Shape · Columns

Parse

Turns messy text into real values: dates and times, numbers with separators or currency signs, true/false, durations, measurements with units, and coordinates.

Also known as: Text to date, text to number

How it works

Click Add parse for each rule, pick its columns and the kind of value they hold. A date and time rule has a target type (DATE, TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMPTZ or TIME) and a mask such as DD/MM/YYYY; a blank mask auto-detects the common layouts. A number rule can Strip $ € and other symbols, read (1,200) means negative, turn 12% → 0.12, pick the separator convention (Auto, 1,234.56 or 1.234,56) and lists sentinels such as N/A that become null without a warning. A boolean rule knows true, yes, y, 1, on and their opposites and takes extra words; a duration rule reads 4:33 as mm:ss or hh:mm and outputs Seconds or an Interval; a measurement rule strips units such as kg or °C and can keep them in a side column; a coordinates rule reads One column or Lat + Lon columns and outputs Lat / Lon or a Point. Each rule picks Error, Warn or Ignore for unreadable values, as in Cast Types. An output column applies only to a one-column rule; several columns parse in place.

Inputs and outputs

Settings

rules: [{mode: "datetime"|"number", columns: [...], onError: "null"|"error"|"ignore", outputColumn?, …mode-specific}]  // datetime: { targetType: "DATE"|"TIMESTAMP"|"TIMESTAMPTZ"|"TIME", format?: string } where format is a date mask in tokens YYYY YY MMMM MMM MM DD HH hh mm ss A (strptime %-codes also accepted), e.g. "DD/MM/YYYY"; a blank format auto-detects the common layouts

Example

An export holds amount as 1,234.56 € or (1,200) and invoice_date as 31/01/2026. Add a number rule on amount with the symbol and parentheses options on, and a date rule on invoice_date with mask DD/MM/YYYY and target DATE.

More in Columns

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.