Re: [PATCH] lisp/org-table.el: Allow named columns on lhs

[Max Nikulin]

On 22/07/2023 01:33, Gavin Downard wrote:
> Max Nikulin writes:
> > When I tried table formulas a couple of years ago I was surprised that it is not
> > possible to use column names to specify target cells. At first glance it should
> > be a great feature. Have you searched the mailing list archive whether it was
> > requested earlier? There are might be reasons why it has not been implemented.
> > Org spreadsheets are quite complicated.
>
> Surprisingly, I wasn't able to find much. Generally all I could find
> talked about hline references , which are similarly unsupported.

Quick search revealed some messages where the feature was mentioned. 
However there are no objections from the developers and maintainers:

https://list.orgmode.org/CAA3095_PFhoSFDZFQSFYB3DEe-PbmRbnHkWzpEfx4ChxLHuz-g@mail.gmail.com/T/#u
Bug: assignment to named column - not working as expected 2020-02-29

https://list.orgmode.org/CAJcAo8sF=2UG0ONvq4SSpRLyKfo-0VJfhsFMUerOJokovCLC2g@mail.gmail.com/T/#u
is this spreadsheet correct? 2012-12-01

https://list.orgmode.org/CALPHr6yH_etZa0=GajRMbu7x-oEJGdAP=3XEveLJnpEf0tQeLw@mail.gmail.com/
Bug: column names in tables cannot be used as target in table formula 
2011-08-19

Perhaps git blame for the manual may give some hints. If the change is 
really old then org.texi (removed at certain moment) should be inspected 
as well.

By the way, the manual needs an update if the suggested patch is applied.