Select and possibly re-order columns in a structured array

reorder_struct_array.py

import asciitable

def structured_array(arr, colnames):
    """Select and possibly re-order columns from a structured array.

    :param arr: numpy structured array
    :param colnames: column names to include
    """
    dtypes = [(x, arr[x].dtype, arr[x].shape[1:]) for x in colnames]
    dat = np.ndarray(len(arr), dtype=dtypes)
    for colname in colnames:
        dat[colname] = arr[colname]

    return dat

d1 = asciitable.read(['a b c', '1 2 3', '4 5 6'])
d2 = structured_array(d1, ['c', 'a'])
asciitable.write(d2)