python - Dynamically filtering a pandas dataframe

Question

I am trying to filter a pandas data frame using thresholds for three columns

import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({"A" : [6, 2, 10, -5, 3],
                   "B" : [2, 5, 3, 2, 6],
                   "C" : [-5, 2, 1, 8, 2]})
df = df.loc[(df.A > 0) & (df.B > 2) & (df.C > -1)].reset_index(drop = True)

df
    A  B  C
0   2  5  2
1  10  3  1
2   3  6  2

However, I want to do this inside a function where the names of the columns and their thresholds are given to me in a dictionary. Here's my first try that works ok. Essentially I am putting the filter inside cond variable and just run it:

df = pd.DataFrame({"A" : [6, 2, 10, -5, 3],
                   "B" : [2, 5, 3, 2, 6],
                   "C" : [-5, 2, 1, 8, 2]})
limits_dic = {"A" : 0, "B" : 2, "C" : -1}
cond = "df = df.loc["
for key in limits_dic.keys():
    cond += "(df." + key + " > " + str(limits_dic[key])+ ") & "
cond = cond[:-2] + "].reset_index(drop = True)"
exec(cond)
df
    A  B  C
0   2  5  2
1  10  3  1
2   3  6  2

Now, finally I put everything inside a function and it stops working (perhaps exec function does not like to be used inside a function!):

df = pd.DataFrame({"A" : [6, 2, 10, -5, 3],
                   "B" : [2, 5, 3, 2, 6],
                   "C" : [-5, 2, 1, 8, 2]})
limits_dic = {"A" : 0, "B" : 2, "C" : -1}
def filtering(df, limits_dic):
    cond = "df = df.loc["
    for key in limits_dic.keys():
        cond += "(df." + key + " > " + str(limits_dic[key])+ ") & "
    cond = cond[:-2] + "].reset_index(drop = True)"
    exec(cond)
    return(df)

df = filtering(df, limits_dic)
df
    A  B  C
0   6  2 -5
1   2  5  2
2  10  3  1
3  -5  2  8
4   3  6  2

I know that exec function acts differently when used inside a function but was not sure how to address the problem. Also, I am wondering there must be a more elegant way to define a function to do the filtering given two input: 1)df and 2)limits_dic = {"A" : 0, "B" : 2, "C" : -1}. I would appreciate any thoughts on this.

Answer 1

If you're trying to build a dynamic query, there are easier ways. Here's one using a list comprehension and str.join:

query = ' & '.join(['{}>{}'.format(k, v) for k, v in limits_dic.items()])

Or, using f-strings with python-3.6+,

query = ' & '.join([f'{k}>{v}' for k, v in limits_dic.items()])

print(query)

'A>0 & C>-1 & B>2'

Pass the query string to df.query, it's meant for this very purpose:

out = df.query(query)
print(out)

    A  B  C
1   2  5  2
2  10  3  1
4   3  6  2

What if my column names have whitespace, or other weird characters?

From pandas 0.25, you can wrap your column name in backticks so this works:

query = ' & '.join([f'`{k}`>{v}' for k, v in limits_dic.items()])

See this Stack Overflow post for more.

---

You could also use df.eval if you want to obtain a boolean mask for your query, and then indexing becomes straightforward after that:

mask = df.eval(query)
print(mask)

0    False
1     True
2     True
3    False
4     True
dtype: bool

out = df[mask]
print(out)

    A  B  C
1   2  5  2
2  10  3  1
4   3  6  2

---

String Data

If you need to query columns that use string data, the code above will need a slight modification.

Consider (data from this answer):

df = pd.DataFrame({'gender':list('MMMFFF'),
                   'height':[4,5,4,5,5,4],
                   'age':[70,80,90,40,2,3]})

print (df)
  gender  height  age
0      M       4   70
1      M       5   80
2      M       4   90
3      F       5   40
4      F       5    2
5      F       4    3

And a list of columns, operators, and values:

column = ['height', 'age', 'gender']
equal = ['>', '>', '==']
condition = [1.68, 20, 'F']

The appropriate modification here is:

query = ' & '.join(f'{i} {j} {repr(k)}' for i, j, k in zip(column, equal, condition))
df.query(query)

   age gender  height
3   40      F       5

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For information on the pd.eval() family of functions, their features and use cases, please visit Dynamic Expression Evaluation in pandas using pd.eval().