Replace values

fast step  NLP • text

Replace specified values in a column with new ones.

This function enables the replacement of specified values in a column with new ones. It takes a mapping object, where each key-value pair represents an "old value" -> "new value" transformation. The function scans the column for values that match any of the keys in the mapping object and replaces them with their corresponding new values.

This function is case-sensitive and performs exact matches.

For numeric replacements, it's important to note that keys in the mapping object need to be strings, even for numeric columns. The function will internally convert these keys into numbers for comparison.

Usage

---

The following are the step's expected inputs and outputs and their specific types.

Step signature

replace_values(original: category|text|number|list, {
    "param": value
}) -> (replaced: column)

where the object {"param": value} is optional in most cases and if present may contain any of the parameters described in the corresponding section below.

Example

To change specific names in a column of texts from "pedro" to "pablo" and "maria" to "mariana":

Example call (in recipe editor)

replace_values(ds.names, {
  "pedro": "pablo",
  "maria": "mariana"
}) -> (ds.replaced)

More examples

To change specific numbers in a column of numerical values from "20" to 99 and "30" to 100:

Example call (in recipe editor)

replace_values(ds.age, {
  "20": 99,
  "30": 100
}) -> (ds.replaced)

To replace null values in a column with a string:

Example call (in recipe editor)

replace_values(ds.column, {
  "": "something not null"
}) -> (ds.replaced)

To replace a specific numerical value in a column with null using the keyword null:

Example call (in recipe editor)

replace_values(ds.age, {
  "30": null
}) -> (ds.replaced)

To replace a specific numerical value in a column with null using the string "null":

Example call (in recipe editor)

replace_values(ds.age, {
  "30": "null"
}) -> (ds.replaced)

Inputs

---

original: column:category|text|number|list

A column containing text-like values.

Outputs

---

replaced: column

The output column's data type will depend on the input and specified parameters:

• text: if input is text and parameter "as_category": false
• category: if input is not a column of lists and "as_category": true
• list: if input is a column of lists, list of the same kind as the input.

Parameters

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*param: string | number | null

One or more additional parameters. Note that all parameters should have the same type.