Type Conversions

Import

When data is imported:

Supported data types from the source are converted to corresponding data types supported by the application, based upon the conversions listed in this section.
Types that are not supported but are recognized by the application are converted to String types.
Data for types that cannot be read from the source due to technical reasons are converted to null values on import.

Type Inference

By default, the Trifacta Application applies type inference for imported data. The application attempts to infer a column's appropriate data type in the application based on a review of the first lines in the sample. For information on how data types are inferred, see Overview of the Type System.

Export

On export from the Trifacta Application:

The application maps the internal Alteryx data type to the explicit type listed in the appropriate page in this section.
Unmapped types are converted to the equivalent of strings.

Tip

You can import a target schema to assist in lining up your columns with the expected target. For more information, seeOverview of RapidTarget.

Supported Data Types

Item	Description
String Data Type	Any non-null value can be typed as String. A String can be anything.
Integer Data Type	The Integer data type applies to positive and negative numeric values that have no decimal point.
Decimal Data Type	Decimal data type applies to floating points up to 15 digits in length. In the Trifacta Application, this data type is referenced as `Decimal`. In storage, this data type is written as `Double`.
Boolean Data Type	The Boolean data type expresses true or false values.
Social Security Number Data Type	This data type is applied to numeric data following the pattern for United States Social Security numbers.
Phone Number Data Type	This data type is applied to numeric data following common patterns that express telephone numbers and known valid phone numbers in the United States.
Email Address Data Type	This data type matches text values that are properly formatted email addresses.
Credit Card Data Type	Credit card numbers are numeric data that follow the 14-digit or 16-digit patterns for credit cards.
Gender Data Type	This data type matches a variety of text patterns for expressing male/female distinctions.
Zip Code Data Type	This data type matches five- and nine-digit U.S. zipcode patterns.
State Data Type	State data type is applied to data that uses the full names or the two-letter abbreviations for states in the United States.
Object Data Type	An Object data type is a method for encoding key-value pairs. A single field value may contain one or more sets of key-value pairs.
Array Data Type	An array is a list of values grouped into a single value. An array may be of variable length; in one record the array field may contain two elements, while in the next record, it contains six elements.
IP Address Data Type	The IP Address data type supports IPv4 address.
URL Data Type	URL data type is applied to data that follows generalized patterns of URLs.
HTTP Code Data Type	Values of these data types are three-digit numeric values, which correspond to recognized HTTP Status Codes.
Datetime Data Type	Designer Cloud Powered by Trifacta Enterprise Edition supports a variety of Datetime formats, each of which has additional variations to it.

For more information on the data types that are supported within the Trifacta Application, see Supported Data Types.

In this section: