I am trying to reorder a factor variable that has embedded escape
characters. The data begins as a csv file with a factor that includes
embedded new line characters. By the time read.table has rendered it
into a data frame, the variable now has an extra backslash.
e.g.
"This\nLabel" in the csv becomes "This\\nLabel" in the data frame.
So, I am trying to reorder the factor and deal with the introduction of
a secondary \ . Here's a small example:
A = c("A\\nB", "C\\nD")
test <-data.frame(A)
str(test)
test$reorderA <-factor(test$A, c("C\\nD", "A\\nB"))
str(test)
test$reorderB <-sub("\\\\n", "\n", test$reorderA)
str(test)
When sub is applied to the now-correctly ordered factor, it returns to
the default ordering.
Suggestions?
Reorder factor and address embedded escapes
3 messages · Rob James, Erik Iverson, David Winsemius
Does the following help?
A = c("A\\nB", "C\\nD")
test <-data.frame(A)
#access levels directly to change names
levels(test$A) <- sub("\\\\n", "\n", levels(test$A))
#re-order levels of the factor
test$A <- relevel(test$A, "C\nD")
Rob James wrote:
I am trying to reorder a factor variable that has embedded escape
characters. The data begins as a csv file with a factor that includes
embedded new line characters. By the time read.table has rendered it
into a data frame, the variable now has an extra backslash.
e.g.
"This\nLabel" in the csv becomes "This\\nLabel" in the data frame.
So, I am trying to reorder the factor and deal with the introduction of
a secondary \ . Here's a small example:
A = c("A\\nB", "C\\nD")
test <-data.frame(A)
str(test)
test$reorderA <-factor(test$A, c("C\\nD", "A\\nB"))
str(test)
test$reorderB <-sub("\\\\n", "\n", test$reorderA)
str(test)
When sub is applied to the now-correctly ordered factor, it returns to
the default ordering.
Suggestions?
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On Dec 10, 2010, at 3:14 PM, Rob James wrote:
I am trying to reorder a factor variable that has embedded escape
characters. The data begins as a csv file with a factor that
includes embedded new line characters. By the time read.table has
rendered it into a data frame, the variable now has an extra
backslash.
e.g.
"This\nLabel" in the csv becomes "This\\nLabel" in the data frame.
So, I am trying to reorder the factor and deal with the introduction
of a secondary \ . Here's a small example:
A = c("A\\nB", "C\\nD")
test <-data.frame(A)
str(test)
test$reorderA <-factor(test$A, c("C\\nD", "A\\nB"))
str(test)
test$reorderB <-sub("\\\\n", "\n", test$reorderA)
str(test)
When sub is applied to the now-correctly ordered factor, it returns
to the default ordering.
Actually it returns a character vector rather than a factor.
Suggestions?
Perhaps you should ask a question.
David Winsemius, MD West Hartford, CT