Cannot convert pandas column to string

Question

I have a text file containing a column of numbers:

I convert this to a pandas column, and try to convert it to string. But for some reason I can't seem to do so.

import pandas as pd

df=pd.read_csv('file.txt')
df.columns=['column1']
df['column1']=df['column1'].astype(str)
print(df['column1'])

This gives:

0    10
1    20
2    40
3    13
4    24
5    35
6    44
Name: column1, dtype: object

The dtype is still object isntead of string. Don't quite know why this is the case, since astype should convert it to string.

Does this answer your question? Convert Columns to String in Pandas — Red
– Red, Commented Jul 9, 2020 at 1:44
No, since I already knew how to convert it to a string, I was just confused as to the printout and nomenclature. — samman
– samman, Commented Jul 9, 2020 at 14:10

BENY · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-09 01:22:45Z

2

That is how pandas define the column type , there is not string type column, it belong to object

df.column1.apply(type)
0    <class 'str'>
1    <class 'str'>
2    <class 'str'>
3    <class 'str'>
4    <class 'str'>
5    <class 'str'>
Name: column1, dtype: object

DataFrame dose not str.replace

You should do

df.replace({'...':'...'})

Or

df['column1']=df['column1'].str.replace()

edited Jul 9, 2020 at 1:22

answered Jul 9, 2020 at 1:18

BENY

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3 Comments

samman Over a year ago

The problem is when I try to do df['column1']=df.str.replace(), I get an error AttributeError: 'DataFrame' object has no attribute 'str' implying the dataframe is still not a string. This is why i was trying to convert it to a string

BENY Over a year ago

@samman that is for series not dataframe , I have update my answer

samman Over a year ago

So do I even need to change the types to str? To try your method? Also what's the difference between df.replace and df[].str.replace

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