Question

Two datasets are merged, but product IDs do not match.

Dataset A stores IDs as “00125”
Dataset B stores IDs as 125
Merging fails because the IDs appear different


What is the best fix?





Group of answer choices

Delete leading zeros to match the shorter dataset

Convert both columns to numeric values

Apply TRIM to remove whitespace

Use typecasting to convert both to text (string format) with consistent formatting

Answer 1

Use typecasting to convert both to text (string format) with consistent formatting.

Why: product IDs are identifiers (not numeric values) so you should preserve formatting (including leading zeros) rather than deleting them or treating them as numbers. Convert both columns to the same string type and normalize formatting (e.g., pad the numeric column with leading zeros to the required width). TRIM is irrelevant here unless there is whitespace.