Work in the Mammoth data grid and column menu
The data grid is the table in the middle of every View. Each column header has a 3-dot Column Menu for one column, and selecting two or more headers gives a multi-column menu for bulk actions. Some actions only change how the View looks (Display Changes); others add a task to the pipeline.
Select rows, copy cells and resize columns
| To... | Do this |
|---|---|
| Select rows | Click a row number in the first column. Ctrl or Cmd adds or removes a row, and Shift selects a range. Clicking any cell clears the row and column selection. |
| Copy and paste | Right-click a cell for Copy, Paste and Cut. When you paste into a NUMERIC column, a value that isn't a valid number becomes empty. |
| Rename a column | Double-click the column name in the header, or use Rename Column in the column menu. Disabled while a pipeline task is in error. See Rename, format and sort columns. |
| Resize a column | Drag the right edge of the header. The width is saved with the View. |
| Reorder columns | Drag a header left or right. You can't drag columns while previewing data at a task. |
| Edit a cell | Once cell editing is on for the dataset, double-click a cell. Edits are listed as an Edit Cells task. See Label rows, edit cells and fill blanks. |
Read the column header controls
Besides the column name and the 3-dot menu, each header has:
- Type tag: a small grey tag before the name that shows the column's type: Aa for Text, 123 for Number, a calendar for Date, and a key, $ or % icon for an ID, Currency or Percentage column. Hover it for what the type means. See Column types, IDs, currency and percentages.
- Explore: a chart icon that appears when you hover the header (tooltip "Explore"). Click it to open an Explore card for the column. The icon stays highlighted while the card is open; click it again to close the card. See Explore cards.
- Create Metric: on a Number column, a shortcut to build a quick metric. See Metrics.
Read the row and column counts in the bottom bar
The bottom bar of the data editor, to the right of the View tabs, sums up the grid:
| Item | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Row count | "153 rows", or "120 of 153 rows" when a filter hides some rows. |
| Column count | "Showing all 21 columns", or "18 of 21 columns" when some are hidden. Click it to open the Column browser, where you can also open Column Manager. |
| Sort by | The active sort, or "Default". See Sort rows by one or more columns. |
On a narrow window the counts shorten, first to "120/153 rows" and "18/21 cols", then to "120/153" and a column icon. Hover a shortened count to see it in full.
The column count is disabled while the data is loading and while Draft mode is applying changes.
Hide, show or remove several columns at once
Select two or more column headers to get the multi-column menu. It is separate from the per-column menu and acts on your whole selection.
- Click the first column header to select it.
- Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac) and click more headers, or hold Shift and click another header to select the range between them.
- Click the 3-dot button that appears on any of the selected headers.
The menu only appears with two or more columns selected. It is disabled while the pipeline is loading or applying changes. The three visibility options are also disabled while the pipeline has a task in error. The menu's actions do nothing in preview mode.
Choose a visibility option
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Hide | Hides all selected columns, in addition to any already hidden. The data stays; the columns are invisible. |
| Hide only these | Hides the selected columns and shows every other column. Columns hidden earlier are shown again. |
| Show only these | Shows only the selected columns and hides everything else. |
These are Display Changes on this View. They don't affect other Views or delete data, and they stay after a refresh. To unhide columns, use the Column browser or revert them in Display Changes.
Remove columns or find and replace across them
These options sit under a Data Pipeline label. Each opens a function panel and adds a pipeline task when you apply it.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Remove | Opens Remove Column with all selected columns, and adds a task that removes them from this View. |
| Find & Replace | Opens Find & Replace with all selected TEXT columns pre-selected, and the View's current filter as its condition. Disabled if no TEXT column is in the selection. |
Remove is a pipeline task, so later tasks can't use the removed columns. To bring them back, suspend or delete the Remove Column task. Use Hide if you only want to clear columns from the grid.
Which options work for which column types
Hide, Hide only these, Show only these and Remove are always active. Find & Replace is active whenever at least one TEXT column is in the selection; the other columns' types don't matter.
| Selection | Find & Replace |
|---|---|
| Only TEXT columns | Active |
| Only NUMERIC columns | Disabled |
| Only DATE columns | Disabled |
| TEXT + NUMERIC | Active |
| TEXT + DATE | Active |
| NUMERIC + DATE | Disabled |
| TEXT + NUMERIC + DATE | Active |
Open the column menu for one column
Click the 3-dot menu button in any column header. The menu closes after you pick an action; reopen it to do something else on the same column.
The menu has five zones, top to bottom:
- Format: layout depends on the column type. See Rename, format and sort columns.
- Sort: a dropdown to sort ascending or descending.
