NumPy Error Message: only integer scalar arrays can be converted to a scalar index

If you are not getting occasional error messages, then you are not actually programming. Unfortunately getting your messages is part of programming, but it can be considered a sign that you are actually programming. Numpy, Python’s scientific library can produce some rather unique error messages if you are not careful.

What is this error?

The only integer scalar arrays can be converted to a scalar index error message occurs when array elements are used in array indexing. It occurs an indexing a list such as a dataframe if you are trying to index it with a Numpy array other than integer scalar arrays. If you use another dtype it will produce our error message. This means that you cannot use an array as an index because it does not have a single integer value. It does not produce another array, rather you will get our error message because there is no one python scalar value to be the index.

Why does it occur?

The only integer scalar arrays can be converted to a scalar index error message occurs because any list index is a python scalar index which means most arrays will not work resulting in our error message. When you create an array with a Numpy function formatting can be important. Formatted properly a single element array will work. This format is array(i), incorrect formatting such as array([i]) will produce our error message because this is creating a multi-dimensional array. This error message is also caused in the concatenate function by improperly passing it an index array.

How do I fix it?

Fortunately this is a python error message that is easy to fix. Because the problem results from a scalar index issue it is a simple matter of making sure that if you use either an integer scalar array or a straight integer. Now the integer can be an element of an array, but the element has to be specifically designated, and not the array itself. It has to have the pattern of array[x] for one-dimensional arrays and array[x,y] for two-dimensional arrays. The key is to enter only a single integer as the index at a time. You cannot enter an entire array.

The only integer scalar arrays can be converted to a scalar index error message is an easy mistake to make, and once you understand it, it is easy to fix and even avoid. It is simply a matter of making sure that you are using and formatting your Numpy arrays correctly. Do not try to use the entire array as an index even if it is an integer array. Use only individual integer array elements as indexes and you can avoid this problem.

NumPy Error Message: only integer scalar arrays can be converted to a scalar index

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to top