14.8.2.19 :colnames

The :colnames header argument accepts the values yes, no, or nil for unassigned. The default value is nil. Note that the behavior of the :colnames header argument may differ across languages. For example Emacs Lisp code blocks ignore the :colnames header argument entirely given the ease with which tables with column names may be handled directly in Emacs Lisp.

• nil If an input table looks like it has column names (because its second row is an hline), then the column names will be removed from the table before processing, then reapplied to the results.

            #+TBLNAME: less-cols
            | a |
            |---|
            | b |
            | c |
            
            #+NAME: echo-table-again
            #+BEGIN_SRC python :var tab=less-cols
              return [[val + '*' for val in row] for row in tab]
            #+END_SRC
            
            #+RESULTS: echo-table-again
            | a  |
            |----|
            | b* |
            | c* |
  

  Please note that column names are not removed before the table is indexed using variable indexing See Indexable variable values.

• no No column name pre-processing takes place
• yes Column names are removed and reapplied as with nil even if the table does not “look like” it has column names (i.e., the second row is not an hline)