ak.zip#

Defined in awkward.operations.ak_zip on line 18.

ak.zip(arrays, depth_limit=None, *, parameters=None, with_name=None, right_broadcast=False, optiontype_outside_record=False, highlevel=True, behavior=None, attrs=None)#
Parameters:
  • arrays (mapping or sequence of arrays) – Each value in this mapping or sequence can be any array-like data that ak.to_layout recognizes.

  • depth_limit (None or int) – If None, attempt to fully broadcast the array to all levels. If an int, limit the number of dimensions that get broadcasted. The minimum value is 1, for no broadcasting.

  • parameters (None or dict) – Parameters for the new ak.contents.RecordArray node that is created by this operation.

  • with_name (None or str) – Assigns a "__record__" name to the new ak.contents.RecordArray node that is created by this operation (overriding parameters, if necessary).

  • right_broadcast (bool) – If True, follow rules for implicit right-broadcasting, as described in ak.broadcast_arrays.

  • optiontype_outside_record (bool) – If True, continue broadcasting past any option types before creating the new ak.contents.RecordArray node.

  • highlevel (bool) – If True, return an ak.Array; otherwise, return a low-level ak.contents.Content subclass.

  • behavior (None or dict) – Custom ak.behavior for the output array, if high-level.

  • attrs (None or dict) – Custom attributes for the output array, if high-level.

Combines arrays into a single structure as the fields of a collection of records or the slots of a collection of tuples. If the arrays have nested structure, they are broadcasted with one another to form the records or tuples as deeply as possible, though this can be limited by depth_limit.

This operation may be thought of as the opposite of projection in ak.Array.__getitem__, which extracts fields one at a time, or ak.unzip, which extracts them all in one call.

Consider the following arrays, one and two.

>>> one = ak.Array([[1.1, 2.2, 3.3], [], [4.4, 5.5], [6.6]])
>>> two = ak.Array([["a", "b", "c"], [], ["d", "e"], ["f"]])

Zipping them together using a dict creates a collection of records with the same nesting structure as one and two.

>>> ak.zip({"x": one, "y": two}).show()
[[{x: 1.1, y: 'a'}, {x: 2.2, y: 'b'}, {x: 3.3, y: 'c'}],
 [],
 [{x: 4.4, y: 'd'}, {x: 5.5, y: 'e'}],
 [{x: 6.6, y: 'f'}]]

Doing so with a list creates tuples, whose fields are not named.

>>> ak.zip([one, two]).show()
[[(1.1, 'a'), (2.2, 'b'), (3.3, 'c')],
 [],
 [(4.4, 'd'), (5.5, 'e')],
 [(6.6, 'f')]]

Adding a third array with the same length as one and two but less internal structure is okay: it gets broadcasted to match the others. (See ak.broadcast_arrays for broadcasting rules.)

>>> three = ak.Array([100, 200, 300, 400])
>>> ak.zip([one, two, three]).show()
[[(1.1, 'a', 100), (2.2, 'b', 100), (3.3, 'c', 100)],
 [],
 [(4.4, 'd', 300), (5.5, 'e', 300)],
 [(6.6, 'f', 400)]]

However, if arrays have the same depth but different lengths of nested lists, attempting to zip them together is a broadcasting error.

>>> one = ak.Array([[[1, 2, 3], [], [4, 5], [6]], [], [[7, 8]]])
>>> two = ak.Array([[[1.1, 2.2], [3.3], [4.4], [5.5]], [], [[6.6]]])
>>> ak.zip([one, two])
ValueError: while calling
    ak.zip(
        arrays = [<Array [[[1, 2, 3], [], [4, ...], [6]], ...] type='3 * var ...
        depth_limit = None
        parameters = None
        with_name = None
        right_broadcast = False
        optiontype_outside_record = False
        highlevel = True
        behavior = None
    )
Error details: cannot broadcast nested list

For this, one can set the depth_limit to prevent the operation from attempting to broadcast what can’t be broadcasted.

>>> ak.zip([one, two], depth_limit=1).show()
[([[1, 2, 3], [], [4, ...], [6]], [[1.1, ...], ...]),
 ([], []),
 ([[7, 8]], [[6.6]])]

As an extreme, depth_limit=1 is a handy way to make a record structure at the outermost level, regardless of whether the fields have matching structure or not.

When zipping together arrays with optional values, it can be useful to create the ak.contents.RecordArray node after the option types. By default, ak.zip does not do this:

>>> one = ak.Array([1, 2, None])
>>> two = ak.Array([None, 5, 6])
>>> ak.zip([one, two])
<Array [(1, None), (2, 5), (None, 6)] type='3 * (?int64, ?int64)'>

If the optiontype_outside_record option is set to True, Awkward will continue to broadcast the arrays together at the depth_limit until it reaches non-option types. This effectively takes the union of the option mask:

>>> ak.zip([one, two], optiontype_outside_record=True)
<Array [None, (2, 5), None] type='3 * ?(int64, int64)'>