Convert Node

About:  This article introduces the Convert node, a Process node within Construct.
Location: Node panel

Table of Contents

• Feature Overview
  • Multi-Select and Bulk Convert
• Video Tutorial

Feature Overview

The Convert node is used to change the data types of variables to alternate data types and formats. The need for a data type conversion may become apparent for example when attempting to merge two disparate data sources that have the same information, but are of alternate data types so the join cannot be created.

Each variable is listed followed by its Original Data Type. These are read-only fields.

The New Data Type column is where users can select the data type that the variable should be converted to. The following options are available for data types:

• Text
• Integer
• Real
• Boolean
• Date
• Time
• Datetime

The Format column becomes available if the New Data Type is either type Text or Date, Time, or DateTime. It may not look immediately as though there are any options, however clicking into the cell will populate a dropdown list with formatting options. The format options depend on what the Original Data Type was and what the values look like within that variable. Some common formatting options are:

• Scientific
• SSN (with and without dashes)
• Phone Numbers (various styles)
• Currency
• Number
• Percent
• Integer
• Fixed 1-15: This allots the number of characters after decimal point
• Various date and time formats

Multi-Select and Bulk Convert

If the same convert action needs to be performed on several variables, you can select a range of variables in the New Data Type column by holding the Shift Key and multi-selecting. Then select the new data type for the topmost entry in the highlighted list.

Tip: An additional option to Convert All Fields to Text can be found under the Edit menu.

Video Tutorial