@classmethod
def check_element(cls, items, subtype=False):
    """Check that all elements in set of elements (e.g. row or
        column) are consistent.

        Args:
            items (list): Set of element type definitions.
            subtype (bool, optional): If True, subtype, precision, and
                title information are used in the comparison. Defaults
                to False. subtype should be True if checking column
                elements and False if checking row elements.

        Raises:
            AssertionError: If any elements are not consistent.

        """
    base_summary = cls.get_summary(items[0], subtype=subtype)
    for i, x in zip(range(1, len(items)), items[1:]):
        x_summary = cls.get_summary(x, subtype=subtype)
        cls.check_summary(x_summary, i, base_summary, 0)
