What to do when you pick the wrong data type for your Dataverse table column!

We've all done it - you are building your data table in Dataverse for your Model-Driven Power App or Dynamics 365 app and you've picked the wrong data type (e.g. text instead of date) for one of your table columns. You can't go back and change it - so here's the process to unpick and fix it.

0:00 - Dataverse table column is text instead of date type
1:04 - Options for changing the data type of a text column
1:58 - Find dependencies and replace a text column to a date column
5:40 - Options for changing the data type of other columns in Dataverse
7:12 - Build an Asset Management App - subscribe for a tutorial coming soon!

[yeraldo]

Really great explanation Lisa! I have scenarios where I developed a really robust Model Driven App for customers and after the System is deployed in their Env, once in a blue moon they want to change a Choice Column to a Look-Up Column or any other Change Column Type Scenario.

For these types of scenarios, I use an XRMToolBox called "Attribute Manager" this tool would remove the Old Column and also remove it from all the dependencies (Forms, Views, Business Rules, etc) and create the New Column and add it to the Forms, Views, Business Rules, etc) thus you don´t have to drill-down and remove all the dependencies manually.

This is a really time-saving tool and I use it every now and then, but with great power comes great responsibility so be careful with it. 😉

Hope this Tool can help you!

[ryanperrymba]

Hi Lisa. Thanks for the share. ... There is a tool in XRMTB that helps with this. That said: - if you have already deployed to Test/Prod, re-using the field is a BAD idea. You will not be able to deploy your solution if the types mismatch. Best practice is to use a new schema/logical name and just deprecate the old field.

[colindunbar]

Greate video, as always. Can't wait for the tutorial to build the App!

[officeweb]

Hi Lisa. I followed a previous course of yours where I created a solution by following your "Keymaster academy" tutorial. I incorrectly entered a wrong date type (single line of text) for the "Currently Offered" column in the table "Course". I realised this fairly late and then went to try and deleted the system generated view "Active Courses" but got the error "System-defined views cannot be deleted". So I cannot go and delete the column in the table because this view is a dependancy. How do I get around this?

[sjan]

Great video. I already knew this BUT I was told NEVER to reuse the same name as it might cause problems when exporting managed to another environment. What is the truth about that?

[pradipta]

since its more than year do we have any other option to change the data type ? i have Whole number and I want to it to Decimal. Any tool or any other option rather than delete and re-create.

[juansepowerplatform]

Hello great video, and best model driven apps channel :) question how did you get the picture to show next to the owner field? is this a new control for the lookup?

[melbha_varsha]

How to Build a power Flatforms which utilizes graphs available in canvas App

[gtscale]

Great tips, thanks for the info! I have had issues where deleting a column and trying to recreate the name is locked and a warming says it is in use. I publish changes after deletion with no luck. Have you experienced this?

[zakariyyabashir]

Hello Lisa, regarding the problem of using an incorrect data type, I watched the video where you demonstrated how to solve it. However, I am curious to know what happens if the data type affects the overall solution flow. In other words, how can we resolve the issue if the data type has a significant impact on the solution's workflow?

[zuah]

Faced same issue today, brought in decimal number columns through power query and then load the data as a new table in dataverse, the column type somehow is changed to Float ..this can’t be used for the arithmetic operator if I want let’s say do column A - column B, where column B data type is Float.

[davelaff]

Great video! Question(s): If you already have data in the table associated with the column you're changing, will you lose all that data, does it change to the new data type, or what happens? E.g., someone created a text field where there should be a choice column. If I change that to a choice column, will all the existing data remain or be moved? If not, what is a solution for this? Thanks!

[caseyhebding]

I think we can all relate to that defeated face when we realize we made this mistake!

[Loves-fy]

Great video, again! :) On a related note ... how do you remove whole tables that you do not want? Any references on this?

I created tables using Copilot as a test. It went to town and created so many relationships. Now I want to remove everything it did - all of the tables etc that Copilot created. The first table has two dependencies: a form and a view.

So I drill down into to the system form and it cannot be removed with this error:
*** This operation can't be completed. You must have at least one active Main form. ***

If a table is required to have a form then how do you proceed?

This is 2024 - December. Seems there should a way to have a cascading delete.
WARNING: Be sure to test copilot in a completely isolated solution or even a different environment.
UPDATE: No app was ever created. Just the solution and the tables that copilot created. I want my prefix cleared out - Is it possible to delete everything under that publisher. That would be perfect.

[The-Z-Zone]

Wow, I thought I was doing it wrong when trying to switch between a lookup and a choice column that was already referenced on a number of forms and views.

[hkh]

At least you didn't use it as a managed solution and already deployed the solution.. This always hurts me in my time.