Sorting columns in pandas dataframe based on column name
PythonPandasDataframePython Problem Overview
I have a dataframe with over 200 columns. The issue is as they were generated the order is
['Q1.3','Q6.1','Q1.2','Q1.1',......]
I need to sort the columns as follows:
['Q1.1','Q1.2','Q1.3',.....'Q6.1',......]
Is there some way for me to do this within Python?
Python Solutions
Solution 1 - Python
df = df.reindex(sorted(df.columns), axis=1)
This assumes that sorting the column names will give the order you want. If your column names won't sort lexicographically (e.g., if you want column Q10.3 to appear after Q9.1), you'll need to sort differently, but that has nothing to do with pandas.
Solution 2 - Python
You can also do more succinctly:
df.sort_index(axis=1)
Make sure you assign the result back:
df = df.sort_index(axis=1)
Or, do it in-place:
df.sort_index(axis=1, inplace=True)
Solution 3 - Python
You can just do:
df[sorted(df.columns)]
Edit: Shorter is
df[sorted(df)]
Solution 4 - Python
Tweet's answer can be passed to BrenBarn's answer above with
data.reindex_axis(sorted(data.columns, key=lambda x: float(x[1:])), axis=1)
So for your example, say:
vals = randint(low=16, high=80, size=25).reshape(5,5)
cols = ['Q1.3', 'Q6.1', 'Q1.2', 'Q9.1', 'Q10.2']
data = DataFrame(vals, columns = cols)
You get:
data
Q1.3 Q6.1 Q1.2 Q9.1 Q10.2
0 73 29 63 51 72
1 61 29 32 68 57
2 36 49 76 18 37
3 63 61 51 30 31
4 36 66 71 24 77
Then do:
data.reindex_axis(sorted(data.columns, key=lambda x: float(x[1:])), axis=1)
resulting in:
data
Q1.2 Q1.3 Q6.1 Q9.1 Q10.2
0 2 0 1 3 4
1 7 5 6 8 9
2 2 0 1 3 4
3 2 0 1 3 4
4 2 0 1 3 4
Solution 5 - Python
For several columns, You can put columns order what you want:
#['A', 'B', 'C'] <-this is your columns order
df = df[['C', 'B', 'A']]
This example shows sorting and slicing columns:
d = {'col1':[1, 2, 3], 'col2':[4, 5, 6], 'col3':[7, 8, 9], 'col4':[17, 18, 19]}
df = pandas.DataFrame(d)
You get:
col1 col2 col3 col4
1 4 7 17
2 5 8 18
3 6 9 19
Then do:
df = df[['col3', 'col2', 'col1']]
Resulting in:
col3 col2 col1
7 4 1
8 5 2
9 6 3
Solution 6 - Python
If you need an arbitrary sequence instead of sorted sequence, you could do:
sequence = ['Q1.1','Q1.2','Q1.3',.....'Q6.1',......]
your_dataframe = your_dataframe.reindex(columns=sequence)
I tested this in 2.7.10 and it worked for me.
Solution 7 - Python
Don't forget to add "inplace=True" to Wes' answer or set the result to a new DataFrame.
df.sort_index(axis=1, inplace=True)
Solution 8 - Python
The quickest method is:
df.sort_index(axis=1)
Be aware that this creates a new instance. Therefore you need to store the result in a new variable:
sortedDf=df.sort_index(axis=1)
Solution 9 - Python
The sort method and sorted function allow you to provide a custom function to extract the key used for comparison:
>>> ls = ['Q1.3', 'Q6.1', 'Q1.2']
>>> sorted(ls, key=lambda x: float(x[1:]))
['Q1.2', 'Q1.3', 'Q6.1']
Solution 10 - Python
One use-case is that you have named (some of) your columns with some prefix, and you want the columns sorted with those prefixes all together and in some particular order (not alphabetical).
For example, you might start all of your features with Ft_, labels with Lbl_, etc, and you want all unprefixed columns first, then all features, then the label. You can do this with the following function (I will note a possible efficiency problem using sum to reduce lists, but this isn't an issue unless you have a LOT of columns, which I do not):
def sortedcols(df, groups = ['Ft_', 'Lbl_'] ):
return df[ sum([list(filter(re.compile(r).search, list(df.columns).copy())) for r in (lambda l: ['^(?!(%s))' % '|'.join(l)] + ['^%s' % i for i in l ] )(groups) ], []) ]
Solution 11 - Python
print df.sort_index(by='Frequency',ascending=False)
where by is the name of the column,if you want to sort the dataset based on column