Different data types in same column

[oracleoftemple]

I'm trying to load an Excel document into Alteryx, and one of my columns is giving me a hard time.  The first few rows are dates, so that's the data type Alteryx assumes for that column.  There is other data further down in the column that is just plain text data.  Instead of bringing in that text, Alteryx shows [NULL] in those cells.  Is there anyway I can get Alteryx to import those text fields even though Alteryx is assuming that the whole column is dates?

[Blake]

Hi @oracleoftemple , can you upload an example of what is happening? Generally when you have mixed data types, the type is set to a v_string.

[DavidP]

If you check the option "First row contains data" option in the input data tool, all fields are loaded as text

[oracleoftemple · Accepted solution]

Ok it turned out to be as easy and saving the Excel file in a different format.  The original file was a .xls.  Once I saved it as a .xlsx, this problem went away.