Hey guys,
I need to change the type of like 30 database categories, from numbers to text.
Is there any way to just change it, so I won’t need to delete it and create it again with text form?
L.E.
I didn’t know I could like duplicate it. So I copied the name, created a new one as text, searched for the name in the clipboard then deleted the one as number.
It will take some time but it will do the job since the database is empty.
Thanks!
I’ve got the same question. What if you need to change the data type of a field and your database isn’t empty, say on Phone Numbers, that you set to number instead of text. How would you go about doing this without losing your data?
Create an API workflow that copies from one field to a new one.
Then do a search for the old field using the field search, and swap over each one.
Don’t rely on deleting the old field and it throwing errors.
Once tested, delete the old field.
Makes sense, thanks Nigel!
I know this is an old post but could you explain this in more detail? I enabled API workflows and I created a new one, but I think I just need more detailed instruction.
Right now for example I’ll say I have a list of Users and right now their “Phone number” data type is set as text, but I want it stored as a number instead. In my app I can recall a page that displays their numbers and contact information, so I can’t just run an API to copy the data to a new data field and delete the old one because there are workflows referencing the text fields. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
So you do this in the back end.
Create a “backend workflow” that converts the text to number.
Then in the data tab run the “bulk” function on all your records.
How do I go about doing this? Could you make a demo video and share it? That’s only if you have enough time on your hands.
Are you still looking for a solution?
Yes, I sure am.
Will sort you a video then 
Thank You!
Hi,
I’d love to see this video as well, if possible (have a similar problem).
Thanks!
While @NigelG 's solution answers your question quite right I wanted to throw in an option of re- formatting the data on spot where you use it. And keep storing just like you used to…
