# Automatic data type conversion

Data Shaping Language can automatically convert a data type into another.

This happens when you map a field to another field with a different data type, for example.

Information noteWarning: Some conversions may lead to errors or data loss. For example, when converting a string to a boolean, the content of the string is lost if the string is not "true". When converting numbers, some precision can be lost if the source type has a higher precision than the target type.

You can also convert data types manually using functions. For more information, see [Data type functions](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-shaping-language-reference-guide/8.0/data-type-functions).

### In this section

* [Conversion from a null](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-shaping-language-reference-guide/8.0/conversion-from-null)
* [Conversion from a string](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-shaping-language-reference-guide/8.0/conversion-from-string)
* [Conversion from a boolean](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-shaping-language-reference-guide/8.0/conversion-from-boolean)
* [Conversion from an integer](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-shaping-language-reference-guide/8.0/conversion-from-integer)
* [Conversion from a decimal](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-shaping-language-reference-guide/8.0/conversion-from-decimal)
* [Conversion from a double](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-shaping-language-reference-guide/8.0/conversion-from-double)
* [Conversion from a float](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-shaping-language-reference-guide/8.0/conversion-from-float)
* [Conversion from a long](https://help.qlik.com/talend/en-US/data-shaping-language-reference-guide/8.0/conversion-from-long)