Python Passing Dynamic Table Name in For Loop - python-3.x

Question

table_name = []
counter=0
for year in ['2017', '2018', '2019']:
table_name.append(f'temp_df_{year}')
print(table_name[counter])
table_name[counter] = pd.merge(table1, table2.loc[table2.loc[:, 'year'] == year, :], left_on='col1', right_on='col1', how='left')
counter += 1
temp_df_2017
The print statement outputs are correct:
temp_df_2017,
temp_df_2018,
temp_df_2019
However, when I try to see what's in temp_df_2017, I get an error: name 'temp_df_2017' is not defined
I would like to create those three tables. How can I make this work?
PS: ['2017', '2018', '2019'] list will vary. It can be a list of quarters. That's why I want to do this in a loop, instead of using the merge statement 3x.

Answer 1

I think the easiest/most practical approach would be to create a dictionary to store names/df.
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
# Create dummy data
data = np.arange(9).reshape(3,3)
df = pd.DataFrame(data, columns=['a', 'b', 'c'])
df
Out:
a b c
0 0 1 2
1 3 4 5
2 6 7 8
df_year_names = ['2017', '2018', '2019']
dict_of_dfs = {}
for year in df_year_names:
df_name = f'some_name_year_{year}'
dict_of_dfs[df_name] = df
dict_of_dfs.keys()
Out:
dict_keys(['some_name_year_2017', 'some_name_year_2018', 'some_name_year_2019'])
Then to access a particular year:
dict_of_dfs['some_name_year_2018']
Out:
a b c
0 0 1 2
1 3 4 5
2 6 7 8