Data Format

Columns expects data to be organized in a certain way. This is to ensure that the data is correctly interpreted by Columns. When you fail to get desired outcome from Columns, it's likely that the data format is not correctly set up.

Let's use examples in Google Spreadsheet to illustrate the expected data format you should be aware! If you like to watch video instead, check out Good Data vs Bad Data.

Good Data

1. Your data should be structured in a tabular format.
2. Each row represents a record and each column represents a field.

This is a good example of how your data should be structured: Good Data Example

Bad Data

There are many different ways to go bad with your data which may end up with unexpected results on Columns. The basic two rules to check first compared to good data are:

1. data is unstructured
2. data is not tabular

Taking Spreadsheet as example, here are some common mistakes to avoid:

1. Avoid merging cells.
2. Avoid having multiple tables in a single sheet.
3. Avoid having multiple data types in a single column.
4. Avoid having empty rows or columns in the middle of your data.
5. Avoid having multiple headers in a single sheet.

Here are two examples of bad data:

• Bad Data Example 1: Column names on the first column rather than on the first row, an quick way to check this is to see if you want to add more similar data, you should be able to add more rows (grow vertically) rather than columns (grow horizontally).
• Bad Data Example 2: Merged cells, sum total rows etc. are not good to have. Keep your data clean and simple in a tabular format, Columns will do the rest (analysis, summary) for you.

Pleas pay attention to the Bad Data Example 1, it's a common mistake that people make when they first use Spreadsheet on Columns, because it's nature way to put column names on the first column, but it's not the way Columns expects.

Data Types

Keep it simple, data types should be consistent in a column, and can be number, text, DATE or flag (true/false).