Updating an Attribute's Datatype

WDS will infer the datatype of a record's attributes. When adding or updating records for an existing type, WDS will update the datatype of an existing attribute to accommodate changes, if possible. For example, if a record type exists with a numeric attribute:

id	number
entity_1	123
entity_2	456

But a new record is uploaded to the type with a non-numeric value for the numeric attribute:

id	number
entity_3	"hello"

The record type will be updated and that attribute will now be typed as a string:

id	number
entity_1	"123"
entity_2	"456"
entity_3	"hello"

Most conversions will result in a string, as that is the most general datatype, with two exceptions:

1. A date can be converted to a datetime, since no information is lost.
2. Relations and arrays of relations cannot be updated. Attempts to update columns to or from relation attributes will result in error.

See the table below for full conversion behavior:

	INCOMING DATATYPE →
EXISTING DATATYPE ↓	boolean	number	string	date	datetime	relation	json	array of booleans	array of numbers	array of strings	array of dates	array of datetimes	array of relations
boolean	boolean	string	string	string	string	ERROR	string	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR
number	string	number	string	string	string	ERROR	string	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR
string	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR	string	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR
date	string	string	string	date	datetime	ERROR	string	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR
datetime	string	string	string	string	datetime	ERROR	string	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR
relation	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	relation	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR
json	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR	json	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR
array of booleans	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR	string	array of booleans	string	string	string	string	ERROR
array of numbers	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR	string	string	array of numbers	string	string	string	ERROR
array of strings	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR	string	string	string	array of strings	string	string	ERROR
array of dates	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR	string	string	string	string	array of dates	array of datetimes	ERROR
array of datetimes	string	string	string	string	string	ERROR	string	string	string	string	string	array of datetimes	ERROR
array of relations	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	ERROR	array of relations