ENH: Add StringMethod.find and rfind

doc/source/api.rst

@@ -531,6 +531,7 @@ strings and apply several methods to it. These can be acccessed like
    Series.str.encode
    Series.str.endswith
    Series.str.extract
+   Series.str.find
    Series.str.findall
    Series.str.get
    Series.str.join
@@ -542,6 +543,7 @@ strings and apply several methods to it. These can be acccessed like
    Series.str.pad
    Series.str.repeat
    Series.str.replace
+   Series.str.rfind
    Series.str.rjust
    Series.str.rstrip
    Series.str.slice

doc/source/text.rst

@@ -231,6 +231,8 @@ Method Summary
     :meth:`~Series.str.lstrip`,Equivalent to ``str.lstrip``
     :meth:`~Series.str.lower`,Equivalent to ``str.lower``
     :meth:`~Series.str.upper`,Equivalent to ``str.upper``
+    :meth:`~Series.str.find`,Equivalent to ``str.find``
+    :meth:`~Series.str.rfind`,Equivalent to ``str.rfind``
     :meth:`~Series.str.isalnum`,Equivalent to ``str.isalnum``
     :meth:`~Series.str.isalpha`,Equivalent to ``str.isalpha``
     :meth:`~Series.str.isdigit`,Equivalent to ``str.isdigit``

doc/source/whatsnew/v0.16.0.txt

@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ Enhancements
 - Added ``StringMethods.isalnum()``, ``isalpha()``, ``isdigit()``, ``isspace()``, ``islower()``,
   ``isupper()``, ``istitle()`` which behave as the same as standard ``str`` (:issue:`9282`)
 
+- Added ``StringMethods.find()`` and ``rfind()`` which behave as the same as standard ``str`` (:issue:`9386`)
 
 - Added ``StringMethods.isnumeric`` and ``isdecimal`` which behave as the same as standard ``str`` (:issue:`9439`)
 - Added ``StringMethods.ljust()`` and ``rjust()`` which behave as the same as standard ``str`` (:issue:`9352`)

pandas/core/strings.py

@@ -544,6 +544,46 @@ def str_findall(arr, pat, flags=0):
     return _na_map(regex.findall, arr)
 
 
+def str_find(arr, sub, start=0, end=None, side='left'):
+    """
+    Return indexes in each strings where the substring is
+    fully contained between [start:end]. Return -1 on failure.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    sub : str
+        Substring being searched
+    start : int
+        Left edge index
+    end : int
+        Right edge index
+    side : {'left', 'right'}, default 'left'
+        Specifies a starting side, equivalent to ``find`` or ``rfind``
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    found : array
+    """
+
+    if not isinstance(sub, compat.string_types):
+        msg = 'expected a string object, not {0}'
+        raise TypeError(msg.format(type(sub).__name__))
+
+    if side == 'left':
+        method = 'find'
+    elif side == 'right':
+        method = 'rfind'
+    else:  # pragma: no cover
+        raise ValueError('Invalid side')
+
+    if end is None:
+        f = lambda x: getattr(x, method)(sub, start)
+    else:
+        f = lambda x: getattr(x, method)(sub, start, end)
+
+    return _na_map(f, arr, dtype=int)
+
+
 def str_pad(arr, width, side='left', fillchar=' '):
     """
     Pad strings with an additional character
@@ -1072,6 +1112,41 @@ def get_dummies(self, sep='|'):
     findall = _pat_wrapper(str_findall, flags=True)
     extract = _pat_wrapper(str_extract, flags=True)
 
+    _shared_docs['find'] = ("""
+    Return %(side)s indexes in each strings where the substring is
+    fully contained between [start:end]. Return -1 on failure.
+    Equivalent to standard ``str.%(method)s``.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    sub : str
+        Substring being searched
+    start : int
+        Left edge index
+    end : int
+        Right edge index
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    found : array
+
+    See Also
+    --------
+    %(also)s
+    """)
+
+    @Appender(_shared_docs['find'] % dict(side='lowest', method='find',
+              also='rfind : Return highest indexes in each strings'))
+    def find(self, sub, start=0, end=None):
+        result = str_find(self.series, sub, start=start, end=end, side='left')
+        return self._wrap_result(result)
+
+    @Appender(_shared_docs['find'] % dict(side='highest', method='rfind',
+              also='find : Return lowest indexes in each strings'))
+    def rfind(self, sub, start=0, end=None):
+        result = str_find(self.series, sub, start=start, end=end, side='right')
+        return self._wrap_result(result)
+
     _shared_docs['len'] = ("""
     Compute length of each string in array.
 

