Date exported by Render from Basic Table is not in date format

[JokeFun]

Hi, I use the Basic Table and then the Render tool to export result to excel files. So there's a field in basic table which is in date format. Now this date field get exported to the excel file but in string format, cannot be recognized as a date unless I edit each cell. What shall I do?

In this case, there're multiple sheets with different schema to be exported in one workbook, which is the reason I am not using the Output Data tool.

[mceleavey]

Hi @JokeFun ,

This is an Excel problem, not an Alteryx problem. Yet another reason to stop using Excel.

You can do the following to get around this:

1. Stop using Excel

2. Format your dates in Alteryx to be the format required by Excel, and let Excel then interpret the dates.

M.

[DawnDuong]

Hi @JokeFun 

you can try to format the date field (before the Table tool) to convert it into a String format that excel recognize. Eg. Instead of keeping the default format 2021-06-28 you can use the DatetimeTool to convert it to a string like 28–Jun-2021.

that works for me

cheers

Dawn

[JokeFun]

@DawnDuong Oops, it failed in my case. Still showing as text.

[DawnDuong]

hi @JokeFun 

I attached here my workflow. It seems to work for me, in the sense that i can do calculations in the excel file with the output e.g. eomonth() etc...

If this is not what you are looking for, can you show a screenshot of the issue. Perhaps, it's an Excel issue after all (although I don't have the choice of not using Excel... hahaha)

Dawn.

[JokeFun]

in the exported file from Rendor tool, all the dates are in string format.

  

[DawnDuong]

Hi @JokeFun 

did you try to do calculations with it to verify? i can manipulate the data with excel date function like eomonth() and all and that tells me Excel understand that the data is “date”.

what exactly that you seek to do that does not work?

dawn 

[JokeFun]

It's true that date formulas function well for these exported fields. What I am trying to do is to filter the dates in the dropdown list by year, then month, then day, which is not working.

[DawnDuong]

Sound like it's an Excel issue @JokeFun 

My "workaround" for that is to fix the entire column in Excel by multiplying value by 1.

[riyadh_jose]

Sharing the solution I found.

It's a limitation of Excel to read Alteryx Date data as actual date when rendering. 

Solution: Select Data or Column of Data>Go to Data Tab>Select Text to Columns>Select Delimited and then click Finish.

Unable to get Excel to recognise date in column - Super User