string to date conversion

Question

in dataflow, the select transform shows columns.
some of them are date columns but datapreview shows as string because they are coming in from .json files.
I would like to convert the date columns to date datatype
the sink at present is delta parquet

Question:
When I try to convert the date string to date, I see null in datapreview of derived column.
This is what I am using in derived column:

toDate(columnName, 'dd-MM-yyyy')

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Hello @arkiboys ,

Thanks for the question and using MS Q&A platform.

From the above screenshots, looks like your source date format is yyyy-MM-dd (example date from your picture -> 2022-04-26) but in your derived column expression language you are using dd-MM-yyyy in toDate function which is why you are seeing nulls

Instead of toDate(columnName, 'dd-MM-yyyy') please try with toDate(columnName, 'yyyy-MM-dd') and it should resolve your issue.

Reference doc: Mapping data flow expressions usage#toDate

Hope this will help. Please let us know if any further queries.

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