# Data Type of UDT Parameters in Ignition 8

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/data-type-of-udt-parameters-in-ignition-8/26996>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Created:** [July 30, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/data-type-of-udt-parameters-in-ignition-8/26996 "2019-07-30T15:18:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jhollingsworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@jhollingsworth](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/jhollingsworth)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/data-type-of-udt-parameters-in-ignition-8/26996/1 "2019-07-30T15:18:31Z")

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I’m new to Ignition, so forgive me if this has an obvious answer. Looking at documentation for 7.9, when defining parameters in a UDT, there is a dropdown to select the datatype of a given parameter, e.g. String, Integer, Float, etc.

[Screenshot from 7.9 help article](https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/download/attachments/6048395/image2015-4-24%2015-53-0.png?version=1&modificationDate=1475032130000&api=v2)

[Screenshot from 8.0 help article](https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/download/attachments/26020555/2019-02-11_14-49-10.png?version=1&modificationDate=1549925449000&api=v2)

In Ignition 8(.0.2), the parameter creation screen ONLY has parameter name and value. When I export my tags, I can see that they have a datatype assigned. A few questions about how to work this this:

- Does it automatically conform to a type when a value is assigned?
- Can I export the tags, edit the XML/JSON so the parameters have the correct datatypes, then re-import?
- Right now I worked around an error by casting the parameters I’m working with as a float() or str() as necessary. Is there a better way to go about this?