Python 3 Pandas Select Dataframe using Startswith + or

Question

Looking for the correct syntax to do a str.startswith but I want more than one condition.

The working code I have only returns offices that start with the letter "N":

new_df = df[df['Office'].str.startswith("N", na=False)]

Seeking a code that returns offices that can start with the letters "N","M","V",or "R". The following doesn't seem to work:

    new_df = df[df['Office'].str.startswith("N|M|V|R", na=False)]

What am I missing? Thanks!

Answer 1

Try this:

df[df['Office'].str.contains("^(?:N|M|V|R)")]

or:

df[df['Office'].str.contains("^[NMVR]+")]

Demo:

In [91]: df
Out[91]:
        Office
0        No-No
1         AAAA
2    MicroHard
3       Valley
4        vvvvv
5   zzzzzzzzzz
6  Risk is fun

In [92]: df[df['Office'].str.contains("^(?:N|M|V|R)")]
Out[92]:
        Office
0        No-No
2    MicroHard
3       Valley
6  Risk is fun

In [93]: df[df['Office'].str.contains("^[NMVR]+")]
Out[93]:
        Office
0        No-No
2    MicroHard
3       Valley
6  Risk is fun