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Alphanumeric String Values Appear as Nulls


Published: 05 Feb 2021
Last Modified Date: 09 Dec 2022

Issue

When connected to an Excel data source, alphanumeric string values (i.e. consisting of both letters and numerals) in a field may appear as null values, while numeric values in the same field are correctly displayed, even after ensuring that the data type of the field is set to string in Tableau Desktop.

Environment

  • Tableau Desktop
  • Excel

Resolution

Using the TEXT function in Microsoft Excel, format the values to text. For example:
TEXT(<cell to convert>, "@")

Cause

The affected field is interpreted as a number.
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