Shape · Columns

Rename

Gives columns new names. Type old-to-new pairs, or let the data decide at run time: take the names from the first row (which is then dropped), from a names table on a second input, or from an expression over each old name.

Also known as: Relabel, alias

How it works

With New names come from set to Names I type (the default), click Add mapping and fill one column and New name pair per column; unlisted columns keep their names and a pair whose new name equals the old one does nothing. The other three options decide the names at run time for the columns you pick under Rename these columns, or for every column except them with Rename every column except these (the default, every column when the list is empty): The first row uses that row's values as names and drops the row; A names table (second input) reads the New-name column of the table wired into the names input, matched to the old names by the Old-name column or by position when it is blank; An expression over each name evaluates a DuckDB SQL expression in which name is the old name. A name that comes out empty becomes Field_ plus the column count plus one, and a name already taken gets a number, as in YDS2.

Inputs and outputs

Settings

{
  mappings: [{ from: string, to: string }]
  namesFrom?: "fixed"|"first-row"|"names-input"|"expression"
  columns?: string[]
  exceptColumns?: boolean
  expression?: string
  newNameColumn?: string
  oldNameColumn?: string
}

Example

A warehouse export uses snake_case headers and the report wants readable ones. Choose An expression over each name and enter replace(name, '_', ' '), so order_date becomes order date and unit_price becomes unit price without listing each column.

More in Columns

• Select Columns — Keeps only the columns you pick and drops the rest.
• Cast Types — Changes a column's type, such as text to number or text to date. You choose what happens to a value that won't convert: stop the run, or make it blank with or without a warning.
• Parse — Turns messy text into real values: dates and times, numbers with separators or currency signs, true/false, durations, measurements with units, and coordinates.
• Add Column — Adds a column worked out by a formula, a fixed value, today's date or the current time, or a parameter. For example, margin = Price − Cost. Excel's finance functions such as PMT work here by name; see Formulas and finance functions.
• Multi-field Formula — Applies one formula to many columns at once, such as rounding every price column. Overwrite the columns or write new ones beside them.
• Multi-row Formula — Works out a column from the current row and its neighbours, including the column's own value on the previous row. Use it for fill-down, running totals or carrying the last value forward.
• Fill Missing — Replaces blanks with a fixed value, an empty string, or the previous or next value, or drops those rows. It can also drop rows or columns that are entirely empty.
• Replace Values — Swaps text in a column for other text, such as 'N/A' to blank or 'NY' to 'New York'. Each rule replaces its text wherever it appears in a value, as plain text or a pattern.
• Replace via Mapping — Swaps values in one or more columns using a second table of from → to pairs, such as a code list turning 'NY' into 'New York'. Values with no match stay as they are, or fail the run if you choose.
• Interpolate NULLs — Fills blank numbers by estimating from the known values around them, in a straight line or by taking the nearest one. For example, missing sensor readings.
• Clip Values — Caps numbers at a lower and/or upper bound. Anything below becomes the minimum, anything above becomes the maximum.
• Bin — Turns a number into a labelled band, using your own break points or equal-width buckets. For example, ages into 0–17, 18–64 and 65+.
• Format Table — Sets how columns print in previews and reports: currency, percent, decimals, thousands separators, date masks, alignment and hidden columns. The values themselves don't change.
• Format to Text — Turns a number, date or time column into formatted text: thousands separators, fixed decimals, currency or a date pattern. The pattern can come from another column, row by row. Unlike Format Table, this changes the data.
• Audit Stamp — Adds columns that record when the row was loaded, from which source, and in which run. Use it before writing to a warehouse so you can trace every row.