Frequently encountered unintentional Faux Pas in IDEA and their Resolution

Brian Element

Forums

Hi,

 

We have all at some time in our IDEA usage come across the following unintentional 'Faux Pas' in IDEA -

 

a. We go to Field Statistics but are unable to view any numeric statistics for amount fields

 

Resolution - the subject amount fields are not in a numeric format. They have been imported as character. Change from character to numeric using Field Manipulation - Modify Fields

 

b. We open Aging but are unable to choose any date field for aging

 

Resolution - Aging in IDEA requires atleast one date field in the active database. The data field on which you intend to perform the aging has been imported as a character field. Use Field Manipulation - Modify Fields to change the field type from character to date and enter a relevant mask for the date by the side.

 

c. We apply specific character @Functions in the Equation Editor and receive an error 'mismatch field type'

 

Resolution - Character @Functions quite naturally work on character fields. In all probability the subject fields have got imported as a numeric field instead of character. Once again use Field Manipulation - Modify Fields to switch field type from numeric to character. Don't forget to apply the maximum length to avoid field value auto truncation.