Changing the data type of a column

The data type determines the possible formats for the values in a column and sometimes it also limits which axes a column can be placed on, and the operations that can be done with the column. If the data type is wrong, you may be unable to use your data the way you want. It is easy to change the data type in the expanded Data in analysis flyout.

Prerequisites

You must have some data loaded in the analysis, and the analysis must be in Editing mode.

Procedure

  1. On the authoring bar, click Data in analysis and click on the column of interest.
  2. In the expanded flyout, make sure that Details on selected column is selected.
  3. In the expanded flyout, locate the Data type section and change the data type.
  4. In some cases, you may also need to click Settings Settings button., to define how the values in the column should be converted to the new data type.
    Different conversions require different settings. For example, if you want to convert a String into a Date you may need to specify the locale used in the string, or, define how the date should be interpreted using a custom format string.

Result

The data type is immediately updated, both in the data flyout and in any visualizations.