Group Categorical Values

Article
05/06/2019

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Groups data from multiple categories into a new category

Category: Data Transformation / Manipulation

Note

Applies to: Machine Learning Studio (classic) only

Similar drag-and-drop modules are available in Azure Machine Learning designer.

Module overview

This article describes how to use the Group Categorical Values module in Machine Learning Studio (classic), to create an in-place lookup table.

The typical use for grouping categorical values is to merge multiple string values into a single new level. For example, you might assign individual postal codes in a region to a single regional code, or group multiple products under one category.

To use this module, you type the lookup values you want to use, and map existing values to the replacement values. You can create groupings only for categorical columns, not to columns of numeric type or columns designated as labels or features.

Any column values that are not explicitly mapped to a new level are assigned to a default level. For example, if you did not map all the individual postal codes, they would be grouped in a level for unmapped values, which you might name Unknown.

Note

A maximum of 20 new levels can be created, including the default level. If you need more values, or need to define mappings dynamically, we recommend that you use custom R script in the Execute R Script module. Or, use SQL statements in the Apply SQL Transformation module.

How to use Group Categorical Values

We recommend that you prepare the list of existing values, and the new categories, beforehand. For each category, you should prepare a new category name, and a comma-separated list of values to include in the category.

Add the Group Categorical Values module to your experiment. You can find the module under Data Transformation, Manipulation.
Connect a dataset that has the values you want to transform.
In the Properties pane of Group Categorical Values, use the Column Selector to choose the column that has the levels you want to reduce.
- We recommend that you click BEGIN WITH and NO COLUMNS to start, and then add columns by name. Otherwise too many columns might be added as candidates, leading to an error.
- The column must be a categorical column. If it is not, add Edit Metadata upstream, and change the column type.
- Be sure to remove from the input any columns to which string replacement should not be applied.
For Output mode, indicate whether you want to output just the new levels, or append the changes to see the original column, with the replacements side by side.

The default, ResultOnly, shows only the new values. The Inplace option replaces the existing column values with the new levels.
For Default level name, type a string value to use as the replacement for all values that are not explicitly mapped. You might use something such as "Unknown" or "Default".

Note

This default level value is applied to all values that cannot be mapped. If you accidentally included columns that you did not intend to map, the value would be applied to all values in the columns. Therefore, check that column selection is accurate before processing.
For New number of levels, type a number that indicates the total number of new categories (levels), including the default level for unmapped values.
For Name of new level 1, provide the new group name for the first category.
In the text box that immediately follows, Comma-separated list of old levels to map to new level 1, type or paste an exhaustive list of all values to map to the new level. Wildcard characters and regular expressions are not allowed.
Continue to type new level names and type or paste values that should be mapped to the new level.

We recommend that you save your list of values in a separate file as you are working. If you change the number of levels, any strings that you previously typed are removed, and you must start over.

However, if you are editing a module that was previously saved, you can revert to the original settings.
Run the experiment.

Results

To view the results, right-click the Group Categorical Values module, select Results dataset, and click Visualize.

Examples

For examples of machine learning in action, see the Azure AI Gallery.

You can also try this module for yourself, by using a small dataset with some string variables that can be easily grouped, such as the Automobile price dataset that is provided in Machine Learning Studio (classic).

Let's assume that you want to group cars in the Automobile price dataset by engine size, using the number of cylinders. Rather than lots of different engine sizes, you will create the new levels, "big", "small", and "other" as follows:

Big engines: six cylinders or larger
Small engines: two or four cylinders
Other: anything else

Add the Select Columns in Dataset module, and select only the num-of-cylinders column.
Add the Edit Metadata module, and change the num-of-cylinders column to Categorical.
Add the Group Categorical Values module and connect the modified dataset.
For Default level name, type other. You don't need to provide values for this level.
For Name of new level 1, type big. In the list of old levels to map to level 1, paste in six, eight, twelve.
For Name of new level 2, type small. For the mapped values, paste in two, four.
Run the experiment.
When you Visualize the results, you realize that the original dataset had some odd engine sizes that you didn't account for, such as five and three. All such items are mapped to the other level.

Technical notes

This section contains implementation details, tips, and answers to frequently asked questions.

You might encounter the error message, “Column with name "<columnname>" is not in an allowed category.”

This message indicates that the column you selected is not a categorical column. You can mark the column as Categorical by using Edit Metadata, or select a different column that contains appropriate category values.

Expected inputs

Name	Type	Description
Dataset	Data Table	Data to group

Module parameters

Name	Range	Type	Default	Description
Selected columns	any	ColumnSelection	CategoricalAll	Select the columns that will be grouped.
Output mode	any	OutputTo	ResultOnly	Specify how the category labels should be output.
Default level name	any	String		Indicate the default level to use if no mappings match.
New number of levels	List	Number of groups		Specify the number of levels after values have been grouped, including the default level.

Output

Name	Type	Description
Results dataset	Data Table	Grouped data

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