FLOAT: from Tableau to SQL

Converts a value to a floating-point number. Below, 8 sample rows go through the calculation and through the SQL, and both return the same numbers.

Calculated field

FLOAT([quantity])

Sample data

labelquantityamountflag
cedar cedar 6512.8True
ORCHID-west66-7.6False
maple-east670null
willow north6825.3True
birch-birch694.9False
pine/south70-1.2null
ash719True
nullnullnullnull

The same calculation as SQL

SELECT quantity::double AS result FROM input

Runs the example above.

Result

result
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
null

Same rows from the calculation and from the SQL in DuckDB.

Where a naive translation goes wrong

  • Replacing FLOAT with quantity::varchar changes the shown values or null handling.

    Naive SQL

    SELECT quantity::varchar AS result FROM input
    result
    65
    66
    67
    68
    69
    70
    71
    null

    Matches the calculation

    SELECT quantity::double AS result FROM input
    result
    65
    66
    67
    68
    69
    70
    71
    null

Signature

FLOAT(expression)