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

Calling all Data Engineers! Fabric Data Engineer (Exam DP-700) live sessions are back! Starting October 16th. Sign up.

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
FabCon Global Hackathon Carousel

FabCon Global Hackathon

Join the Fabric FabCon Global Hackathon—running virtually through Nov 3. Open to all skill levels. $10,000 in prizes!

October Power BI Update Carousel

Power BI Monthly Update - October 2025

Check out the October 2025 Power BI update to learn about new features.

FabCon Atlanta 2026 carousel

FabCon Atlanta 2026

Join us at FabCon Atlanta, March 16-20, for the ultimate Fabric, Power BI, AI and SQL community-led event. Save $200 with code FABCOMM.