Tabular data
Data arranged in rows and columns, where each row is one item and each column holds one attribute of every item.
Looking like a grid is not enough. A sheet with a title in the first row, a subtotal every few lines, and notes at the bottom has to be reduced to one header row and one kind of row before tools can read it.
Where it comes up
- Merged and multi-row headersThe column names are spread over two or more rows, often with merged cells, so no single row names every column.
- Totals and notes rows inside the dataRows that are not records, such as subtotals, grand totals, and footnotes, sit among the rows that are.
- Wide tables that should be longValues of one variable, such as months or years, are spread across the column headers instead of being stored in a column of their own.
See also
- Tidy dataA table layout in which each row is one observation, each column is one variable, and each cell holds one value.
- Flat fileA plain file that holds one table, usually one record per line, with no links to other tables. A CSV export is the most familiar example.
- ColumnOne vertical slice of a table, holding the same kind of fact for every row: every customer's city, every order's total.