Kotlin Help

Retrieve data from files

Kotlin Notebook, coupled with the Kotlin DataFrame library, enables you to work with both non-structured and structured data. This combination offers the flexibility to transform non-structured data, such as data found in TXT files, into structured datasets.

For data transformations, you can use such methods as add, split, convert, and parse. Additionally, this toolset enables the retrieval and manipulation of data from various structured file formats, including CSV, JSON, XLS, XLSX, and Apache Arrow.

In this guide, you can learn how to retrieve, refine, and handle data through multiple examples.

Before you start

  1. Download and install the latest version of IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate.

  2. Install the Kotlin Notebook plugin in IntelliJ IDEA.

  3. Create a new Kotlin Notebook by selecting File | New | Kotlin Notebook.

  4. In the Kotlin Notebook, import the Kotlin DataFrame library by running the following command:

    %use dataframe

Retrieve data from a file

To retrieve data from a file in Kotlin Notebook:

  1. Open your Kotlin Notebook file (.ipynb).

  2. Import the Kotlin DataFrame library by adding %use dataframe in a code cell at the start of your notebook.

  3. Use the .read() function from the Kotlin DataFrame library to retrieve data. For example, to read a CSV file, use: DataFrame.read("example.csv").

The .read() function automatically detects the input format based on the file extension and content. You can also add other arguments to customize the function, such as specifying the delimiter with delimiter = ';'.

Display data

Once you have the data in your notebook, you can easily store it in a variable and access it by running the following in a code cell:

val dfJson = DataFrame.read("jsonFile.json") dfJson

This code displays the data from the file of your choice, such as CSV, JSON, XLS, XLSX, or Apache Arrow.

Display data

To gain insights into the structure or schema of your data, apply the .schema() function on your DataFrame variable. For example, dfJson.schema() lists the type of each column in your JSON dataset.

Schema example

You can also use the autocompletion feature in Kotlin Notebook to quickly access and manipulate the properties of your DataFrame. After loading your data, simply type the DataFrame variable followed by a dot to see a list of available columns and their types.

Available properties

Refine data

Among the various operations available in the Kotlin DataFrame library for refining your dataset, key examples include grouping, filtering, updating, and adding new columns. These functions are essential for data analysis, allowing you to organize, clean, and transform your data effectively.

Let's look at an example where the data includes movie titles and their corresponding release year in the same cell. The goal is to refine this dataset for easier analysis:

  1. Load your data into the notebook using the .read() function. This example involves reading data from a CSV file named movies.csv and creating a DataFrame called movies:

    val movies = DataFrame.read("movies.csv")
  2. Extract the release year from the movie titles using regex and add it as a new column:

    val moviesWithYear = movies .add("year") { "\\d{4}".toRegex() .findAll(title) .lastOrNull() ?.value ?.toInt() ?: -1 }
  3. Modify the movie titles by removing the release year from each title. This cleans up the titles for consistency:

    val moviesTitle = moviesWithYear .update("title") { "\\s*\\(\\d{4}\\)\\s*$".toRegex().replace(title, "") }
  4. Use the filter method to focus on specific data. In this case, the dataset is filtered to focus on movies that were released after the year 1996:

    val moviesNew = moviesWithYear.filter { year >= 1996 } moviesNew

For comparison, here is the dataset before refinement:

Original dataset

The refined dataset:

Data refinement result

This is a practical demonstration of how you can use the Kotlin DataFrame library's methods, like add, update, and filter to effectively refine and analyze data in Kotlin.

Save DataFrame

After refining data in Kotlin Notebook using the Kotlin DataFrame library, you can easily export your processed data. You can utilize a variety of .write() functions for this purpose, which support saving in multiple formats, including CSV, JSON, XLS, XLSX, Apache Arrow, and even HTML tables. This can be particularly useful for sharing your findings, creating reports, or making your data available for further analysis.

Here's how you can filter a DataFrame, remove a column, save the refined data to a JSON file, and open an HTML table in your browser:

  1. In Kotlin Notebook, use the .read() function to load a file named movies.csv into a DataFrame named moviesDf:

    val moviesDf = DataFrame.read("movies.csv")
  2. Filter the DataFrame to only include movies that belong to the "Action" genre using the .filter method:

    val actionMoviesDf = moviesDf.filter { genres.equals("Action") }
  3. Remove the movieId column from the DataFrame using .remove:

    val refinedMoviesDf = actionMoviesDf.remove { movieId } refinedMoviesDf
  4. The Kotlin DataFrame library offers various write functions to save data in different formats. In this example, the .writeJson() function is used to save the modified movies.csv as a JSON file:

    refinedMoviesDf.writeJson("movies.json")
  5. Use the .toStandaloneHTML() function to convert the DataFrame into a standalone HTML table and open it in your default web browser:

    refinedMoviesDf.toStandaloneHTML(DisplayConfiguration(rowsLimit = null)).openInBrowser()

What's next

Last modified: 25 September 2024