Column Combiner and Column Order

I’m having an issue with the column combiner node, specifically when I want to specify the order in which the columns should be combined.

I am specifying the columns to combine via flow variable (e.g. [First Name, Last Name] and the node accepts it in the included_names variable without issue, BUT the node appears to combine the columns in the order they appear from the main table, not in the order I am specifying.

For example:

  • When I combine [First Name, Last Name], I get the result “Smith”“John” instead of “John”“Smith”.
  • If I reverse the order in the list variable (e.g. [Last Name, First Name]), I get the same result (“Smith”“John”).

I can’t use a string manipulation node to join the values because I don’t always know how many columns I am combining (could be 2-5 columns in my case). Thanks!

Hello @AndrewDevlin,

That is true. By specifying columns using flow variables you can not change/control order. You can use Column Resorter (or Reference Column Resorter) or Table Manipulator node to change define column order before Column Combiner node. Would that work for you?

Br,
Ivan

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Thanks for confirming. I have implemented a reference column resorter node right before the column combiner node to put the columns in the same order as specified in my flow variable and this has fixed my issue.

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