Split (explode) pandas dataframe string entry to separate rows

Question

I have a pandas dataframe in which one column of text strings contains comma-separated values. I want to split each CSV field and create a new row per entry (as

Answer 1

upgraded MaxU's answer with MultiIndex support

def explode(df, lst_cols, fill_value='', preserve_index=False):
    """
    usage:
        In [134]: df
        Out[134]:
           aaa  myid        num          text
        0   10     1  [1, 2, 3]  [aa, bb, cc]
        1   11     2         []            []
        2   12     3     [1, 2]      [cc, dd]
        3   13     4         []            []

        In [135]: explode(df, ['num','text'], fill_value='')
        Out[135]:
           aaa  myid num text
        0   10     1   1   aa
        1   10     1   2   bb
        2   10     1   3   cc
        3   11     2
        4   12     3   1   cc
        5   12     3   2   dd
        6   13     4
    """
    # make sure `lst_cols` is list-alike
    if (lst_cols is not None
        and len(lst_cols) > 0
        and not isinstance(lst_cols, (list, tuple, np.ndarray, pd.Series))):
        lst_cols = [lst_cols]
    # all columns except `lst_cols`
    idx_cols = df.columns.difference(lst_cols)
    # calculate lengths of lists
    lens = df[lst_cols[0]].str.len()
    # preserve original index values    
    idx = np.repeat(df.index.values, lens)
    res = (pd.DataFrame({
                col:np.repeat(df[col].values, lens)
                for col in idx_cols},
                index=idx)
             .assign(**{col:np.concatenate(df.loc[lens>0, col].values)
                            for col in lst_cols}))
    # append those rows that have empty lists
    if (lens == 0).any():
        # at least one list in cells is empty
        res = (res.append(df.loc[lens==0, idx_cols], sort=False)
                  .fillna(fill_value))
    # revert the original index order
    res = res.sort_index()
    # reset index if requested
    if not preserve_index:        
        res = res.reset_index(drop=True)

    # if original index is MultiIndex build the dataframe from the multiindex
    # create "exploded" DF
    if isinstance(df.index, pd.MultiIndex):
        res = res.reindex(
            index=pd.MultiIndex.from_tuples(
                res.index,
                names=['number', 'color']
            )
    )
    return res