Transpose tables in astropy

tab_trans.py

import numpy as np
from astropy.table import Table, Column

def transpose_table(tab_before, id_col_name='ID'):
    '''Returns a copy of tab_before (an astropy.Table) with rows and columns interchanged
        id_col_name: name for optional ID column corresponding to
        the column names of tab_before'''
    # contents of the first column of the old table provide column names for the new table
    # TBD: check for duplicates in new_colnames & resolve
    new_colnames=tuple(tab_before[tab_before.colnames[0]])
    # remaining columns of old table are row IDs for new table 
    new_rownames=tab_before.colnames[1:]
    # make a new, empty table
    tab_after=Table(names=new_colnames)
    # add the columns of the old table as rows of the new table
    for r in new_rownames:
        tab_after.add_row(tab_before[r])
    if id_col_name != '':
        # add the column headers of the old table as the id column of new table
        tab_after.add_column(Column(new_rownames, name=id_col_name),index=0)
    return(tab_after)