Dialog.
Via Transform Builder
In the Transformer Builder, you can apply a specific transformation to format one or more columns to Datetime data type, using a specific format.
Tip: You can use the following transformation to change the format of a Datetime column.
This transformation looks like the following:
| Transformation Name | Change column type |
|---|---|
| Parameter: Columns | Multiple |
| Parameter: Column 1 | myDate |
| Parameter: New Type | Date/Time |
| Parameter: Date/time Type | month*dd*yyyy*hh:MMaX |
For more information, see Datetime Data Type.
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