Numeric, text, and categorical variables can be cast to one another by assigning them a new "type". This modifies the storage of the data on the server and should only be done in narrow circumstances, as in when importing data from a different file format has resulted in incorrect types being specified.
# S4 method for CrunchVariable
type(x)# S4 method for CrunchVariable
type(x) <- value
a Variable
For the setter, a character value in c("numeric", "text", "categorical")
Getter returns character; setter returns x duly modified.