.. _auto_dataset_format_column:

*DATASET FORMAT COLUMN*
=======================

Applies a printf-style format string to one or more columns in a dataset, returning the reformatted dataset. Use this worker to standardise string or numeric column representations (e.g. zero-padding, unit suffixes, decimal precision) before downstream processing.

When to use
-----------

Classification: **process**.

Tagged: ``column_formatting``, ``dataset_transform``, ``format_column``, ``printf``, ``string_format``.

Inputs
------

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   :header-rows: 1
   :widths: 20 20 20 20 20 20

   * - Label
     - ID
     - Type
     - Default
     - Required
     - Description
   * - Dataset
     - dataset_1
     - dataset
     - —
     - 
     - Input dataset whose column(s) will be reformatted; accepts any tabular dataset available in the workflow context.
   * - Column Name
     - column_name
     - scalar
     - —
     - 
     - Name(s) of the column(s) to format; supply a single column name or a comma-delimited list (e.g. "speed,force") when multiple columns share the same format string.
   * - Format String
     - format_string
     - scalar
     - %s
     - 
     - A printf-style format string (e.g. "%s", "%.2f", "%05d") applied to each specified column; defaults to "%s" (no-op string passthrough); use a comma-delimited list to pair a distinct format with each column.

Outputs
-------

.. list-table::
   :header-rows: 1
   :widths: 20 20 20 20

   * - Label
     - ID
     - Type
     - Description
   * - dataset_format_column_output_1
     - dataset_format_column_output_1
     - dataset
     - A copy of the input dataset with the specified column(s) reformatted according to the supplied format string(s); all other columns are unchanged.

Disciplines
-----------

- data.dataset.transform

Runnable example
----------------

A runnable example is registered for this worker. Open the example workflow on the d3VIEW canvas: `/api/workflow/example?id=dataset_format_column <https://www.d3view.com/api/workflow/example?id=dataset_format_column>`_

.. raw:: html

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   Auto-generated from <code>transformation</code> schema. Worker id: <code>dataset_format_column</code>. Schema hash: <code>67668b62fc7d</code>. Hand-curated docs in <code>workerexamples/</code> override this page when present.
   </p>