spreader

Spreader

This plugin operates on an existing "tidy" dataset and makes a new, un-tidy "derived" dataset.

The classic use case is if you have a dataset like this:

station what value
SF      TEMP  65
SF      Pop   800
LA      TEMP  81
LA      Pop   7500

In fact, you want to "spread out" the columns, like this:

station  TEMP  Pop
SF        65    800
LA        81   7500

In spreader, you identify the dataset you want to spread, and then identify which attribute is the "type" (in our case, what, which contains the type of data that follow) and which is the "value" attribute (in our case, value). You can also, optionally, identify an attribute that holds the units of the numbers in value.

Notes:

• The derived dataset does not update automatically. If you change the tidy dataset and want to see that reflected in the spread one, you have to redo the transformation.
• If there are different units for the same type of data in the same dataset (e.g., some TEMPs are Fahrenheit and some are Celsius) no conversion is done. Yet.