Cannot Import Data in Python Using Pandas

Question

I am working through the following machine learning tutorial:

http://machinelearningmastery.com/machine-learning-in-python-step-by-step/

Here is my (mac) development environment:

Python 2.7.10 
scipy: 0.13.0b1
numpy: 1.8.0rc1
matplotlib: 1.3.1
pandas: 0.20.2
sklearn: 0.18.1

When I try to run a script, to load the data from a URL containing the CSV data, I get the following error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "load_data.py", line 4, in <module>
    dataset = pandas.read_csv(url, names=names)
NameError: name 'pandas' is not defined

Here's the script:

# Load dataset
url = "https://archive.ics.uci.edu/ml/machine-learning-databases/iris/iris.data"
names = ['sepal-length', 'sepal-width', 'petal-length', 'petal-width', 'class']
dataset = pandas.read_csv(url, names=names)

Traceback indicates nothing about your csv data but the pandas named object. What is you import line? If it reads import pandas as pd then you must qualify all pandas objects with pd: pd.read_csv(). — Parfait
– Parfait, Commented Jun 16, 2017 at 17:05

Max Power · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-16 17:05:47Z

3

your error says:

    dataset = pandas.read_csv(url, names=names)
NameError: name 'pandas' is not defined

which means you're trying to use pandas.read_csv() without importing Pandas first. when you want to use an external library, you have to import it. if it's not installed on your machine, you may have to install it first too. assuming pandas is installed on your machine, this code will work:

import pandas
url = "https://archive.ics.uci.edu/ml/machine-learning-databases/iris/iris.data"
names = ['sepal-length', 'sepal-width', 'petal-length', 'petal-width', 'class']
dataset = pandas.read_csv(url, names=names)

output:

dataset.head(3)

   sepal-length  sepal-width  petal-length  petal-width        class
0           5.1          3.5           1.4          0.2  Iris-setosa
1           4.9          3.0           1.4          0.2  Iris-setosa
2           4.7          3.2           1.3          0.2  Iris-setosa

answered Jun 16, 2017 at 17:05

Max Power

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2 Comments

HMLDude Over a year ago

The addition of the import statement gets rid of the error for me, however, I am not able to get the data to display that way. Did you include the 'dataset.head(3)'statement as the fifth line of the script?

HMLDude Over a year ago

OK, just added a print command before the dataset.head call and got it to work!

Bubble Bubble Bubble Gut · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-16 16:57:00Z

0

You can download the data first before importing it

import urllib
import pandas as pd

file_path = "./iris.csv"

#download data
urllib.request.urlretrieve("https://archive.ics.uci.edu/ml/machine-learning-databases/iris/iris.data", file_path)

#load it
dataset = pd.read_csv(file_path, names=names)

Hope it helps

answered Jun 16, 2017 at 16:57

Bubble Bubble Bubble Gut

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Comments

ddrightnow · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-10 08:35:19Z

0

You are getting that error because "pandas" is not yet imported. pandas is an import library for python.

Fix: import pandas

You can use it after that.

Better Alternative: import pandas as pd

=> 'pd' will be a short-form representative for pandas in your script. It is advisable to import this way to reduce you having to retype "pandas" every-time you need to write it in code.

Cheers!

answered Mar 10, 2018 at 8:35

ddrightnow

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