4.4.14 Select or Hide Columns


If you have multiple columns in the active worksheet and you want to select certain columns before plotting or analyzing, you can use the Select dialog.

Data in hidden columns will not be plotted but MAY still be counted in analysis operations. Do not use the Hide button to hide columns and assume that hidden data will be ignored in your analysis.

To open the tool:

  1. Activate the workbook.
  2. Click Edit: Select or Column: Select Columns and open the Select dialog box.
Select dialog.png

Dialog Options

Mode Specify the mode to select/hide desired columns.
  • By Column Label
    Select columns by Column Label row. Selecting this option requires input of a Label, a String, and a condition. The string can be constructed using wildcards "*" (any string of arbitrary length) and "?" (any single character).
  • By Select N columns and Skip M columns
    Selecting this option requires input of N (number of columns to select), M (number of columns to skip) and Start (a "starting from" column).
  • By LabTalk Script
    Select worksheet columns by LabTalk Script. There are serveral examples behind the flyout menu button OH dialog flyout menu button.png:
    Select by Value of Nth Row: x[10] = 2.5 // select cols with row 10 value = 2.5
    Select by Mean of Column: mean(x) > 2 // select cols with mean > 2
    Select by Specified Columns: j = 2 || j = 7 // selects cols 2 and 7
UG select hide cols dlg.png
Label Specify the column label row (Long Name, Units, Comments, etc) and the operators for the condition. Six operators are supported:
  • =: Equal to
  • <: Less than
  • <=: Not greater than
  • >: Greater than
  • >=: Not less than
  • !=: Not equal to
String Enter a conditional string in the edit box that will be used to extract columns. The string can be constructed using wildcards "*" (any string of arbitrary length) and "?" (any single character).
N=/M=/Start When the Mode is set to By Select N columns and Skip M columns, these three edit boxes will appear. Specify the starting column and enter the values to select N columns and skip M columns after the starting column.
Select Select columns that meet the condition. If matching columns are found, the count is displayed to the right of Columns Found:. Corresponding columns will be highlighted in the source worksheet.
Hide Hide columns that meet the condition. The count is displayed to the right of Columns Found:. Corresponding columns will be hidden in the source worksheet.

Examples

Select dialog 4.png
Select dialog 3.png
Select dialog 2.png