Check if string is in a pandas dataframe

Question

I would like to see if a particular string exists in a particular column within my dataframe.

I\'m getting the error

ValueError: The truth v

Answer 1

You should use any()

In [98]: a['Names'].str.contains('Mel').any()
Out[98]: True

In [99]: if a['Names'].str.contains('Mel').any():
   ....:     print "Mel is there"
   ....:
Mel is there

a['Names'].str.contains('Mel') gives you a series of bool values

In [100]: a['Names'].str.contains('Mel')
Out[100]:
0    False
1    False
2    False
3    False
4     True
Name: Names, dtype: bool