Data type and format type compatibility

If you change the MicroStrategy data type of one of the columns in your project—using a column alias, for example—you must also change the format type of the attribute. The data type of your column must be consistent with the format type you select because SQL generation issues can occur if the format type and data type are incompatible. You are warned in the Attribute Editor whenever you have selected a format type that is incompatible with the data type of your column.

For example, you edit the ID form of the Year attribute in the Attribute Editor. In the Column Alias tab, you notice that the Year attribute is assigned an “Integer” data type. However, you create a new column alias and assign it the “Date” data type.

When you return to the Definition pane in the Attribute Editor, you must select an appropriate format type from the Form Format: Type drop-down menu. This format type must be compatible with the data type you assigned in the Column Alias tab. If you select a format type that is incompatible with the data type and click OK to exit the Attribute Editor, a warning message appears notifying you of the incompatibility. Although you have the option to continue by clicking Yes, doing so can still result in SQL generation issues.

The following chart is intended to guide you in assigning format types that are compatible with the data type you have assigned to a column.

Different format types are compatible with different data types given the specific data in your column. Therefore, some of the data type-format type combinations below may not work with your specific data.

Data Type	Compatible Format Types
Big Decimal	Big Decimal
Binary	Number, Text, Picture
Char	Text, URL, E-mail, HTML Tag
Date	Date, Datetime
Decimal	Number
Double	Number
Float	Number
Integer	Number
LongVarBin	Picture, BLOB, Text depending on data
LongVarChar	Picture, Text
Numeric	Number
Real	Number
Time	Time, Datetime
Timestamp	Datetime, Date or Time depending on data
Unsigned	Number
VarBin	Picture, Text
VarChar	Text, URL, E-mail, HTML Tag, Picture