python - Pandas - find first non-null value in column

Question

If I have a series that has either NULL or some non-null value. How can I find the 1st row where the value is not NULL so I can report back the datatype to the user. If the value is non-null all values are the same datatype in that series.

Thanks

Answer 1

You can use first_valid_index with select by loc:

s = pd.Series([np.nan,2,np.nan])
print (s)
0    NaN
1    2.0
2    NaN
dtype: float64

print (s.first_valid_index())
1

print (s.loc[s.first_valid_index()])
2.0

# If your Series contains ALL NaNs, you'll need to check as follows:

s = pd.Series([np.nan, np.nan, np.nan])
idx = s.first_valid_index()  # Will return None
first_valid_value = s.loc[idx] if idx is not None else None
print(first_valid_value)
None