Carry an ID into a renamed column

Keep a source identifier in the exported dataset without asking anyone to retype it.

What the labeler sees

Captured from this recipe’s downloadable configuration and sample data. Select image to enlarge.

Try this example: download the complete configuration and sample CSV. Open the configuration in MLabel, then load the CSV.

View the complete configuration

{
  "$schema": "https://mlabel.vlad.gg/mlabel.schema.json",
  "version": 2,
  "network": {
    "updateChecks": false,
  },
  "input": {
    "fields": [
      {
        "name": "id",
        "type": "text",
        "display": "Record ID",
      },
      {
        "name": "comment",
        "type": "text",
        "display": {
          "title": "Customer comment",
          "titlePosition": "above",
        },
      },
    ],
  },
  "output": {
    "fields": [
      {
        "name": "sourceId",
        "type": "text",
        "fill": {
          "kind": "copy",
          "from": "id",
        },
      },
      {
        "name": "verdict",
        "type": "enum",
        "widget": "radio",
        "display": "Review decision",
        "choices": [
          {
            "name": "pass",
            "display": "Pass",
          },
          {
            "name": "fail",
            "display": "Fail",
          },
        ],
      },
    ],
  },
}

View the sample CSV

id,comment
r001,The parcel arrived late and the box was torn.

Configure it

Declare sourceId as an output field and set fill.from to the input name id. The input and output types must match.

A copied field produces no answer control. The labeler sees the ID in the source card and answers the separate review question. To copy the same ID into another column, add another text output field with the same fill.from.

The relevant setting is in output.fields.0. The download above includes the surrounding configuration.

{
  "name": "sourceId",
  "type": "text",
  "fill": {
    "kind": "copy",
    "from": "id",
  },
}

Try it and check the result

Select Pass and export. The resulting CSV is:

sourceId,verdict
r001,pass

The source column is still named id. display only changes on-screen captions; use the output field’s name to change an exported header.

There is no sourceId box to fill in: that value is copied automatically. Select image to enlarge.

Browse all illustrated recipes →