---
schema_version: "1"
id: 5e19c00684f0b4c38ab6253437e737274830170a3773f554ebc603df225569e3
title: Convert a Dimension Field Type to Date
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/analytics/264-0-0/bi_integrate_data_prep_recipe_todate.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=analytics.bi_integrate_data_prep_recipe_todate.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 9cc222ffea2fd65475d0faf125ad318b8e7406a3a3a724dd89930f1334519f02
description: When you load data into a dataset, CRM Analytics tags a date field as a dimension if it contains unexpected string values or dates in different formats. To use date functionality, such as grouping by month, use the To Date transformation to change the dimension field type to date.
products:
  - CRM Analytics
  - Cross Cloud
release: "264"
---
# Convert a Dimension Field Type to Date

When you load data into a dataset, CRM Analytics tags a date field as a dimension if it contains unexpected string values or dates in different formats. To use date functionality, such as grouping by month, use the To Date transformation to change the dimension field type to date.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small permission">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:50%">
          <col style="width:50%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d130785e25">User Permissions Needed</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d130785e25 ">To create a recipe:</td>
            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d130785e25 ">Edit Analytics Dataflows OR Edit Dataset Recipes</td>
          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-analytics-bi-264-0-0-production-enus/ec791473-f5b4-4f64-a656-9104f455d966/images/icon_note.png)

Note To convert a dimension column to date in a Data Prep recipe, see [Text to Date Transformation: Convert the Column Type](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=analytics.bi_integrate_recipe_transformation_dimensiontodate.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "When you load data into a dataset, CRM Analytics tags a date column as a text (dimension) if it contains unexpected string values or dates in different formats. To use date functionality, such as grouping by month, use the Text To Date transformation to change the Text column type to Date.").

1. On the column header of the dimension field, click ![Column menu button](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-analytics-bi-264-0-0-production-enus/ec791473-f5b4-4f64-a656-9104f455d966/resources-global/analytics/images/bi_integrate_replication_actions_button.png), and then select **To Date**.
    
    ![The column dropdown for a dimension column shows lots of transformations, including the To Date transformation.](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-analytics-bi-264-0-0-production-enus/ec791473-f5b4-4f64-a656-9104f455d966/bi/images/bi/bi_integrate_recipe_toDateTransformationOption.png)
2. In the Date Format field, select the date format to display the dates.
    
    ![The dropdown for the Date Format field shows all supported date formats.](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-analytics-bi-264-0-0-production-enus/ec791473-f5b4-4f64-a656-9104f455d966/bi/images/bi/bi_integrate_recipe_toDateTransformationConfig.png)
3. Click **Add** and save the recipe.

Run the recipe to create a new field with the date field type and convert the date values to the specified format. If the transformation can’t parse a date value, it replaces the value with null.