Advent of Code is back! Unwrap daily challenges to sharpen your Alteryx skills and earn badges along the way! Learn more now.
Free Trial

Alteryx Designer Desktop Discussions

Find answers, ask questions, and share expertise about Alteryx Designer Desktop and Intelligence Suite.
SOLVED

Excel Text Function

tarichar
6 - Meteoroid

What formula could I use to convert a string to a text field with 4 characters? In Excel, I use a simple Text() formula: =text(A1,"0000") where the following values would convert if...

  • A1 equals 123 and the output adds a leading '0' to '0123'
  • A1 equals 001234 and the output removes the leading '0' to '1234'
6 REPLIES 6
cplewis90
13 - Pulsar
13 - Pulsar

Hello @tarichar,

 

You would have to do an if statement to check the length and run different formulas depending on what is there. It would look something like the below:

 

If length([field])>4

then right([field], 4)

else padleft([field],4,"0")

endif

 

 

tarichar
6 - Meteoroid

Thanks for the feedback.

 

What if i also have values that are greater than 4 characters that I need to stay the same? Example, 123456 needs to remain 123456, not convert to '3456' (using the above if statement). 

cplewis90
13 - Pulsar
13 - Pulsar

The if statement would just need to change slightly

 

If length([field])>4

then trimleft([field],"0")

else padleft([field],4,"0")

endif

tarichar
6 - Meteoroid

Getting closer, but with a starting value of 000123, the output value would be 123 instead of 0123.

 

Sorry for all the scenarios, I just keep running into different issues during each data run. 

cplewis90
13 - Pulsar
13 - Pulsar

One additional modification:

 

If length([field])>4

then padleft(trimleft([field],"0"),4,"0")

else padleft([field],4,"0")

endif

 

Let me know if this works. If not I can try something else.

tarichar
6 - Meteoroid

Nailed it, thanks!

Labels
Top Solution Authors