signif {base}: changes to scientific notation
You are confusing signif() and printing! signif() returns a real number. Printing does exactly what it is described to do, and has no concept of how the number was produced. I guess you were looking for format(), which allows more control.
On Thu, 6 Feb 2003, Wolfram Fischer - Z/I/M wrote:
PROBLEM
`signif' does change to scientic notation
at different levels depending on the number
of significant digits in the input.
This can generate tables where figures change
``irregularly'' from normal to scientific notation.
PROPOSAL
The change to the scientific notation should
be made only if the figure in scientific notation
- with potentially as many significant digits as
given as argument to the call of `signif' -
would be shorter than the figure in normal notation.
This is a misunderstanding of what is happening
Brian D. Ripley, ripley@stats.ox.ac.uk Professor of Applied Statistics, http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/ University of Oxford, Tel: +44 1865 272861 (self) 1 South Parks Road, +44 1865 272866 (PA) Oxford OX1 3TG, UK Fax: +44 1865 272595