Is there any way to change type and clone a column? rather than overriding the old one

We normally will do what you're asking using a SQL transform.

If i've got my original output (call it Transform1) I'll do something like this:

After connecting to Transform1 in the SQL transform, I'll create a new transform step and add my change.

Something like

SELECT *, CAST(`employeeid` as CHAR(8)) AS 'employeeid_text'

The above would give me both my numeric `employeeid` field and a text `employeeid_text` field.

Hope this helps.

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I think that you have to perform three actions to accomplish this inside an ETL.

1. Select Columns - You will want to select your unique identifier and any columns that you are wanting to copy and change the type of.  I would recommend changing the name of the column in this step as well.

2. Set Column Type - Change the column types to your desired data type

3. Join Data - Join the data from your "Set Column Type" step back onto your original data set.