Data Type Change

[moe_elbohsaly]

My table has a column of type text. It stores the name of the month abbreviated and current year hyphenated.

Under column tables tab, once I click the field, can I change the Data Type to Date? Or will this cause internal problems? 

[Fowmy · Accepted solution]

@moe_elbohsaly 

It depends on how that column has been used in your model in various calculations. As per your description, it is a text field, the best practice is to creat a dates table and link it to your fact table. you create a dates table with the following"

Dates = ADDCOLUMNS(
   CALENDAR("01/01/2021","31/12/2021"),
   "Month No" , MONTH([Date]),
   "Month Name" , FORMAT( [Date] , "Mmmm" ),
   "Year" , YEAR([Date]),
   "Month Year No" , (YEAR([Date]) * 100) + MONTH	([Date]),
   "Month Year" , FORMAT( [Date] , "Mmm yyyy"),
   "Quarter" , QUARTER([Date]),
   "Year Qtr" , FORMAT( [Date] , "YYYY \QQ"),
   "Week Day" , WEEKDAY([Date],2),
   "Week" , FORMAT( [Date] , "Dddd" )

)

.

[moe_elbohsaly]

Thanks @Fowmy ! I managed to do a DAX namely FORMAT([text_column],"MMM-YYYY") since my text contains the month name abbreviated and current year hyphenated.