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Move Columns

You can move or reorder individual columns or multiple columns through multiple methods.

Cut and Paste Columns

To move an individual column or multiple columns, perform the following:

Steps:

  1. Select an individual column or select multiple columns. For example, select Column B and select Cut from the column menu.

  2. Navigate to the location where you want to paste the column then select Paste > (Paste before or Paste after) from the column menu.

In the following example, you can see what happens when Column B is moved after Column D.

Source:

Column A

Column B

Column C

Column D

Cell A.1

Cell B.1

Cell C.1

Cell D.1

Cell A. 2

Cell B.2

Cell C.2

Cell D.2

Results:

Column A

Column C

Column D

Column B

Cell A.1

Cell C.1

Cell D.1

Cell B.1

Cell A. 2

Cell C.2

Cell D.2

Cell B.2

Move using Column Menus

You can use the Move option from the drop-down caret of the column context menu to move an individual column or multiple columns.

To move an individual column or multiple columns, perform the following:

Steps:

  1. To select an individual column, click its column header. To select multiple columns:

    1. You can SHIFT-click a range of columns.

    2. To select multiple discrete columns, press CTRL/COMMAND + click.

  2. Select Move from the column menu of one of the selected columns. Choose one of the following options to move a column:

    • to beginning: Moves the column to the beginning of the dataset.

    • to end: Moves the column to the end of the dataset.

    • after/before: Moves the column either before or after the specified columns of the dataset.

The specified transformation is displayed in the Transform Builder. For example, the following transformation moves Column A just after Column C:

The Column(s) option defines the method by which you specify the set of columns. In this case, Multiple simply means that you specify each column one after another in the transformation. To add this step to your recipe, click Add. The columns are moved.

Tip

You can use suggestion cards to explore and select the appropriate transformation to move the columns. For more information on suggestions, see Explore Suggestions.

Move using Column Icons

Select the Column View icon in the Transformer bar to move columns in the Column Browser panel.

To move an individual column or multiple columns, perform the following:

Steps:

  1. When you select an individual column or multiple columns, you are prompted with a set of suggestions.

  2. Select the appropriate suggestion from the suggestion cards.

  3. Edit or Add the steps, as required to move columns. For more information, see below examples.

Move using Transform Builder

In the Transform Builder, you can select one or more columns to move using finer-grained controls.

To move an individual column or multiple columns, perform the following:

Steps:

  1. Enter Move columns in the Search panel of the Transform Builder.

  2. Select an individual column or multiple columns, as required. The following options are available when specifying one or more columns in a transformation:

    • Multiple: Select one or more columns from the drop-down list. See below example.

    • Range: Specify a start column and ending column. All columns inclusive are selected. See below example.

    • Advanced: Specify the columns using a comma-separated list. You can combine multiple and range options under Advanced. Ranges of columns can be specified using the tilde (~) character. See below example.

  3. Select the required option from the Option drop-down list.

  4. Select the required column to move after or before the column.

  5. Click Add. The selected columns are moved based on your inputs.

Move multiple columns

This example moves two discrete columns (Column A and ColumnC), before Column E. These columns are not next to each other, so they can be specified using the Multiple column(s) option.

Source:

Column A

Column B

Column C

Column D

Column E

Cell A.1

Cell B.1

Cell C.1

Cell D.1

Cell E.1

Cell A. 2

Cell B.2

Cell C.2

Cell D.2

Cell E. 2

Transformation:

Transformation Name

Move Columns

Parameter: Column(s)

Multiple

Parameter: Column

A, C

Parameter: Option

Before

Parameter: Column

E

Results:

Column B

Column D

Column A

Column C

Column E

Cell B.1

Cell D.1

Cell A.1

Cell C.1

Cell E.1

Cell B.2

Cell D. 2

Cell A.2

Cell C.2

Cell E.2

Move range of columns

You can move a range of columns to a specified location. For example, you can move Column A through Column C after Column D.

Source:

Column A

Column B

Column C

Column D

Cell A.1

Cell B.1

Cell C.1

Cell D.1

Cell A. 2

Cell B.2

Cell C.2

Cell D.2

Transformation:

Transformation Name

Move Columns

Parameter: Column(s)

Range

Parameter: Column

A~C

Parameter: Option

After

Parameter: Column

D

Results:

Column D

Column A

Column B

Column C

Cell D.1

Cell A.1

Cell B.1

Cell C.1

Cell D. 2

Cell A.2

Cell B.2

Cell C.2

Move set of columns

Using the Advanced option, you can move combinations of column ranges and discrete columns to a new location. In the following example, ColumnA through ColumnC and ColumnE are moved after ColumnF:

Source:

Column A

Column B

Column C

Column D

Column E

Column F

Cell A.1

Cell B.1

Cell C.1

Cell D.1

Cell E.1

Cell F.1

Cell A. 2

Cell B.2

Cell C.2

Cell D.2

Cell E.2

Cell F.2

Transformation:

In the transformation, you select the Advanced column(s) option where you can specify columns on a single line.

Tip

The tilde character (~) can be used to specify the range of columns between two listed columns. Ranges and individual columns should be separated by a comma.

ColumnA~ColumnC,ColumnE

Transformation Name

Move Columns

Parameter: Column(s)

Advanced

Parameter: Column

A~C, E

Parameter: Option

After

Parameter: Column

F

Results:

Column D

Column F

Column A

Column B

Column C

Column E

Cell D.1

Column F.1

Cell A.1

Cell B.1

Cell C.1

Cell E.1

Cell D.2

Column F.2

Cell A.2

Cell B.2

Cell C.2

Cell E.2

For more information, see Column Reference Syntax.

Move using Target Schema Mapping

Target schema mapping allows you to associate a target set of columns with your recipe. When you specified a target, you can often reposition your source columns with the targets by clicking in the interface. For more information, see Overview of Target Schema Mapping.

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