Converting strings to dates and dates to strings

There are a variety of date formats that need to be updated to a data type that meets the needs of the analysis. A string formatted date may need to be updated to a date/time format. On the other hand, a date/time format may need to be updated to a string format. The complexity of updating this can be quite cumbersome and there are formulas available to make these necessary updates. Better yet, there is a DateTime tool in Alteryx that includes options on selecting the format to convert.

The following image shows the DateTime tool located in the Parse tool palette.

The DateTime tool can convert a date/time format to string and vice versa, a string to a date/time format. The flexibility of the format selections is quite helpfully located in just one tool! It contains prestored formats and an option to specify a custom format. Let's go through a few examples using the DateTime tool and looking at how it may benefit you to make the format updates...