Pandas dataframe creating multiple rows at once via .loc - pandas

Question

I can create a new row in a dataframe using .loc():
>>> df = pd.DataFrame({'a':[10, 20], 'b':[100,200]}, index='1 2'.split())
>>> df
a b
1 10 100
2 20 200
>>> df.loc[3, 'a'] = 30
>>> df
a b
1 10.0 100.0
2 20.0 200.0
3 30.0 NaN
But how can I create more than one row using the same method?
>>> df.loc[[4, 5], 'a'] = [40, 50]
...
KeyError: '[4 5] not in index'
I'm familiar with .append() but am looking for a way that does NOT require constructing a new row into a Series before having it appended to df.
Desired input:
>>> df.loc[[4, 5], 'a'] = [40, 50]
Desired output
a b
1 10.0 100.0
2 20.0 200.0
3 30.0 NaN
4 40.0 NaN
5 50.0 NaN
Where last 2 rows are newly added.

Answer 1

Admittedly, this is a very late answer, but I have had to deal with a similar problem and think my solution might be helpful to others as well.
After recreating your data, it is basically a two-step approach:
Recreate data:
import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({'a':[10, 20], 'b':[100,200]}, index='1 2'.split())
df.loc[3, 'a'] = 30
Extend the df.index using .reindex:
idx = list(df.index)
new_rows = list(map(str, range(4, 6))) # easier extensible than new_rows = ["4", "5"]
idx.extend(new_rows)
df = df.reindex(index=idx)
Set the values using .loc:
df.loc[new_rows, "a"] = [40, 50]
giving you
>>> df
a b
1 10.0 100.0
2 20.0 200.0
3 30.0 NaN
4 40.0 NaN
5 50.0 NaN

Answer 2

Example data
>>> data = pd.DataFrame({
'a': [10, 6, -3, -2, 4, 12, 3, 3],
'b': [6, -3, 6, 12, 8, 11, -5, -5],
'id': [1, 1, 1, 1, 6, 2, 2, 4]})
Case 1 Note that range can be altered to whatever it is that you desire.
>>> for i in range(10):
... data.loc[i, 'a'] = 30
...
>>> data
a b id
0 30.0 6.0 1.0
1 30.0 -3.0 1.0
2 30.0 6.0 1.0
3 30.0 12.0 1.0
4 30.0 8.0 6.0
5 30.0 11.0 2.0
6 30.0 -5.0 2.0
7 30.0 -5.0 4.0
8 30.0 NaN NaN
9 30.0 NaN NaN
Case 2 Here we are adding a new column to a data frame that had 8 rows to begin with. As we extend our new column c to be of length 10 the other columns are extended with NaN.
>>> for i in range(10):
... data.loc[i, 'c'] = 30
...
>>> data
a b id c
0 10.0 6.0 1.0 30.0
1 6.0 -3.0 1.0 30.0
2 -3.0 6.0 1.0 30.0
3 -2.0 12.0 1.0 30.0
4 4.0 8.0 6.0 30.0
5 12.0 11.0 2.0 30.0
6 3.0 -5.0 2.0 30.0
7 3.0 -5.0 4.0 30.0
8 NaN NaN NaN 30.0
9 NaN NaN NaN 30.0

Answer 3

Also somewhat late, but my solution was similar to the accepted one:
import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({'a':[10, 20], 'b':[100,200]}, index=[1,2])
# single index assignment always works
df.loc[3, 'a'] = 30
# multiple indices
new_rows = [4,5]
# there should be a nicer way to add more than one index/row at once,
# but at least this is just one extra line:
df = df.reindex(index=df.index.append(pd.Index(new_rows))) # note: Index.append() doesn't accept non-Index iterables?
# multiple new rows now works:
df.loc[new_rows, "a"] = [40, 50]
print(df)
... which yields:
a b
1 10.0 100.0
2 20.0 200.0
3 30.0 NaN
4 40.0 NaN
5 50.0 NaN
This also works now (useful when performance on aggregating dataframes matters):
# inserting whole rows:
df.loc[new_rows] = [[41, 51], [61,71]]
print(df)
a b
1 10.0 100.0
2 20.0 200.0
3 30.0 NaN
4 41.0 51.0
5 61.0 71.0