pandas: How do I split text in a column into multiple rows?

Question

I\'m working with a large csv file and the next to last column has a string of text that I want to split by a specific delimiter. I was wondering if there is a simple way to

Answer 1

This splits the Seatblocks by space and gives each its own row.

In [43]: df
Out[43]: 
   CustNum     CustomerName  ItemQty Item                 Seatblocks  ItemExt
0    32363  McCartney, Paul        3  F04               2:218:10:4,6       60
1    31316     Lennon, John       25  F01  1:13:36:1,12 1:13:37:1,13      300

In [44]: s = df['Seatblocks'].str.split(' ').apply(Series, 1).stack()

In [45]: s.index = s.index.droplevel(-1) # to line up with df's index

In [46]: s.name = 'Seatblocks' # needs a name to join

In [47]: s
Out[47]: 
0    2:218:10:4,6
1    1:13:36:1,12
1    1:13:37:1,13
Name: Seatblocks, dtype: object

In [48]: del df['Seatblocks']

In [49]: df.join(s)
Out[49]: 
   CustNum     CustomerName  ItemQty Item  ItemExt    Seatblocks
0    32363  McCartney, Paul        3  F04       60  2:218:10:4,6
1    31316     Lennon, John       25  F01      300  1:13:36:1,12
1    31316     Lennon, John       25  F01      300  1:13:37:1,13

Or, to give each colon-separated string in its own column:

In [50]: df.join(s.apply(lambda x: Series(x.split(':'))))
Out[50]: 
   CustNum     CustomerName  ItemQty Item  ItemExt  0    1   2     3
0    32363  McCartney, Paul        3  F04       60  2  218  10   4,6
1    31316     Lennon, John       25  F01      300  1   13  36  1,12
1    31316     Lennon, John       25  F01      300  1   13  37  1,13

This is a little ugly, but maybe someone will chime in with a prettier solution.