QQ - How do I cast between different data types?

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In general data should be loaded into a system so that field-data types are well matched, but this is not always possible. The following functional areas may require field-data types to be changed:

Joins - there are limitations around which kind of continuous fields can be joined together - generally field-data types need to match exactly when linking continuous data-types.
Profiles - continuous fields cannot be profiled
Context Panel - quick counts are not displayed for continuous fields
Functions - some functions only accept a particular field-data type

The following functional areas support casting of data types:

String Functions: LCAST, DCAST, ICAST, WILDICAST, WILDDCAST, CTOD, CONCAT
LMath: A (Convert Double to Int)
DMath: A (Convert Int to Double)
Expression Builder: Explicitly set Target Datatype

String

From	To	Details
STRING DISCRETE	STRING DISCRETE	STRING\| CONCAT(A)
STRING DISCRETE	STRING CONTINUOUS	STRING \| ICAST (check "Do Not Ordinalize")
STRING DISCRETE	INTEGER DISCRETE	STRING \| ICAST
STRING DISCRETE	INTEGER CONTINUOUS	STRING \| CONCAT (A) (check "Do Not Ordinalize") STRING \| ICAST
STRING DISCRETE	DOUBLE DISCRETE	STRING \| DCAST
STRING DISCRETE	DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	STRING \| CONCAT (A) (check "Do Not Ordinalize") STRING \| DCAST
STRING DISCRETE	DATE	STRING \| DATEFROMSTRING(A,B)
STRING DISCRETE	DATETIME
STRING DISCRETE	LONGINTEGER DISCRETE	STRING \| LCAST
STRING DISCRETE	LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS	STRING \| CONCAT (A) (check "Do Not Ordinalize") STRING \| LCAST
STRING CONTINUOUS	STRING DISCRETE	May not be possible, depending on cardinality of the source field. To find the number of discrete values, use Field Audit or Data Audit Use: STRING\| CONCAT(A) or STRING \| CTOD If number of discrete values is too high to be stored in a discrete field, the threshold can be modified by changing MAX_ENTRIES in the JSON method (note - this can only be done in Script Editor and will impact system performance as the UI will attempt to display all discrete values) Consider applying a filter to reduce the number of discrete values
STRING CONTINUOUS	STRING CONTINUOUS	STRING\| CONCAT(A) to create a copy of the field
STRING CONTINUOUS	INTEGER DISCRETE	STRING \| ICAST - it may be necessary to apply a filter to force the field to be discrete
STRING CONTINUOUS	INTEGER CONTINUOUS	STRING \| ICAST
STRING CONTINUOUS	DOUBLE DISCRETE	STRING \| DCAST - it may be necessary to apply a filter to force the field to be discrete
STRING CONTINUOUS	DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	STRING \| DCAST
STRING CONTINUOUS	LONGINTEGER DISCRETE	STRING \| CTOD (use MAX_ENTRIES to set a higher discrete threshold if necessary, or apply a filter to reduce the number of discrete values) STRING \| LCAST
STRING CONTINUOUS	LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS	STRING \| LCAST
STRING CONTINUOUS	DATE	STRING \| DATEFROMSTRING(A,B)
STRING CONTINUOUS	DATETIME

Integer

From	To	Details
INTEGER DISCRETE	INTEGER CONTINUOUS	STRING \| CONCAT (A) (check "Do Not Ordinalize") STRING \| ICAST
INTEGER DISCRETE	STRING DISCRETE	STRING\| CONCAT(A) to create a copy of the field
INTEGER DISCRETE	STRING CONTINUOUS	STRING \| CONCAT (A) (check "Do Not Ordinalize")
INTEGER DISCRETE	DOUBLE DISCRETE	STRING \| DCAST
INTEGER DISCRETE	DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	STRING \| CONCAT (A) (check "Do Not Ordinalize") STRING \| DCAST
INTEGER DISCRETE	LONGINTEGER DISCRETE
INTEGER DISCRETE	LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS
INTEGER DISCRETE	DATE / DATETIME	NA
INTEGER CONTINUOUS	INTEGER DISCRETE
INTEGER CONTINUOUS	STRING DISCRETE
INTEGER CONTINUOUS	STRING CONTINUOUS
INTEGER CONTINUOUS	DOUBLE DISCRETE
INTEGER CONTINUOUS	DOUBLE CONTINUOUS
INTEGER CONTINUOUS	DATE / DATETIME	NA

LongInteger

From	To	Details
LONGINTEGER DISCRETE	INTEGER CONTINUOUS	STRING \| CONCAT (A) (check "Do Not Ordinalize") STRING \| ICAST
LONGINTEGER DISCRETE	STRING DISCRETE	STRING\| CONCAT(A) to create a copy of the field
LONGINTEGER DISCRETE	STRING CONTINUOUS	STRING \| CONCAT (A) (check "Do Not Ordinalize")
LONGINTEGER DISCRETE	DOUBLE DISCRETE	STRING \| DCAST
LONGINTEGER DISCRETE	DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	STRING \| CONCAT (A) (check "Do Not Ordinalize") STRING \| DCAST
LONGINTEGER DISCRETE	INTEGER DISCRETE
LONGINTEGER DISCRETE	INTEGER CONTINUOUS
LONGINTEGER DISCRETE	DATE / DATETIME	NA
LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS	INTEGER DISCRETE
LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS	INTEGER CONTINUOUS
LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS	STRING DISCRETE
LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS	STRING CONTINUOUS
LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS	DOUBLE DISCRETE
LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS	DOUBLE CONTINUOUS
LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS	DATE / DATETIME	NA

Double

From	To	Details
DOUBLE DISCRETE	DOUBLE CONTINUOUS
DOUBLE DISCRETE	STRING DISCRETE
DOUBLE DISCRETE	STRING CONTINUOUS
DOUBLE DISCRETE	INTEGER DISCRETE
DOUBLE DISCRETE	INTEGER CONTINUOUS
DOUBLE DISCRETE	LONGINTEGER DISCRETE
DOUBLE DISCRETE	LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS
DOUBLE DISCRETE	DATE
DOUBLE DISCRETE	DATETIME
DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	DOUBLE DISCRETE
DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	STRING DISCRETE
DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	STRING CONTINUOUS
DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	INTEGER DISCRETE
DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	INTEGER CONTINUOUS	LMATH \| A
DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	LONGINTEGER DISCRETE
DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	LONGINTEGER CONTINUOUS
DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	DATE
DOUBLE CONTINUOUS	DATETIME

Date and Datetime

From	To	Details
DATE	DATETIME
DATETIME	DATE
DATE	STRING DISCRETE
DATE	STRING CONTINUOUS
DATETIME	STRING DISCRETE
DATETIME	STRING CONTINUOUS
STRING DISCRETE	DATE
STRING CONTINUOUS	DATE
STRING DISCRETE	DATETIME
STRING CONTINUOUS	DATETIME

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