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TIME data type support in lakehouse Delta tables

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Alex Blake on 15 Feb 2024 18:04:18

Every time a column is marked as type TIME in a DFg2, upon setting a data destination the UI forces you to change the type to DATETIME.


2 issues:


1__if you change the type in the DFg2 AFTER adding a data destination, so if you do it from the data destination dialog, you will get the current date added to the time data with the 'comma + space' separator. That's how it shows, but when doing a split on the column, it detects only space as a separator, so to remain consistent with the data sources, ie DBs who display datetime data with the space separator only between date and time, please fix the UI so that there is not comma in there.


2__if you do change the data type BEFORE setting a data destination, so from the Power Query UI, you will not see the current date, but the generic date of the start of the epoch, or whatever it is called (can't remember now). 'comma + space' also still there in the UI instead of only 'space' for the separator.


Once you are building the report in Power BI Desktop in DirectQuery mode, the Time column comes in as type DATETIME and it's impossible to perform any time logic with a slicer containing Hour, for example. Haven't had the chance to test yet, but I will assume that in a final DFg2 that consumes this lakehouse table, the column will be able to be set back to the TIME only type and the report connecting to this DFg2 will only see time data in the column and not date+time.