Skip to main content
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Next up in the FabCon + SQLCon recap series: The roadmap for Microsoft SQL and Maximizing Developer experiences in Fabric. All sessions are available on-demand after the live show. Register now

Reply
Anonymous
Not applicable

Problem with variant data type in calculated column

I am trying to use an if statement that uses a "fake" date when an order haven't been assigned a arrival date. 

 

But when writing this seemingly easy piece of code I get the below error message saying that it "can't return a variant data typ..."

 

Variant.PNG

There has to be a way around this. Does anyone know? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi @Anonymous 
try using DATE(2999,12,31) in the second argument of IF() statement in place of "2999-12-31"

View solution in original post

3 REPLIES 3
Anonymous
Not applicable

Thanks for both answers! 

 

However I've tried that before and yes, the code works. But then I instead face the problem that Arival-date has the wrong data type. The end result is a column where I can change the type to Date (so that I can use a Date interval as a slicer).  Variant.PNG

daXtreme
Solution Sage
Solution Sage

"2999-12-31" is a string, not a real date. Use the DATE function.

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi @Anonymous 
try using DATE(2999,12,31) in the second argument of IF() statement in place of "2999-12-31"

Helpful resources

Announcements
New to Fabric survey Carousel

New to Fabric Survey

If you have recently started exploring Fabric, we'd love to hear how it's going. Your feedback can help with product improvements.

Power BI DataViz World Championships carousel

Power BI DataViz World Championships - June 2026

A new Power BI DataViz World Championship is coming this June! Don't miss out on submitting your entry.

Join our Fabric User Panel

Join our Fabric User Panel

Share feedback directly with Fabric product managers, participate in targeted research studies and influence the Fabric roadmap.

March Power BI Update Carousel

Power BI Community Update - March 2026

Check out the March 2026 Power BI update to learn about new features.