converting vw string to number type field similar to excel.

[gduffy]

I need help with two different files both having the same issues. 

In my first file the column "INVOICE_NUM" needs to be converted from a V_string field to number, similar how you can convert to number in excel manually.

In my second file the same type of error is happening but the column I am trying to convert to a number is "Transation name". 

[jrgo]

Hi @gduffy 

Alteryx handles data tables similar a database table where the classification (data type) is set on the entire column. You can use a Select tool to change the column type to one of the numeric types, but any value that contains non-numeric characters will result in getting NULL'd out (like INV01234 will return null). It will however remove leading 0's if that's all it contained (001234 will return 1234).

The Formula tool does have conversion functions ( ToNumber() ) which you can use to create a NEW column that only contains the values that are convert-able. 

Alternatively, if you can describe the reason for needing to convert to give more context on the problem, we may be able to provide some other options.

I know this doesn't answer your questions, but I hope this gives you more insight to why you can't convert like you can in Excel.