Change field type after field has a value

[jaubert]

I have a custom field that I added to the incident table.  Originally when it was requested, it was requested as an integer and was not allowed to add any other value that was not numeric.  A year later the request changed.  Is there any way that I can change it or work around it?  EX.  0001-123456 is what the user enters.  But the table shows 123456 and if the user adds the dash it will only bring over a single integer.  Also, because it's a numeric field it will not even allow leading zeros.  The variable is a string, but the actual field is an integer.  Thanks for any and all advice or recommendations.

[Allen Andreas · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Since the field is of integer type, it's going to auto convert values like that, as you're seeing.

You'd either need to house the value somewhere else, or...go through all records, house the current value in another field (like description, for example), then clear all records with a value from this field, then you can change it to string, replace all the values back in this field and then going forward, you'd be allowed to to use dashes and leading 0s, etc.

Please mark reply as Helpful/Correct, if applicable. Thanks!