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DOC: update the pandas.DataFrame.clip docstring #20212

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115 changes: 80 additions & 35 deletions pandas/core/generic.py
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -5601,53 +5601,98 @@ def clip(self, lower=None, upper=None, axis=None, inplace=False,
"""
Trim values at input threshold(s).

Elements above/below the upper/lower thresholds will be changed to
upper/lower thresholds.

Parameters
----------
lower : float or array_like, default None
upper : float or array_like, default None
axis : int or string axis name, optional
lower : float, array-like or None, default None
Lower threshold for clipping. Values smaller than `lower` will be
converted to `lower`.
upper : float, array-like or None, default None
Upper threshold for clipping. Values larger than `upper` will be
converted to `upper`.
axis : {0 or 'index', 1 or 'columns', None}, default None
Align object with lower and upper along the given axis.
inplace : boolean, default False
Whether to perform the operation in place on the data
.. versionadded:: 0.21.0
.. versionadded:: 0.21.0.
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I find the description of axis a bit complex.

*args : arguments passed to pandas.compat.numpy
**kwargs : keyword arguments passed to pandas.compat.numpy
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It's not in the documentation yet, but after some discussion some minutes ago, we'll have *args, **kwargs in a single line (no colon), and a single description in the next, as it's rarely different between them.


Returns
-------
clipped : Series
clipped : `Series` or `DataFrame`.
Elements above or below the upper and lower thresholds converted to
threshold values.
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We can just have the type in the first row of Returns, providing a name doesn't add much value.

The description sounds a bit like if we could be returning only part of the original values.

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Sure thing.


Notes
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I think it should be in References and not in Notes. It wasn't in the documentation for the sprint, for simplicity, but you can check this document: http://numpydoc.readthedocs.io/en/latest/format.html

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Yea, I agree. Done.

-----
Clipping data is a method for dealing with out-of-range elements.
If some elements are too large or too small, clipping is one way to
transform the data into a reasonable range.
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This sounds more like part of the extended summary to me, than Notes, which is usually left for details on the implementaiton (e.g. calling this function makes a copy of the data)

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Should I just remove it then?

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I think it's an interesting comment. May be you can also mention about the outlier thing you show in the example. But I'd have it in the extended summary. After moving it, make sure the whole summary makes sense and doesn't sound repetitive. Usually happens when you move blocks.


See Also
--------
pandas.DataFrame.clip_upper : Return copy of input with values
above given value(s) truncated.
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add Series.clip

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this is in generic, isn't it being reused by Series.clip?

pandas.DataFrame.clip_lower : Return copy of input with values
below given value(s) truncated.
pandas.Series.clip : Trim values at input threshold(s).

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I think the prefix pandas is not needed, just Series.clip. Also, not sure if that was already discussed, but don't we want clip_lower and clip_upper here?

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I think you previously mentioned that those were generic. Did we want them included still?

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Sorry, I think I wasn't clear enough. You should check it, but as this docstring is in generic.py I assume it'll be used by both Series and DataFrame. That's why I said it was (the docstring) was generic.

So, as your assigned docstring was DataFrame.clip (and it's what it's in the title of the PR) but you're actually working also in Series.clip, I don't think it makes sense to only add Series.clip as @jreback suggested. I'd say that we probably want also DataFrame.clip. Even if it'll be a bit weird to have in the See Also the same method which is being documented, but I think it's all right. In a separate PR we could use a template and just have the right one.

So, summarizing, the see also should contain Series.clip, DataFrame.clip, and the clip_lower and clip_upper for each of them (I assume both classes have it). And assuming that clip is commonly used with quantile as in your example (I don't know), I would also add it.

@jreback do you agree?

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Ah, yes I see, I was mistaken. Sure, I can add all those.

Examples
--------
>>> some_data = {'a': [1, 2, 3], 'b': [4, 5, 6], 'c': [7, 8, 9001]}
>>> df = pd.DataFrame(some_data)
>>> df
0 1
0 0.335232 -1.256177
1 -1.367855 0.746646
2 0.027753 -1.176076
3 0.230930 -0.679613
4 1.261967 0.570967

>>> df.clip(-1.0, 0.5)
0 1
0 0.335232 -1.000000
1 -1.000000 0.500000
2 0.027753 -1.000000
3 0.230930 -0.679613
4 0.500000 0.500000

>>> t
0 -0.3
1 -0.2
2 -0.1
3 0.0
4 0.1
dtype: float64

>>> df.clip(t, t + 1, axis=0)
0 1
0 0.335232 -0.300000
1 -0.200000 0.746646
2 0.027753 -0.100000
3 0.230930 0.000000
4 1.100000 0.570967
a b c
0 1 4 7
1 2 5 8
2 3 6 9001

>>> df.clip(lower=1, upper=9)
a b c
0 1 4 7
1 2 5 8
2 3 6 9

You can clip each column or row with different thresholds by passing
a ``Series`` to the lower/upper argument.

>>> some_data = {'A': [-19, 12, -5], 'B': [1, 100, -5]}
>>> df = pd.DataFrame(data=some_data, index=['foo', 'bar', 'bizz'])
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I would create df just once at the beginning (with 2 cols), and reuse it all the time.

I've usually seen foo, bar and foobar, not important, but I'd use that unless there is another convention that uses bizz

>>> df
A B
foo -19 1
bar 12 100
bizz -5 -5

Use the axis argument to clip by column or rows. Clip column A with
lower threshold of -10 and column B has lower threshold of 10.
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two spaces after the dot?

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Yep, bad habit.


>>> df.clip(lower=pd.Series({'A': -10, 'B': 10}), axis=1)
A B
foo -10 10
bar 12 100
bizz -5 10

Clip the foo, bar, and bizz rows with lower thresholds -10, 0, and 10.

>>> row_thresh = pd.Series({'foo': -10, 'bar': 0, 'bizz': 10})
>>> df.clip(lower=row_thresh, axis=0)
A B
foo -10 1
bar 12 100
bizz 10 10

`Winsorizing <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winsorizing>`__ is a way
of removing outliers from data. Columns of a DataFrame can be
winsorized at 5th and 95th percentile by using clip.

>>> x = np.random.normal(size=(1000,3))
>>> U = df.quantile(0.95)
>>> L = df.quantile(0.5)
>>> winsorized_df = df.clip(lower=L, upper=U, axis=1)
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I like having this here. But couple of thoughts (feel free to disagree in both, they are open questions):

  • Should we add quantile to See Also, if we consider this a common case?
  • I'd probably like more to use the previous df even if this makes more sense with normally distributed data

Regardless of these two points, this example has some typos:

  • Missing space after the comma in the size tuple
  • x is defined but later you're using df
  • I don't see a reason to use capital letters for L and U, I don't see them as constants even if they are not modified again in the example
  • I would use descriptive names, not a single letter
  • Makes more sense to define lower first

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I'll work on these tomorrow and update the PR then. Thanks for the feedback.

"""
if isinstance(self, ABCPanel):
raise NotImplementedError("clip is not supported yet for panels")
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