ENH #4163 Added more robust type coertion, datetime parsing, and parse date options. Updated optional dependancies

Added columns optional arg to read_table, removed failing legacy tests.

Added columns to doc

ENH #4163 Fixed class renaming, expanded docs

ENH #4163 Fixed tests in legacy mode

Author: Jonathan Chambers

README.md

@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ pip install pandas
 - [Cython](http://www.cython.org): Only necessary to build development version. Version 0.17.1 or higher.
 - [SciPy](http://www.scipy.org): miscellaneous statistical functions
 - [PyTables](http://www.pytables.org): necessary for HDF5-based storage
+- [SQLAlchemy](http://www.sqlalchemy.org): for SQL database support. Version 0.8.1 or higher recommended.
 - [matplotlib](http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/): for plotting
 - [statsmodels](http://statsmodels.sourceforge.net/)
    - Needed for parts of `pandas.stats`

doc/source/install.rst

@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ Optional Dependencies
     version. Version 0.17.1 or higher.
   * `SciPy <http://www.scipy.org>`__: miscellaneous statistical functions
   * `PyTables <http://www.pytables.org>`__: necessary for HDF5-based storage
+  * `SQLAlchemy <http://www.sqlalchemy.org>`__: for SQL database support. Version 0.8.1 or higher recommended.
   * `matplotlib <http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/>`__: for plotting
   * `statsmodels <http://statsmodels.sourceforge.net/>`__
      * Needed for parts of :mod:`pandas.stats`