pandas.DataFrame.xs

DataFrame.xs(key, axis=0, level=None, drop_level=True)

Return cross-section from the Series/DataFrame.

This method takes a key argument to select data at a particular level of a MultiIndex.

Parameters:

key : label or tuple of label

Label contained in the index, or partially in a MultiIndex.

axis : {0 or ‘index’, 1 or ‘columns’}, default 0

Axis to retrieve cross-section on.

level : object, defaults to first n levels (n=1 or len(key))

In case of a key partially contained in a MultiIndex, indicate which levels are used. Levels can be referred by label or position.

drop_level : bool, default True

If False, returns object with same levels as self.

Returns:

Series or DataFrame

Cross-section from the original Series or DataFrame corresponding to the selected index levels.

See also

DataFrame.loc

Access a group of rows and columns by label(s) or a boolean array.

DataFrame.iloc

Purely integer-location based indexing for selection by position.

Notes

xs can not be used to set values.

MultiIndex Slicers is a generic way to get/set values on any level or levels. It is a superset of xs functionality, see MultiIndex Slicers.

Examples

>>> d = {'num_legs': [4, 4, 2, 2],
...      'num_wings': [0, 0, 2, 2],
...      'class': ['mammal', 'mammal', 'mammal', 'bird'],
...      'animal': ['cat', 'dog', 'bat', 'penguin'],
...      'locomotion': ['walks', 'walks', 'flies', 'walks']}
>>> df = pd.DataFrame(data=d)
>>> df = df.set_index(['class', 'animal', 'locomotion'])
>>> df
                           num_legs  num_wings
class  animal  locomotion
mammal cat     walks              4          0
       dog     walks              4          0
       bat     flies              2          2
bird   penguin walks              2          2

Get values at specified index

>>> df.xs('mammal')
                   num_legs  num_wings
animal locomotion
cat    walks              4          0
dog    walks              4          0
bat    flies              2          2

Get values at several indexes

>>> df.xs(('mammal', 'dog'))
            num_legs  num_wings
locomotion
walks              4          0

Get values at specified index and level

>>> df.xs('cat', level=1)
                   num_legs  num_wings
class  locomotion
mammal walks              4          0

Get values at several indexes and levels

>>> df.xs(('bird', 'walks'),
...       level=[0, 'locomotion'])
         num_legs  num_wings
animal
penguin         2          2

Get values at specified column and axis

>>> df.xs('num_wings', axis=1)
class   animal   locomotion
mammal  cat      walks         0
        dog      walks         0
        bat      flies         2
bird    penguin  walks         2
Name: num_wings, dtype: int64