DOC: Document that DataFrame.from_records()'s columns argument also acts as "include" · Issue #59670 · pandas-dev/pandas (original) (raw)

Pandas version checks

• I have checked that the issue still exists on the latest versions of the docs on main here

Location of the documentation

https://pandas.pydata.org/docs/reference/api/pandas.DataFrame.from_records.html

Documentation problem

Currently, it's not clear from the DataFrame.from_records() docs that the columns argument to from_records() also has the effect of what an include argument (or usecols) would do. Indeed, the current wording once led someone to file a feature request asking for an include argument to be added: #15319
However, the request was later closed when the maintainers realized the columns argument already does this (but it's not documented, hence this issue).

Suggested fix for documentation

Add a sentence or phrase to the documentation of the columns argument that the argument also has the effect of limiting the DataFrame to including only the columns specified. This isn't implied by the current wording, or it's at least a little ambiguous.