Convert Column To String Pyspark. functions import to_timestamp, col # Define the format string for
functions import to_timestamp, col # Define the format string for the date time column date_format = "yyMMddHHmm" # Convert DATE_TIME to timestamp in cleaned df Cleaned_df_Time = df_Relevant_column. Now let’s convert the zip column to string using cast () function with DecimalType () passed as an argument which converts the integer column to decimal column in pyspark and it is stored as a dataframe named output_df Jul 2, 2024 · In PySpark and Spark SQL, CAST and CONVERT are used to change the data type of columns in DataFrames, but they are used in different contexts and have different syntax. from_json # pyspark. The result of this function must be a Unicode string. columns that needs to be processed is CurrencyCode and Learn the differences between cast () and astype () in PySpark. g. sql. functions. The cast function lets you convert a column’s data type—like string to integer, double to date, or timestamp to string—ensuring compatibility for analysis, reporting, or machine learning. May 16, 2018 · My question then would be: which would be the optimal way to transform several columns to string in PySpark based on a list of column names like to_str in my example? This concludes the process of reliably converting an integer column to a string using the robust and standardized cast() methodology within PySpark, readying the data for text-specific analytics. Jul 20, 2023 · Method 1: Change Column Type in PySpark DataframeUsing the cast () function In this section, we will explore the first method to change column types in PySpark DataFrame: using the cast () function. Examples Jul 7, 2019 · 0 I have a code in pyspark. cast ('string'), date_format)) Cleaned_df_Time. Convert PySpark Column to List Using map () As you see the above output, DataFrame collect () returns a Row Type, hence in order to convert PySpark Column to Python List, first you need to select the DataFrame column you wanted using rdd. Change DataType using PySpark withColumn () : need to use cast () function along with withColumn (). Oct 11, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to convert an integer to a string in PySpark, including a complete example. 1. 3 Nov 8, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to use the cast() function with multiple columns in a PySpark DataFrame, including an example. Aug 29, 2015 · I have a dataframe with column as String. broadcast pyspark. Converting these string columns to decimals is critical for numerical analysis, but it can lead to pitfalls like May 20, 2022 · To parse Notes column values as columns in pyspark, you can simply use function called json_tuple() (no need to use from_json ()). Aug 12, 2023 · Converting PySpark column type to string To convert the type of the DataFrame's age column from numeric to string:. Aug 15, 2025 · PySpark DataFrame MapType is used to store Python Dictionary (Dict) object, so you can convert MapType (map) column to Multiple columns ( separate DataFrame column for every key-value). List must be of length equal to the number of columns. Mar 27, 2024 · In this PySpark article I will explain how to parse or read a JSON string from a TEXT/CSV file and convert it into DataFrame columns using Python Oct 11, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to convert a string to a date in PySpark, including an example. In PySpark, we can apply map and python float function to achieve this. select (columns) Where dataframe is the input dataframe and columns are the input columns Example 1: Change a single column. 6 DataFrame currently there is no Spark builtin function to convert from string to float/double. Let’s see an example of type conversion or casting of integer column to string column or character column and string column to integer column or numeric column in pyspark. Following is the way, I did: toDoublefunc = UserDefinedFunction(lambda x: x,DoubleType()) Jul 18, 2021 · Here we will use select () function, this function is used to select the columns from the dataframe Syntax: dataframe. Assume, we have a RDD with ('house_name', 'price') with both values as string. DataFrame Jul 16, 2025 · The date_format() function in PySpark is a powerful tool for transforming, formatting date columns and converting date to string within a DataFrame. Apr 17, 2025 · This comprehensive guide explores the syntax and steps for casting a column’s data type, with targeted examples covering single column casting, multiple column casting, nested data, and SQL-based approaches. the datatype of an existing column, create a new column, and many more. Oct 11, 2023 · You can use the following syntax to convert an integer column to a string column in a PySpark DataFrame: This particular example creates a new column called my_string that contains the string values from the integer values in the my_integer column. This tutorial shows how to convert columns to int, float, and double using real examples. I wanted to change the column type to Double type in PySpark. In this article, I will explain how to convert multiple columns to strings in a Pandas DataFrame. Nov 8, 2016 · 33 I am trying to convert multiple columns of a dataframe from string to float like this pyspark. column pyspark. DataFrame Mar 27, 2024 · In PySpark, you can cast or change the DataFrame column data type using cast() function of Column class, in this article, I will be using withColumn (), selectExpr(), and SQL expression to cast the from String to Int (Integer Type), String to Boolean e. Jul 16, 2025 · In PySpark SQL, using the cast() function you can convert the DataFrame column from String Type to Double Type or Float Type. Nov 5, 2021 · How to convert this pyspark binary column to string? Asked 4 years, 2 months ago Modified 4 years, 2 months ago Viewed 10k times pyspark. This function takes the argument string representing the type you wanted to convert or any type that is a subclass of DataType. I need to convert a PySpark df column type from array to string and also remove the square brackets. Apr 16, 2025 · Without casting, calculations fail, joins break, or analytics skew, creating chaos in your pipelines. This is the schema for the dataframe. Nov 5, 2025 · In Spark/PySpark from_json () SQL function is used to convert JSON string from DataFrame column into struct column, Map type, and multiple columns. Note that Spark Date Functions support all Java Date formats specified in DateTimeFormatter. One of the most common tasks data scientists encounter is manipulating data structures to fit their needs. Mar 27, 2024 · In this PySpark article, I will explain how to convert an array of String column on DataFrame to a String column (separated or concatenated with a comma, space, or any delimiter character) using PySpark function concat_ws() (translates to concat with separator), and with SQL expression using Scala example. These functions help you parse, manipulate, and extract data from JSON