Pass a Variable Name to the Arguments of a Function (Python 3, Pandas)

Question

Say I have a DF defined as variable DF1:

  Words         Score
  The man        10
  A Plan         20
  Panama         30

And say I have a function:

def func(w, df):
   pattern = re.compile(r'\b({0})\b'.format(w), flags=re.IGNORECASE)
if pattern.search(df):
    return True
else:
    return False

How do I pass each row of DF1, specifically the columns 'Words', to the argument within the function?

EDIT: Ubuntu's answer is what I would normally use but I need to self reference the DF in my function

Ok, edited -- but how can I pass my DF to the function!

user3682157
– user3682157

2014-10-02 21:42:23 +00:00
Commented Oct 2, 2014 at 21:42 — user3682157
– user3682157, Commented Oct 2, 2014 at 21:42

unutbu · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-03 10:58:16Z

1

You could use the Series.apply method:

df1['Words'].apply(func)

If you wish to pass more positional arguments to func, use the args keyword parameter:

df1['Words'].apply(func, args=(df,))

or, to pass df as a keyword argument:

df1['Words'].apply(func, df=df)

since, per the docs, "[a]dditional keyword arguments [to apply] will be passed as keywords to the function".

edited Oct 3, 2014 at 10:58

answered Oct 2, 2014 at 21:51

unutbu

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5 Comments

unutbu Over a year ago

@DSM: Your answer is more complete than mine; shall we swap delete states?

user3682157 Over a year ago

hmmm this gets me sort of the way here but not quite -- how can I apply that if I need to actually CALL the dataframe in the arguement? Edited OP above

user3682157 Over a year ago

so if the function was to see whether a word (i.e. the w argument in the function) was found within df1['Words'] -- is there a way to do this?

user3682157 Over a year ago

Hi Unutbu -- would you mind explaining a little bit more about this? Unfamiliar with how this works. What exactly is df=df representing? Say I wanted to use this method is it called like this: df1['Words'].apply(func('panama'), df1=df1)

unutbu Over a year ago

This is an example of passing keyword arguments to a function.

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