Table of Contents

RENAME COLUMNS BY LOOKUP

Category: Transform / Advanced


Description

This action renames columns in a table by looking up old and new column names in another table.

The lookup table should have 2 columns: one containing the old names, and one listing the new names.


Use cases

This action is typically used when names of columns to rename and/or the new names are not known in advance and have to be generated dynamically during a calculation, or from a set of known names in a lookup table.


Action settings

SettingDescription
Lookup tableSelect the table containing the old and new column name values.
Column with old namesSelect the column in the selected table that contains the original column name values.
Column with new namesSelect the column in the selected table that contains the new column name values.

The reference to the second table will appear as a dotted line connecting this action to the second dataset in the application window.


Remarks

This action is case sensitive. If the lookup values do not match the existing column names case-wise, a match is not made and the new column name is not assigned.

If a match to a column is not found in the "old names" lookup column, the column will retain its original name.


Examples

Example: Rename the columns in Table 1 using the old/new name pairings in Table 2.

Table 1: Source table columns.

FName LName Add1 Cty ST Zip

Table 2: Lookup table

Old names New names
FName FirstName
LName LastName
Add1 Address
Cty City
St State
Zip Zip Code


Action parameters:

Lookup Table is "Table 2"
Column with old names is "Old names"
Column with new names is "New names"


Result table:

FirstName LastName Address City ST Zip Code

Notice that "ST" wasn't renamed to "State" due to case issues ("ST" vs. "St").


Community examples


See also