pandas/tests/test_strings.py

@@ -610,6 +610,8 @@ def test_empty_str_methods(self):
         tm.assert_series_equal(empty_str, empty_list.str.join(''))
         tm.assert_series_equal(empty_int, empty.str.len())
         tm.assert_series_equal(empty_list, empty_list.str.findall('a'))
+        tm.assert_series_equal(empty_int, empty.str.find('a'))
+        tm.assert_series_equal(empty_int, empty.str.rfind('a'))
         tm.assert_series_equal(empty_str, empty.str.pad(42))
         tm.assert_series_equal(empty_str, empty.str.center(42))
         tm.assert_series_equal(empty_list, empty.str.split('a'))
@@ -770,6 +772,64 @@ def test_findall(self):
         exp = Series([[u('BAD__'), u('BAD')], NA, [], [u('BAD')]])
         tm.assert_almost_equal(result, exp)
 
+    def test_find(self):
+        values = Series(['ABCDEFG', 'BCDEFEF', 'DEFGHIJEF', 'EFGHEF', 'XXXX'])
+        result = values.str.find('EF')
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, 3, 1, 0, -1]))
+        expected = np.array([v.find('EF') for v in values.values])
+        tm.assert_numpy_array_equal(result.values, expected)
+
+        result = values.str.rfind('EF')
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, 5, 7, 4, -1]))
+        expected = np.array([v.rfind('EF') for v in values.values])
+        tm.assert_numpy_array_equal(result.values, expected)
+
+        result = values.str.find('EF', 3)
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, 3, 7, 4, -1]))
+        expected = np.array([v.find('EF', 3) for v in values.values])
+        tm.assert_numpy_array_equal(result.values, expected)
+
+        result = values.str.rfind('EF', 3)
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, 5, 7, 4, -1]))
+        expected = np.array([v.rfind('EF', 3) for v in values.values])
+        tm.assert_numpy_array_equal(result.values, expected)
+
+        result = values.str.find('EF', 3, 6)
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, 3, -1, 4, -1]))
+        expected = np.array([v.find('EF', 3, 6) for v in values.values])
+        tm.assert_numpy_array_equal(result.values, expected)
+
+        result = values.str.rfind('EF', 3, 6)
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, 3, -1, 4, -1]))
+        expected = np.array([v.rfind('EF', 3, 6) for v in values.values])
+        tm.assert_numpy_array_equal(result.values, expected)
+
+        with tm.assertRaisesRegexp(TypeError, "expected a string object, not int"):
+            result = values.str.find(0)
+
+        with tm.assertRaisesRegexp(TypeError, "expected a string object, not int"):
+            result = values.str.rfind(0)
+
+    def test_find_nan(self):
+        values = Series(['ABCDEFG', np.nan, 'DEFGHIJEF', np.nan, 'XXXX'])
+        result = values.str.find('EF')
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, np.nan, 1, np.nan, -1]))
+
+        result = values.str.rfind('EF')
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, np.nan, 7, np.nan, -1]))
+
+        result = values.str.find('EF', 3)
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, np.nan, 7, np.nan, -1]))
+
+        result = values.str.rfind('EF', 3)
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, np.nan, 7, np.nan, -1]))
+
+        result = values.str.find('EF', 3, 6)
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, np.nan, -1, np.nan, -1]))
+
+        result = values.str.rfind('EF', 3, 6)
+        tm.assert_series_equal(result, Series([4, np.nan, -1, np.nan, -1]))
+
     def test_pad(self):
         values = Series(['a', 'b', NA, 'c', NA, 'eeeeee'])