Alteryx processes values based on the data type. Alteryx supports string, numeric, date-time, and boolean data types, as well as, spatial objects. You can use the Select tool, or any tool that includes select functionality, to modify the type of data in a column. For more information, go to
Select Tool, Append Fields Tool, Join Tool, Join Multiple Tool, Find Nearest Tool, and Spatial Match Tool. String DataA string represents
alphanumeric data and can include letters, numbers, spaces, or other types of characters. A string can also be thought of as plain text. All the characters in a string are processed as text even if the characters are digits. While a string may contain text that looks like a number (for example, "123.4"), it must 1st be converted to a numeric data type (either with a
Select tool or with the ToNumber Functions) to perform calculations. It is more efficient to store
strings as variable-length strings. This is because fixed-length strings reserve space for the specified number of characters, and variable-length strings use only the amount of storage needed for the data in that cell. Set a high limit for fixed-length strings to avoid truncating data.
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|
| String
| Fixed Length Latin-1 String. The length should be at least as large as the longest string you want to be contained in the field, or values are truncated. Limited to 8192 Latin-1 characters.
| Any string whose length does not vary much from value to value, and only contains simple Latin-1 characters.
| | WString
| Wide String accepts any character (Unicode.) Limited to 8192 characters.
| Any string whose length does not vary much from value to value and contains any character.
| | V_String
| Variable Length. The length of the field adjusts to accommodate the entire string within the field.
| Any string whose length varies from value to value, and only contains simple Latin-1 characters.
| | V_WString
| Variable Length Wide String. The length of the field adjusts to accommodate the entire string within the field and will accept any character.
| Any string whose length varies from value to value and contains any character.
|
Numeric DataThere are several different numeric data types including integers, decimals, floats, and doubles. With the exception of Fixed Decimal, numeric data types are not adjustable in length.
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|
| Byte
| A unit of data that is 8 binary digits (bits) long. A byte field is a positive whole number that falls within the range 0 thru 255, or 28
| 0, 1, 2, 3....253, 254, 255
| | Int16
| A numeric value without a decimal equal to 2 bytes, or -(215) to (215)-1
| –32,768 to 32,767
| | Int32
| A numeric value without a decimal equal to 4 bytes, or -(231) to (231)-1
| –2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
| | Int64
| A numeric value without a decimal equal to 8 bytes, or -(263) to (263)-1
| –9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
| | Fixed Decimal
| A numeric value with a decimal. The length (precision) of a fixed decimal is equal to the width of the integer (left side of decimal) plus the decimal point plus the width of the scale (right side of decimal). If a number is negative, the negative sign is also included in the length. Alteryx defaults a Fixed Decimal to 19.6. The maximum precision is 50, inclusive of the decimal point and negative sign (if applicable). A Fixed Decimal is the only numeric data type
with an adjustable length. Be careful when using Fixed Decimal in Formula tool and when converting Fixed Decimal to Float or Double. In Formula, Fixed Decimal is implicitly converted into Double. The maximum precision for the Double data type is 15 digits and for Float 7 digits. If you are converting Fixed Decimal, you need to expect loosing all the data that couldn’t fit into the type you are converting to.
| A value of 1234.567 with a length of 7.2 results in 1234.57 A value of 1234.567 with a length of 7.3 results in a field conversion error and Null output, as the value does not fit within the specified precision. A value of 1234.567 with a length of 6.1 results in 1234.6 A value of 1234.567 with a length of 8.3 results in 1234.567 A value of -1234.567 with a length of 8.3 results in a field conversion error and Null output, as the value does not fit within the
specified precision. A value of 1234.567 with a length of 11.6 results in 1234.567000 A value of 12222222222222222222222222222222222.00000 when converted to Double results in 1.22222222222222e+34 A value of 1.983274187638715245 when converted to Double results in 1.98327418763872
| Float
| A standard single-precision floating-point value. It uses 4 bytes, and can represent values from +/- 3.4 x 10-38 to 3.4 x 1038 with 7 digits of precision. A float uses a decimal that can be placed in any position and is mainly used to save memory in large arrays of floating-point numbers.
| +/- 3.4 x 10-38 to 3.4 x 1038 with 7 digits precision
| | Double
| A standard double-precision floating-point value. It uses 8 bytes and can represent values from +/- 1.7 x 10-308 to 1.7 x 10308 with 15 digits precision. A double uses a decimal that can be placed in any position. A double uses twice as many bits as a float and is generally used as the default data type for decimal values.
| +/- 1.7 x 10-308 to 1.7 x 10308 with 15 digits
|
DateTime Data
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|
| Date
| A 10 character String in "yyyy-mm-dd" format.
| December 2, 2005 = 2005-12-02
| | Time
| An 8 character String in "hh:mm:ss" format.
| 2:47 and 53 seconds a.m. = 02:47:53
2:47 and 53 seconds p.m. = 14:47:53
| | DateTime
| A 19 character String in "yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss" format.
| 2005-12-02 14:47:53
|
Date, Time, and DateTime data types can be treated as strings when using functions in a tool with an expression editor. See the Date/Time Data table above for descriptions and examples. Boolean DataSpatial Objects
Which field data type would you use to store dollar amounts?
Currency. Purpose Use to store monetary data. Data in a Currency field is not rounded off during calculations. A Currency field is accurate to 15 digits to the left of the decimal point and 4 digits to the right.
Which datatype can store numbers?
The integer data type is often used to hold information like transaction IDs and store numbers. Integers are also used to represent date or time values, using the date , month , quarter , and time forms.
What is the data type of 1?
1 is an integer, 1.0 is a floating-point number. Complex numbers are written in the form, x + yj , where x is the real part and y is the imaginary part.
What datatype is used for large numbers?
The Large Number data type stores a non-monetary, numeric value and is compatible with the SQL_BIGINT data type in ODBC. Use this data type to efficiently calculate large numbers.
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