Data Engineering: Change Field Type From Text to Numeric

[ZianChoy]

In February, Esri wrote an article that said converting a field from text to numeric (e.g. long) required doing 8 steps, reading an additional article, and doing an unknown additional amount of work.

With the release of Pro 2.8 and the Data Engineering tab, is there a better way to change a field's type?

I often work with Excel files that import as text but actually have either integer values or an empty string.

[DanPatterson]

The step are quick... Data Engineering collectscurrent a new functionality into one place.  For example, to access the Calculate field to add the new one and calculate your new type, you can access it through Data Engineering through ArcToolbox

[LynneBuie]

Hi @ZianChoy 

So excited to hear you are interested in the Data Engineering view! Converting a field type is something we're actively discussing internally - we think it would be really useful to streamline this process. If you'd like, you could add it as an ArcGIS Pro idea so that you can be updated if it becomes part of the software.

Thanks, Lynne