How to keep date from becoming an integer in a mixed-format field

[Lauri]

I have a load script that imports various CSVs and QVDs. One of the fields, ObservationValue, contains a mix of text, dates and numbers. Depending on the order that the files are loaded in, some of the dates get converted to integers, but I want them to stay in their original date format. I would rather not force the field to be Text. Is there any other way to guarantee that all values will appear exactly as they were in the source files?

[MarcoWedel · Accepted solution]

If those values are loaded having a numerical value then the assigned text format will be taken from the first occurrence of each value. I think the only guaranteed way to keep the original text representation is to load as text (using the text() function).

[Lauri]

Thank you, Marco. The curious thing: Even within the same load, some dates appear as integers, and some don't. I can't determine why. I will use your suggestion with Text().