changing field data type

[ErikBlake]

We are currently running 10.1 sp1. I was wondering why it is that after I remove all locks from our enterprise gdb I try to change one of our fields data type from a text to a long integer. It allows me to make the change but when I hit apply it just reverts back to its original text data type value. If I have any kind of text value in that field when I try to change to a long integer would that cause this behavior?

for example the field I want to change is "House_Num" which has its data type set to text. All the values in the field are numbers except for a couple that has text. would this cause it not to change and revert back to text after I hit apply?

[George_Thompson · Accepted solution]

Hi Erik,

This is expected behavior. There are "Some field properties are defined when the table or feature class is created and cannot be changed, ...."

I would recommend creating a new field in long integer and then filed calculate the numbers over to it. The fields with text in then will not work and need to be converted to a number.

Hopefully this help!

-George

GIS‌ Managing Data‌ Geodatabase‌

[JakeSkinner]

Hi Erik,

I believe the text value is causing the issue.  Take a look at the following link:

ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)

If the field contains data, you cannot change data types that would lead to loss of data. For example, you cannot change a long integer or float to a short integer, or change a blob to a text.

[ErikBlake]

Thanks George.