Problem: "argument of type 'float' is not iterable" when iterate rows in Pandas

Question

I'm trying to iterate each row in a Pandas dataframe named 'cd'. If a specific cell, e.g. [row,empl_accept] in a row contains a substring, then updates the value of an other cell, e.g.[row,empl_accept_a] in the same dataframe.

for row in range(0,len(cd.index),1):
    if 'Master' in cd.at[row,empl_accept]:
        cd.at[row,empl_accept_a] = '1'
    else:
        cd.at[row,empl_accept_a] = '0'

The code above not working and jupyter notebook displays the error:

TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-70-21b1f73e320c> in <module>
      1 for row in range(0,len(cd.index),1):
----> 2     if 'Master' in cd.at[row,empl_accept]:
      3         cd.at[row,empl_accept_a] = '1'
      4     else:
      5         cd.at[row,empl_accept_a] = '0'

TypeError: argument of type 'float' is not iterable

I'm not really sure what is the problem there as the for loop contains no float variable.

willeM_ Van Onsem · Accepted Answer · 2019-08-24 18:16:30Z

2

Please do not use loops for this. You can do this in bulk with:

cd['empl_accept_a'] = cd['empl_accept'].str.contains('Master').astype(int).astype(str)

This will store '0' and '1' in the column. That being said, I am not convinced if storing this as strings is a good idea. You can just store these as bools with:

cd['empl_accept_a'] = cd['empl_accept'].str.contains('Master')

For example:

>>> cd
    empl_accept  empl_accept_a
0        Master           True
1         Slave          False
2         Slave          False
3  Master Windu           True

answered Aug 24, 2019 at 18:16

willeM_ Van Onsem

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3 Comments

k2pctdn Over a year ago

thank you for your answer, I already tried out the method you mentioned above (using str.contains), and it works flawlessly. I just want to ask why we should not use the loop for this process?

willeM_ Van Onsem Over a year ago

@flamingheart: because pandas is constructed to process data in bulk. It uses C objects behind the curtain. If you use it to retrieve single elements, the entire performance boost of pandas is lost.

k2pctdn Over a year ago

thank you very much, you clarified all the problems. The reason why I need value '0' and '1' on those cells is I need to export the dataframe to excel and those cells require '0' and '1' on it by format (I actually prefer your solution storing bool value).

Shan Ali · Accepted Answer · 2019-08-24 18:16:38Z

0

You need to check in your dataframe what value is placed at [row,empl_accept]. I'm sure there will be some numeric value at this location in your dataframe. Just print the value and you'll see the problem if any.

 print (cd.at[row,empl_accept])

answered Aug 24, 2019 at 18:16

Shan Ali

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1 Comment

k2pctdn Over a year ago

Thank you, I should do the cleanning for the data before processing on it, but the problem still exists even if i fix the dataframe.

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