- Conditional Highlights: opens the Conditional Highlights panel for this column. See Highlight values with colour.
- Display checkboxes: Show Whitespaces (TEXT columns only) and Freeze (all types).
- Action list: type-specific operations, then a divider, then common operations.
For a TEXT column whose values look like JSON, the menu opens with an Extract JSON shortcut at the top and tucks everything else under More options. See Work with text and JSON.
Which column menu changes stay local to this View
| Change | Scope | Who else sees it? |
|---|---|---|
| Format a number or date column (currency, percentage, decimals, date format) | Display Change (this View) | Other Views keep their original formatting |
| Format a text column (change case, normalize whitespace) | Pipeline task (this View) | Adds a Text Formatting task to this View's pipeline |
| Sort ascending or descending | Display Change (this View) | Saved with the View and listed under Grid Changes in Display Changes |
| Hide column | Display Change (this View) | Other Views still show the column |
| Rename column (display alias) | Display Change (this View) | Other Views still use the original name |
| Freeze column | Personal setting (this View) | Saved for you in this View; it doesn't change the View for others |
| Duplicate column values | Pipeline task (this View) | Adds a Copy Columns task |
| Apply Filter with this Column | Pipeline task (this View) | Adds a Conditional Filter task |
| Remove Column | Pipeline task (this View) | Adds a Remove Column task; suspend or delete it to bring the column back |
Actions for TEXT, NUMERIC and DATE columns
When you pick one of these, the function panel opens with your column pre-selected. Configure it and click Apply to add it to the pipeline.
| Column type | Operation | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| TEXT | Label & Insert Values | Set all cells in the column to a fixed value or expression |
| TEXT | Split this column | Break the column into several columns using a delimiter |
| TEXT | Bulk Replace | Find and replace multiple patterns at once across the column |
| TEXT | Extract Text | Pull out a substring based on position or regex pattern |
| TEXT | Combine with another column | Merge this column with another, with an optional separator |
| NUMERIC | Label & Insert Values | Set all cells in the column to a fixed value or expression |
| NUMERIC | Math Function | Apply a formula to the column |
| NUMERIC | Calculate running total | Compute a cumulative sum across rows in order. Row order matters for a cumulative sum. |
| NUMERIC | Ranking | Assign rank values based on numeric order |
| DATE | Label & Insert Values | Set all cells in the column to a fixed value or expression |
| DATE | Extract Date Part | Pull out a part such as year, month, day or quarter |
| DATE | Add / Subtract Date Values | Add or subtract days, months or years |
Actions on every column
| Operation | What it does |
|---|---|
| Apply Filter with this Column | Opens a filter pre-set for this column |
| Duplicate column values | Opens Copy Columns to add a copy of the column |
| Convert Column Type | Changes the data type (TEXT, NUMERIC, DATE) |
| Add New Column to the right | Inserts a blank column after this one |
| Rename Column | Opens an inline box to set a display name for this View |
| Revert to original column name | Removes the display name (only after a rename) |
| Hide Column | Takes the column out of this View without deleting data |
| Remove Column | Opens Remove Column; applying adds a task that removes the column from this View |
Troubleshooting the column menu
The 3-dot button is disabled while the pipeline is processing, while changes are being applied to the dataset, or while Draft mode is on and Mammoth is tracking pending tasks. It becomes active again when processing ends.
While any pipeline task is in error (and isn't suspended or deleted), the menu still opens. Rename Column, Hide Column and Revert to original column name are disabled, and format and sort changes are ignored.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| 3-dot button is disabled | Pipeline is processing, applying changes, or Draft mode is on with pending tasks | Wait for the pipeline to finish |
| Rename Column is disabled | The transformation info panel is open, or a pipeline task is in error | Close the panel, or fix or remove the failing task |
| Hide Column or Revert to original column name is disabled | A pipeline task is in error | Fix or remove the failing task |
| Sort or other Display Changes are rejected | The pipeline has a task in error | Fix or remove the failing task, then try again |
| Format didn't apply | Apply wasn't clicked | Reopen the menu and click Apply |
| Find & Replace is disabled in the multi-column menu | No TEXT column is selected | Add at least one TEXT column to the selection |
| Removed the wrong columns | Remove added a Remove Column task | Suspend or delete that task to bring the columns back |
Related
- Rename, format and sort columns: format, sort, freeze, hide and rename from the column menu.
- Browse columns: hide, show and reorder all columns in one place.
- Add, split, copy and delete columns: the tasks behind Split, Duplicate and Remove.
- Find and replace values: Find & Replace across several columns.
- How the pipeline works: pipeline tasks versus Display Changes.
Something wrong? support@mammoth.io