columns or strings. Mar 18, 1993 · Core Classes Spark Session Configuration Input/Output DataFrame pyspark. Jun 24, 2024 · In this PySpark article, I will explain how to convert an array of String column on DataFrame to a String column (separated or concatenated with a comma, space, or any delimiter character) using PySpark function concat_ws() (translates to concat with separator), and with SQL expression using Scala example. Jul 16, 2025 · PySpark SQL function provides to_date () function to convert String to Date fromat of a DataFrame column. In this blog post, we'll explore how to change a PySpark DataFrame column from string to array before using the explode function. I can't find any method to convert this type to string. This data transformation unlocks the full potential of Apache Spark‘s machine learning and analysis capabilities. Oct 19, 2021 · Discussing how to cast the data types of columns in PySpark DataFrames Nov 21, 2025 · To convert a string column (StringType) to an array column (ArrayType) in PySpark, you can use the split() function from the pyspark. Returns Column Column representing whether each element of Column is cast into new type. Mar 27, 2024 · selectExpr() is a function in DataFrame which we can use to convert spark DataFrame column “age” from String to integer, “isGraduated” from boolean to string and “jobStartDate” from date to String. Formatter functions to apply to columns’ elements by position or name. col pyspark. Returns null, in the case of an unparsable string. I put the code below. pyspark. to_string (), but none works. types import StringType spark_df = spark_df. May 21, 2022 · To avoid this, the PySpark documentation recommends to use select () with the multiple columns at once. The result of each function must be a Unicode string. Some of its numerical columns contain nan so when I am reading the data and checking for the schema of dataframe, those columns will have string type. How I can change them to int type. Oct 7, 2015 · Now I would like to change the datatype of the column vacationdate to String, so that also the dataframe takes this new type and overwrites the datatype data for all of the entries. Mar 27, 2024 · 1. These functions can also be used to convert JSON to a struct, map type, etc. , commas as thousand separators). The following example shows how to use this syntax in practice. Nov 21, 2025 · In Apache Spark, data often arrives in formats like CSV, JSON, or Parquet where numeric columns are incorrectly inferred as strings. This function allows you to convert date and timestamp columns into a specified string format, providing flexibility for various date manipulation tasks. Dec 27, 2023 · As a data engineer working with big datasets on Linux, one of my most frequent tasks is converting columns in PySpark DataFrames from strings to numeric types like integers or doubles. lit pyspark. from_json(col, schema, options=None) [source] # Parses a column containing a JSON string into a MapType with StringType as keys type, StructType or ArrayType with the specified schema. Parameters dataType DataType or str a DataType or Python string literal with a DDL-formatted string to use when parsing the column to the same type. sql Mar 27, 2024 · In this PySpark article I will explain how to parse or read a JSON string from a TEXT/CSV file and convert it into DataFrame columns using Python Dec 5, 2024 · To convert multiple columns to strings in a Pandas DataFrame, you can use the astype() method and specify the columns you want to convert. map () lambda expression and then collect the specific column of the DataFrame. It extracts the elements from a json column (string format) and creates the result as new columns. You would like to convert, price from string to float. This is especially common with large integers, currency values, or numbers with inconsistent formatting (e. case 10 In PySpark 1. Jan 14, 2020 · Since I am a beginner of Pyspark can anyone help in doing conversion of an Integer Column into a String? Here is my code in Aws Athena and I need to convert it into pyspark dataframe. show (5) Mar 27, 2024 · In PySpark, the JSON functions allow you to work with JSON data within DataFrames. withColumn ('DATE_TIME', to_timestamp (col ('DATE_TIME'). In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share my real-world experience […] Mar 23, 2022 · 0 hello guyes i have a datframe with double column (named double) i want to convert it to StringType () but when casting the column to string, all values of double column trun to NULL is there any trick to convert double column to string column ? im using Pyspark 2. functions module. I will explain the most used JSON SQL functions with Python examples in this article. call_function pyspark. Oct 26, 2017 · 95 I have dataframe in pyspark. May 16, 2018 · It is well documented on SO (link 1, link 2, link 3, ) how to transform a single variable to string type in PySpark by analogy: from pyspark. case Oct 11, 2023 · This tutorial explains how to convert a string column to an integer column in PySpark, including an example. The cast () function allows us to convert a column from one data type to another, facilitating data transformation and manipulation. DataFrame Jul 3, 2025 · In this article, I will explain how to convert single column or multiple columns to string type in pandas DataFrame, here, I will demonstrate using from pyspark. createOrReplaceGlobalTempView pyspark. Nov 21, 2025 · To convert a string column (StringType) to an array column (ArrayType) in PySpark, you can use the split() function from the pyspark. Nov 16, 2025 · This guide provides a detailed, step-by-step example demonstrating how to flawlessly convert an integer column to a string column within a DataFrame using the standard data transformation APIs. t. Core Classes Spark Session Configuration Input/Output DataFrame pyspark. I need to convert it to string then convert it to date type, etc. encode Mar 27, 2024 · 1. DataFrame Aug 29, 2020 · We can convert programs from a struct to string and store the whole json in there. Jul 10, 2023 · In the world of big data, PySpark has emerged as a powerful tool for data processing and analysis. Formatter function to apply to columns’ elements if they are floats. DataFrame. I tried str (), . DataFrame May 20, 2022 · To parse Notes column values as columns in pyspark, you can simply use function called json_tuple() (no need to use from_json ()). Let us convert the `course_df3` from the above schema structure, back to the original schema. float_formatone-parameter function, optional, default None Formatter function to apply to columns’ elements if they are floats. c using PySpark examples. That would create some extra friction if someone wants to access those fields, but it would make our columns much Apr 17, 2025 · The primary method for casting a column’s data type in a PySpark DataFrame is withColumn () combined with the cast () function, which converts the column’s values to a specified type.