Shape · Columns

Cast Types

Changes a column's type, such as text to number or text to date. You choose what happens to a value that won't convert: stop the run, or make it blank with or without a warning.

Also known as: Data type, change type

How it works

Click Add rule and pick a column and a target type: VARCHAR, BIGINT (64-bit integer), INTEGER (32-bit integer), DOUBLE, BOOLEAN, DATE, TIMESTAMP, TIME or DECIMAL, which also takes a precision and scale; DOUBLE has an optional round dp. The third control says what happens to a value that will not convert: Error stops the run, Warn (the default) sets it to null and badges the node with how many values it lost, Ignore sets it to null without a badge. A null stays null. Use BIGINT for whole numbers; INTEGER nulls anything beyond ±2147483647.

Inputs and outputs

Inputs

data — Table

Outputs

data — Table

Settings

The Attributes panel with a Cast Types node selected.

The Attributes panel of Cast Types, as in the app: the controls work, but nothing runs — there is no data behind it.

The same settings, as the Assistant writes them

{
  rules: [{ column: string, targetType: "VARCHAR"|"BIGINT"|"INTEGER"|"DOUBLE"|"BOOLEAN"|"DATE"|"TIMESTAMP"|"TIME"|"DECIMAL", precision?: number, scale?: number, round?: number, onError?: "null"|"error"|"ignore" }]
}

BIGINT is the 64-bit integer: use it to make a column an integer. INTEGER is 32-bit and nulls any value beyond ±2147483647

Example

A CSV reader detected quantity as text because one row holds n/a. Add a rule quantity to BIGINT (64-bit integer) with Warn: every number converts, the n/a row becomes null and the node badge reports 1 value could not be cast. For money, cast price to DECIMAL with precision 12 and scale 2.

quantity (text)	quantity (BIGINT)
42	42
n/a	NULL
7	7

Select Columns — Keeps only the columns you pick and drops the rest.
Rename — Gives columns new names. Type old-to-new pairs, or let the data decide at run time: take the names from the first row (which is then dropped), from a names table on a second input, or from an expression over each old name.
Parse — Turns messy text into real values: dates and times, numbers with separators or currency signs, true/false, durations, measurements with units, and coordinates.
Add Column — Adds a column worked out by a formula, a fixed value, today's date or the current time, or a parameter. For example, margin = Price − Cost. Excel's finance functions such as PMT work here by name; see Formulas and finance functions.
Multi-field Formula — Applies one formula to many columns at once, such as rounding every price column. Overwrite the columns or write new ones beside them.
Multi-row Formula — Works out a column from the current row and its neighbours, including the column's own value on the previous row. Use it for fill-down, running totals or carrying the last value forward.
Fill Missing — Replaces blanks with a fixed value, an empty string, or the previous or next value, or drops those rows. It can also drop rows or columns that are entirely empty.
Replace Values — Swaps text in a column for other text, such as 'N/A' to blank or 'NY' to 'New York'. Each rule replaces its text wherever it appears in a value, as plain text or a pattern.
Replace via Mapping — Swaps values in one or more columns using a second table of from → to pairs, such as a code list turning 'NY' into 'New York'. Values with no match stay as they are, or fail the run if you choose.
Interpolate NULLs — Fills blank numbers by estimating from the known values around them, in a straight line or by taking the nearest one. For example, missing sensor readings.
Clip Values — Caps numbers at a lower and/or upper bound. Anything below becomes the minimum, anything above becomes the maximum.
Bin — Turns a number into a labelled band, using your own break points or equal-width buckets. For example, ages into 0–17, 18–64 and 65+.
Format Table — Sets how columns print in previews and reports: currency, percent, decimals, thousands separators, date masks, alignment and hidden columns. The values themselves don't change.
Format to Text — Turns a number, date or time column into formatted text: thousands separators, fixed decimals, currency or a date pattern. The pattern can come from another column, row by row. Unlike Format Table, this changes the data.
Audit Stamp — Adds columns that record when the row was loaded, from which source, and in which run. Use it before writing to a warehouse so you can trace every row.