how do I insert a column at a specific column index in pandas?
Question:
Can I insert a column at a specific column index in pandas?
import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({'l':['a','b','c','d'], 'v':[1,2,1,2]})
df['n'] = 0
This will put column n as the last column of df, but isn’t there a way to tell df to put n at the beginning?
Answers:
You could try to extract columns as list, massage this as you want, and reindex your dataframe:
>>> cols = df.columns.tolist()
>>> cols = [cols[-1]]+cols[:-1] # or whatever change you need
>>> df.reindex(columns=cols)
n l v
0 0 a 1
1 0 b 2
2 0 c 1
3 0 d 2
EDIT: this can be done in one line ; however, this looks a bit ugly. Maybe some cleaner proposal may come…
>>> df.reindex(columns=['n']+df.columns[:-1].tolist())
n l v
0 0 a 1
1 0 b 2
2 0 c 1
3 0 d 2
see docs: http://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/generated/pandas.DataFrame.insert.html
using loc = 0 will insert at the beginning
df.insert(loc, column, value)
df = pd.DataFrame({'B': [1, 2, 3], 'C': [4, 5, 6]})
df
Out:
B C
0 1 4
1 2 5
2 3 6
idx = 0
new_col = [7, 8, 9] # can be a list, a Series, an array or a scalar
df.insert(loc=idx, column='A', value=new_col)
df
Out:
A B C
0 7 1 4
1 8 2 5
2 9 3 6
If you want a single value for all rows:
df.insert(0,'name_of_column','')
df['name_of_column'] = value
Edit:
You can also:
df.insert(0,'name_of_column',value)
Here is a very simple answer to this(only one line).
You can do that after you added the ‘n’ column into your df as follows.
import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({'l':['a','b','c','d'], 'v':[1,2,1,2]})
df['n'] = 0
df
l v n
0 a 1 0
1 b 2 0
2 c 1 0
3 d 2 0
# here you can add the below code and it should work.
df = df[list('nlv')]
df
n l v
0 0 a 1
1 0 b 2
2 0 c 1
3 0 d 2
However, if you have words in your columns names instead of letters. It should include two brackets around your column names.
import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({'Upper':['a','b','c','d'], 'Lower':[1,2,1,2]})
df['Net'] = 0
df['Mid'] = 2
df['Zsore'] = 2
df
Upper Lower Net Mid Zsore
0 a 1 0 2 2
1 b 2 0 2 2
2 c 1 0 2 2
3 d 2 0 2 2
# here you can add below line and it should work
df = df[list(('Mid','Upper', 'Lower', 'Net','Zsore'))]
df
Mid Upper Lower Net Zsore
0 2 a 1 0 2
1 2 b 2 0 2
2 2 c 1 0 2
3 2 d 2 0 2
df.insert(loc, column_name, value)
This will work if there is no other column with the same name. If a column, with your provided name already exists in the dataframe, it will raise a ValueError.
You can pass an optional parameter allow_duplicates with True value to create a new column with already existing column name.
Here is an example:
>>> df = pd.DataFrame({'b': [1, 2], 'c': [3,4]})
>>> df
b c
0 1 3
1 2 4
>>> df.insert(0, 'a', -1)
>>> df
a b c
0 -1 1 3
1 -1 2 4
>>> df.insert(0, 'a', -2)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 1, in
File "C:Python39libsite-packagespandascoreframe.py", line 3760, in insert
self._mgr.insert(loc, column, value, allow_duplicates=allow_duplicates)
File "C:Python39libsite-packagespandascoreinternalsmanagers.py", line 1191, in insert
raise ValueError(f"cannot insert {item}, already exists")
ValueError: cannot insert a, already exists
>>> df.insert(0, 'a', -2, allow_duplicates = True)
>>> df
a a b c
0 -2 -1 1 3
1 -2 -1 2 4
A general 4-line routine
You can have the following 4-line routine whenever you want to create a new column and insert into a specific location loc.
df['new_column'] = ... #new column's definition
col = df.columns.tolist()
col.insert(loc, col.pop()) #loc is the column's index you want to insert into
df = df[col]
In your example, it is simple:
df['n'] = 0
col = df.columns.tolist()
col.insert(0, col.pop())
df = df[col]
Can I insert a column at a specific column index in pandas?
import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({'l':['a','b','c','d'], 'v':[1,2,1,2]})
df['n'] = 0
This will put column n as the last column of df, but isn’t there a way to tell df to put n at the beginning?
