How to replace character in row of dataframe?

Question

I open raw data using pandas

df=pd.read_cvs(file)

Here's part of my dataframe look like:

37280  7092|156|Laboratory Data|A648C751-A4DD-4CZ2-85                               
47981  7092|156|Laboratory Data|Z22CD01C-8Z4B-4ZCB-8B                               
57982  7092|156|Laboratory Data|C12CE01C-8F4B-4CZB-8B

I'd like to replace all pipe('|') into tab ('\t') So I tried :

df.replace('|','\t')

But it never works. How could I do this? Many thanks!

akuiper · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-07 15:53:28Z

2

The replace method on data frame by default is meant to replace values exactly match the string provided; You need to specify regex=True to replace patterns, and since | is a special character in regex, an escape is needed here:

df1 = df.replace("\|", "\t", regex=True)
df1
#       0                                                   1
#0  37280   7092\t156\tLaboratory Data\tA648C751-A4DD-4CZ2-85
#1  47981   7092\t156\tLaboratory Data\tZ22CD01C-8Z4B-4ZCB-8B
#2  57982   7092\t156\tLaboratory Data\tC12CE01C-8F4B-4CZB-8B

If we print the cell, the tab are printed as expected:

print(df1[1].iat[0])
# 7092  156 Laboratory Data A648C751-A4DD-4CZ2-85

answered Apr 7, 2017 at 15:53

akuiper

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2 Comments

LookIntoEast Over a year ago

Yes it works! Problem comes from missing escape for the special regex. Thanks!

akuiper Over a year ago

Glad it helps !

CamJohnson26 · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-07 15:51:01Z

1

Just need to set the variable to itself: df = df.replace('|', '\t')

answered Apr 7, 2017 at 15:51

CamJohnson26

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