python pandas flatten a dataframe to a list

Question

I have a df like so:

import pandas a=[['1/2/2014', 'a', '6', 'z1'],     ['1/2/2014', 'a', '3', 'z1'],     ['1/3/2014', 'c', '1', 'x3'],    ] df = pandas.DataFrame.from_records(a[1:],columns=a[0]) 

I want to flatten the df so it is one continuous list like so:

['1/2/2014', 'a', '6', 'z1', '1/2/2014', 'a', '3', 'z1','1/3/2014', 'c', '1', 'x3']

I can loop through the rows and extend to a list, but is a much easier way to do it?

Answer 1

You can use .flatten() on the DataFrame converted to a NumPy array:

df.to_numpy().flatten() 

and you can also add .tolist() if you want the result to be a Python list.

Edit

In previous versions of Pandas, the values attributed was used instead of the .to_numpy() method, as mentioned in the comments below.

Answer 2

Maybe use stack?

df.stack().values array(['1/2/2014', 'a', '3', 'z1', '1/3/2014', 'c', '1', 'x3'], dtype=object) 

(Edit: Incidentally, the DF in the Q uses the first row as labels, which is why they're not in the output here.)