NOT operator in string for Series.str.contains

Question

Is there a way I can assign a not operator within a string itself when using Series.str.contains? (Not with a ~ operator.) For example:

I want cat and dog but not fox.

srStr = 'cat|dog' # input
df = pd.DataFrame({'Animals' : ['cat','dog','fox','elephant']}) # cannot change
df.Animals.str.contains(srStr) # cannot change

I want to set up srStr such that the last line of the code outputs [True,True,False,True].

I cannot use the ~ operator for inverting a temporary result because the code is already part of an architecture and I am passing srStr as an input.

Reopened because OP must use `Series.str.contains`. – timgeb Apr 07 '21 at 08:29 — timgeb, Apr 07 '21 at 08:29

timgeb · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-07T08:28:19.573

1

You could use srStr = '^(?!fox$)' (negative lookahead).

edited Apr 07 '21 at 08:28

answered Apr 07 '21 at 08:22

timgeb

76,762
20
123
145

Thanks! Is there a way to extend this to multiple such inputs. E.g fox AND cat? – Dhruv Mahajan Apr 07 '21 at 08:25
@DhruvMahajan `srStr = '^(?!(fox|cat)$)'` – timgeb Apr 07 '21 at 08:26

NOT operator in string for Series.str.contains

1 Answers1