Type conversion functions in Tableau - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to convert the string '123' to a number in Tableau.

Tableau

INT([1])

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A123

B'123'

C"123"

DSUM('123')

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using single quotes instead of double quotes for strings.

Passing a number directly without quotes.

Using aggregation functions like SUM on strings.

In Tableau, to convert a string like "123" to a number, you use the INT() function with the string in double quotes.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to convert the number 2023 to a string in Tableau.

Tableau

STR([1])

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A2023

BINT(2023)

C"2023"

D'2023'

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Passing a string instead of a number to STR().

Using INT() instead of STR() for conversion to string.

To convert a number to a string in Tableau, use the STR() function with the number as input.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to convert a date string '2023-06-01' to a date in Tableau.

Tableau

DATE([1])

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A2023-06-01

B'2023-06-01'

CDATE('2023-06-01')

D"2023-06-01"

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Passing unquoted date strings causing syntax errors.

Using single quotes instead of double quotes for date strings.

In Tableau, DATE() expects a string date in double quotes to convert it properly.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to convert the string '12.34' to a number and then round it in Tableau.

Tableau

ROUND([1]([2]))

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AFLOAT

B"12.34"

CINT

D12.34

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using INT() which truncates decimals instead of FLOAT().

Passing the number 12.34 directly without quotes.

Use FLOAT() to convert the string "12.34" to a number, then ROUND() to round it.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to convert a string '2023-06-01' to a date, then extract the year and convert it to string in Tableau.

Tableau

STR(YEAR([1]([2])))

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

ADATE

B"2023-06-01"

C'2023-06-01'

DINT

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using single quotes instead of double quotes for the date string.

Skipping the YEAR() function and converting the whole date to string.

Using INT() instead of STR() to convert the year number to string.

First convert the string "2023-06-01" to a date using DATE(), then extract the year with YEAR(), and finally convert the year number to string with STR().

Practice

1. Which Tableau function converts a string like '123' into an integer?

easy

A. FLOAT()

B. STR()

C. DATE()

D. INT()

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the input type

   The input is a string '123' which represents a number but is stored as text.

2. Step 2: Choose the function to convert string to integer

   INT() converts a string that looks like a number into an integer type.

3. Final Answer:

   INT() -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   String '123' to number = INT() [OK]

Hint: Use INT() to convert numeric strings to whole numbers [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using STR() which converts numbers to strings
• Using DATE() which converts to date format
• Using FLOAT() when integer is needed

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to convert a date string '2023-06-01' to a date in Tableau?

easy

A. FLOAT('2023-06-01')

B. DATE('2023-06-01')

C. INT('2023-06-01')

D. STR('2023-06-01')

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify the data type to convert to

   The string '2023-06-01' represents a date, so we want to convert it to a date type.

2. Step 2: Use the DATE() function for conversion

   DATE() converts a string formatted as a date into a Tableau date type.

3. Final Answer:

   DATE('2023-06-01') -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Convert date string to date = DATE() [OK]

Hint: Use DATE() to convert date strings to date type [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using STR() which converts to string, not date
• Using INT() or FLOAT() which cause errors on date strings
• Missing parentheses in function call

3. What is the result of this Tableau calculation?

INT('45.67')

medium

A. Error

B. 45

C. 46

D. 45.67

Solution

1. Step 1: Analyze the input string

   The string '45.67' represents a decimal number.

2. Step 2: Understand INT() behavior on decimal strings

   INT() expects a string representing an integer; passing a decimal string causes an error in Tableau.

3. Final Answer:

   Error -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   INT('45.67') causes error [OK]

Hint: INT() only converts strings representing whole numbers [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Expecting an error on decimal strings
• Thinking INT() rounds up to 46
• Confusing truncation with keeping decimals

4. You wrote this Tableau formula but get an error:

FLOAT('abc')

What is the likely cause?

medium

A. The string 'abc' cannot convert to a number

B. FLOAT() requires a date input

C. Missing quotation marks around abc

D. FLOAT() only works on integers

Solution

1. Step 1: Check the input string

   The string 'abc' contains letters, not numeric characters.

2. Step 2: Understand FLOAT() conversion rules

   FLOAT() converts strings representing numbers to decimal numbers; non-numeric strings cause errors.

3. Final Answer:

   The string 'abc' cannot convert to a number -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Non-numeric string to FLOAT() = Error [OK]

Hint: Only numeric strings convert with FLOAT() [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking FLOAT() works on any string
• Assuming FLOAT() needs date input
• Forgetting quotes around strings

5. You have a field [Sales] stored as string values like '1000', '2000', and '3000'. You want to calculate the average sales as a number. Which formula correctly converts and averages these values?

hard

A. INT(AVG([Sales]))

B. AVG(STR([Sales]))

C. AVG(INT([Sales]))

D. AVG(DATE([Sales]))

Solution

1. Step 1: Convert string sales to numbers before averaging

   Since [Sales] is string, convert each value to integer using INT() first.

2. Step 2: Apply AVG() on converted integers

   AVG(INT([Sales])) calculates the average of numeric sales correctly.

3. Final Answer:

   AVG(INT([Sales])) -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Convert then average = AVG(INT()) [OK]

Hint: Convert strings to numbers before aggregation [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Averaging strings directly causes errors
• Converting after averaging strings is invalid
• Using DATE() on numeric strings