Writing a pandas DataFrame to CSV file
I have a dataframe in pandas which I would like to write to a CSV file.
I am doing this using:
And getting the following error:
- Is there any way to get around this easily (i.e. I have unicode characters in my data frame)?
- And is there a way to write to a tab delimited file instead of a CSV using e.g. a ‘to-tab’ method (that I don’t think exists)?
10 Answers 10
To delimit by a tab you can use the sep argument of to_csv :
To use a specific encoding (e.g. ‘utf-8’) use the encoding argument:
When you are storing a DataFrame object into a csv file using the to_csv method, you probably wont be needing to store the preceding indices of each row of the DataFrame object.
You can avoid that by passing a False boolean value to index parameter.
So if your DataFrame object is something like:
The csv file will store:
instead of (the case when the default value True was passed)
To write a pandas DataFrame to a CSV file, you will need DataFrame.to_csv . This function offers many arguments with reasonable defaults that you will more often than not need to override to suit your specific use case. For example, you might want to use a different separator, change the datetime format, or drop the index when writing. to_csv has arguments you can pass to address these requirements.
Here’s a table listing some common scenarios of writing to CSV files and the corresponding arguments you can use for them.
Dataframe to CSV – How to Save Pandas Dataframes by Exporting
Shittu Olumide
Pandas is a widely used open-source library in Python for data manipulation and analysis. It provides a range of data structures and functions for working with data, one of which is the DataFrame.
DataFrames are a powerful tool for storing and analyzing large sets of data, but they can be challenging to work with if they are not saved or exported correctly.
It is common practice in data analysis to export data from Pandas DataFrames into CSV files because it can help conserve time and resources. Due to their portability and ability to be easily read by numerous applications, CSV files are a common file format for storing and distributing tabular data.
Regardless of whether you are a novice or an expert data analyst, this article will walk you through the process of saving Pandas DataFrames into CSV files and give you useful tips on how to do so.
How to Save Pandas DataFrames Using the .to_csv() Method
The .to_csv() method is a built-in function in Pandas that allows you to save a Pandas DataFrame as a CSV file. This method exports the DataFrame into a comma-separated values (CSV) file, which is a simple and widely used format for storing tabular data.
The syntax for using the .to_csv() method is as follows:
Here, DataFrame refers to the Pandas DataFrame that we want to export, and filename refers to the name of the file that you want to save your data to.
The sep parameter specifies the separator that should be used to separate values in the CSV file. By default, it is set to , for comma-separated values. We can also set it to a different separator like \t for tab-separated values.
The index parameter is a boolean value that determines whether to include the index of the DataFrame in the CSV file. By default, it is set to False , which means the index is not included.
The encoding parameter specifies the character encoding to be used for the CSV file. By default, it is set to utf-8 , which is a standard encoding for text files.
Code example
Code explanation
Let’s break down what each part of this code does:
- import pandas as pd : This imports the Pandas library and assigns it the alias pd , which is a commonly used convention.
- Biodata = <'Name': ['John', 'Emily', 'Mike', 'Lisa'], 'Age': [28, 23, 35, 31], 'Gender': ['M', 'F', 'M', 'F']>: This creates a Python dictionary with the data we want to store in the DataFrame. Each key represents a column in the DataFrame, and its corresponding value is a list of values for that column.
- df = pd.DataFrame(Biodata) : This creates a Pandas DataFrame from the Biodata dictionary.
- df.to_csv(‘Biodata.csv’, index=False) : This saves the DataFrame to a CSV file named Biodata.csv .
Other Ways to Save Pandas DataFrames
There are several alternative methods to .to_csv() for saving Pandas DataFrames into various file formats, including:
- to_excel() : This method is used to save a DataFrame as an Excel file.
- to_json() : This method is used to save a DataFrame as a JSON file.
- to_hdf() : This method is used to save a DataFrame as an HDF5 file, which is a hierarchical data format commonly used in scientific computing.
- to_sql() : This method is used to save a DataFrame to a SQL database.
- to_pickle() : This method is used to save a DataFrame as a pickled object, which is a serialized representation of the DataFrame.
These alternative methods provide flexibility in choosing the file format that best suits your use case and can be particularly useful for advanced data analysis and sharing.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading! I hope you now understand how you can easily convert your Pandas Dataframes by exporting into a CSV file using the build-in to_csv() method.
Let’s connect on Twitter and on LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Saving a pandas Dataframe as a CSV File
Pandas is a powerful resource for you as a Data Scientist. Pandas is an open-source library that is built on top of the NumPy library. It allows users for fast analysis, data cleaning, and preparation of data efficiently. Pandas is closed, and it has high performance and productivity for users. Pandas is like a python version of excel.
Most of the datasets you work with are called DataFrames. DataFrames is a 2-Dimensional labelled Data Structure with the index for rows and columns, where each cell is used to store a value of any type. DataFrames are Dictionary-based out of NumPy Arrays.
Side Note
Programming language used for the article is written in python Some basis knowledge of python is required before understanding how things works in making predictions.
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You can install pandas by going to your command line and using either of the commands:
Как экспортировать Pandas DataFrame в CSV (с примером)
Вы можете использовать следующий синтаксис для экспорта кадра данных pandas в файл CSV:
Обратите внимание, что index=False указывает Python удалить столбец индекса при экспорте DataFrame. Не стесняйтесь отбрасывать этот аргумент, если вы хотите сохранить столбец индекса.
В следующем пошаговом примере показано, как использовать эту функцию на практике.
Шаг 1: Создайте фрейм данных Pandas
Во-первых, давайте создадим DataFrame pandas:
Шаг 2: Экспортируйте DataFrame в файл CSV
Далее экспортируем DataFrame в файл CSV:
Шаг 3. Просмотрите CSV-файл
Наконец, мы можем перейти к месту, куда мы экспортировали CSV-файл, и просмотреть его:
Обратите внимание, что индексного столбца нет в файле, поскольку мы указали index=False .
Также обратите внимание, что заголовки находятся в файле, поскольку аргументом по умолчанию в функции to_csv() является headers=True .
Ради интереса, вот как выглядел бы CSV-файл, если бы мы не указали аргумент index=False :
Подробное руководство по функции to_csv() см.в документации pandas .