Putting a loop in a function
Ben Hunter wrote:
I'm stuck here. The following code works great if I just use it on the
command line in a 'for' loop. Once I try to define it as a function as
seen
below, I get bad results. I'm trying to return a vector of column indices
based on a short string that is contained in a selection (length of about
70) of long column names that changes from time to time. Is there an
existing function that will do this for me? The more I think about this
problem, the more I feel there has to be a function out there. I've not
found it.
ind <- function(col, string, vector){ # this is really the problem. I
don't
feel like I'm declaring these arguments properly.
indices <- vector(mode = 'numeric') # I am not entirely confident
that
this use is necessary. Is indices <- c() okay?
for (i in 1:length(col)){
num <- regexpr(str, col[i])
if (num != -1){
indices <- c(vector, i) # I've also had success with indices
<-
append(indices, i)
}
}
indices
}
ind(d[,'Column.I.want'], 'string', 'output.vector')
Am I wrong here? I've read that the last statement in the function is what
it will return, and what I want is a vector of integers.
It is not clear what you want. Give a simple example with input and desired output. About your function: - what's the purpose of the argument. It isn't being used in your function. - what is the argument? Character? Object? in the function body vector is used as a built-in function. Berend -- View this message in context: http://r.789695.n4.nabble.com/Putting-a-loop-in-a-function-tp3421439p3421768.html Sent from the R help mailing list archive at Nabble.com.