You could try to extract columns as list, massage this as you want, and reindex your dataframe:
>>> cols = df.columns.tolist()
>>> cols = [cols[-1]]+cols[:-1] # or whatever change you need
>>> df.reindex(columns=cols)
n l v
0 0 a 1
1 0 b 2
2 0 c 1
3 0 d 2
EDIT: this can be done in one line ; however, this looks a bit ugly. Maybe some cleaner proposal may come…
>>> df.reindex(columns=['n']+df.columns[:-1].tolist())
n l v
0 0 a 1
1 0 b 2
2 0 c 1
3 0 d 2
see docs: http://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/generated/pandas.DataFrame.insert.html
using loc = 0 will insert at the beginning
df.insert(loc, column, value)
df = pd.DataFrame({'B': [1, 2, 3], 'C': [4, 5, 6]})
df
Out:
B C
0 1 4
1 2 5
2 3 6
idx = 0
new_col = [7, 8, 9] # can be a list, a Series, an array or a scalar
df.insert(loc=idx, column='A', value=new_col)
df
Out:
A B C
0 7 1 4
1 8 2 5
2 9 3 6
If you want a single value for all rows:
df.insert(0,'name_of_column','')
df['name_of_column'] = value
Edit:
You can also:
df.insert(0,'name_of_column',value)
Here is a very simple answer to this(only one line).
You can do that after you added the ‘n’ column into your df as follows.
import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({'l':['a','b','c','d'], 'v':[1,2,1,2]})
df['n'] = 0
df
l v n
0 a 1 0
1 b 2 0
2 c 1 0
3 d 2 0
# here you can add the below code and it should work.
df = df[list('nlv')]
df
n l v
0 0 a 1
1 0 b 2
2 0 c 1
3 0 d 2
However, if you have words in your columns names instead of letters. It should include two brackets around your column names.
import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({'Upper':['a','b','c','d'], 'Lower':[1,2,1,2]})
df['Net'] = 0
df['Mid'] = 2
df['Zsore'] = 2
df
Upper Lower Net Mid Zsore
0 a 1 0 2 2
1 b 2 0 2 2
2 c 1 0 2 2
3 d 2 0 2 2
# here you can add below line and it should work
df = df[list(('Mid','Upper', 'Lower', 'Net','Zsore'))]
df
Mid Upper Lower Net Zsore
0 2 a 1 0 2
1 2 b 2 0 2
2 2 c 1 0 2
3 2 d 2 0 2
df.insert(loc, column_name, value)
This will work if there is no other column with the same name. If a column, with your provided name already exists in the dataframe, it will raise a ValueError.
You can pass an optional parameter allow_duplicates with True value to create a new column with already existing column name.
Here is an example:
>>> df = pd.DataFrame({'b': [1, 2], 'c': [3,4]})
>>> df
b c
0 1 3
1 2 4
>>> df.insert(0, 'a', -1)
>>> df
a b c
0 -1 1 3
1 -1 2 4
>>> df.insert(0, 'a', -2)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 1, in
File "C:Python39libsite-packagespandascoreframe.py", line 3760, in insert
self._mgr.insert(loc, column, value, allow_duplicates=allow_duplicates)
File "C:Python39libsite-packagespandascoreinternalsmanagers.py", line 1191, in insert
raise ValueError(f"cannot insert {item}, already exists")
ValueError: cannot insert a, already exists
>>> df.insert(0, 'a', -2, allow_duplicates = True)
>>> df
a a b c
0 -2 -1 1 3
1 -2 -1 2 4
A general 4-line routine
You can have the following 4-line routine whenever you want to create a new column and insert into a specific location loc.
df['new_column'] = ... #new column's definition
col = df.columns.tolist()
col.insert(loc, col.pop()) #loc is the column's index you want to insert into
df = df[col]
In your example, it is simple:
df['n'] = 0
col = df.columns.tolist()
col.insert(0, col.pop())
df = df[col]