Force read all columns as string – KNIME Community Hub

[Hub]

---

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://hub.knime.com/-/spaces/-/latest/~sVV_3GX5-Xg0dNDb/

[mwiegand]

Corresponding Forum Post

Force KNIME to Read CSV Columns As Strings

This sounds easier than it is. I have to read files with an unknown number of columns and an unknown name of each column. I need KNIME to read all these columns as strings. Example, when reading one file with postal codes from the US, it decided the column was an integer because there was no alpha-characters. In the process, postal codes with leading zeros are damaged. So I can’t convert them to strings after the read. This is easy to do with CSV Reader and File Reader if you know the name…

[iCFO]

Another way to convert all columns to string post read.

Dynamically Convert All Columns / Data Types to String

Is there an easy way to convert every column regardless of datatype over to string? This will be used within a component, so it requires a dynamic approach.