get_from_col_character Function

    pure function get_from_col_character(this) result(col)
        class(column), intent(in) :: this
        character(len=:), dimension(:), allocatable :: col

        integer :: arr_size, elem_len

        if (this % dtype /= CHARACTER_NUM) error stop 'column is not of type character'

        ! will cause segfault if col not char type
        arr_size = size(this % charcol, dim=1)
        elem_len = len(this % charcol(1))
        allocate (character(elem_len) :: col(arr_size))

        col = this % charcol

    end function get_from_col_character