Any value written within a pair of single quote or double quotes in R
is treated as a string. Internally R stores every string within double
quotes, even when you create them with single quote.
Rules Applied in String Construction
- The quotes at the beginning and end of a string should be both double quotes or both single quote. They can not be mixed.
- Double quotes can be inserted into a string starting and ending with single quote.
- Single quote can be inserted into a string starting and ending with double quotes.
- Double quotes can not be inserted into a string starting and ending with double quotes.
- Single quote can not be inserted into a string starting and ending with single quote.
Examples of Valid Strings
Following examples clarify the rules about creating a string in R.a <- 'Start and end with single quote' print(a) b <- "Start and end with double quotes" print(b) c <- "single quote ' in between double quotes" print(c) d <- 'Double quotes " in between single quote' print(d)When the above code is run we get the following output −
[1] "Start and end with single quote" [1] "Start and end with double quotes" [1] "single quote ' in between double quote" [1] "Double quote \" in between single quote"
Examples of Invalid Strings
e <- 'Mixed quotes" print(e) f <- 'Single quote ' inside single quote' print(f) g <- "Double quotes " inside double quotes" print(g)When we run the script it fails giving below results.
Error: unexpected symbol in: "print(e) f <- 'Single" Execution halted
String Manipulation
Concatenating Strings - paste() function
Many strings in R are combined using the paste() function. It can take any number of arguments to be combined together.Syntax
The basic syntax for paste function is −paste(..., sep = " ", collapse = NULL)Following is the description of the parameters used −
- ... represents any number of arguments to be combined.
- sep represents any separator between the arguments. It is optional.
- collapse is used to eliminate the space in between two strings. But not the space within two words of one string.
Example
a <- "Hello" b <- 'How' c <- "are you? " print(paste(a,b,c)) print(paste(a,b,c, sep = "-")) print(paste(a,b,c, sep = "", collapse = ""))When we execute the above code, it produces the following result −
[1] "Hello How are you? " [1] "Hello-How-are you? " [1] "HelloHoware you? "
Formatting numbers & strings - format() function
Numbers and strings can be formatted to a specific style using format() function.Syntax
The basic syntax for format function is −format(x, digits, nsmall, scientific, width, justify = c("left", "right", "centre", "none"))Following is the description of the parameters used −
- x is the vector input.
- digits is the total number of digits displayed.
- nsmall is the minimum number of digits to the right of the decimal point.
- scientific is set to TRUE to display scientific notation.
- width indicates the minimum width to be displayed by padding blanks in the beginning.
- justify is the display of the string to left, right or center.
Example
# Total number of digits displayed. Last digit rounded off. result <- format(23.123456789, digits = 9) print(result) # Display numbers in scientific notation. result <- format(c(6, 13.14521), scientific = TRUE) print(result) # The minimum number of digits to the right of the decimal point. result <- format(23.47, nsmall = 5) print(result) # Format treats everything as a string. result <- format(6) print(result) # Numbers are padded with blank in the beginning for width. result <- format(13.7, width = 6) print(result) # Left justify strings. result <- format("Hello", width = 8, justify = "l") print(result) # Justfy string with center. result <- format("Hello", width = 8, justify = "c") print(result)When we execute the above code, it produces the following result −
[1] "23.1234568" [1] "6.000000e+00" "1.314521e+01" [1] "23.47000" [1] "6" [1] " 13.7" [1] "Hello " [1] " Hello "
Counting number of characters in a string - nchar() function
This function counts the number of characters including spaces in a string.Syntax
The basic syntax for nchar() function is −nchar(x)Following is the description of the parameters used −
- x is the vector input.
Example
result <- nchar("Count the number of characters") print(result)When we execute the above code, it produces the following result −
[1] 30
Changing the case - toupper() & tolower() functions
These functions change the case of characters of a string.Syntax
The basic syntax for toupper() & tolower() function is −toupper(x) tolower(x)Following is the description of the parameters used −
- x is the vector input.
Example
# Changing to Upper case. result <- toupper("Changing To Upper") print(result) # Changing to lower case. result <- tolower("Changing To Lower") print(result)When we execute the above code, it produces the following result −
[1] "CHANGING TO UPPER" [1] "changing to lower"
Extracting parts of a string - substring() function
This function extracts parts of a String.Syntax
The basic syntax for substring() function is −substring(x,first,last)Following is the description of the parameters used −
- x is the character vector input.
- first is the position of the first character to be extracted.
- last is the position of the last character to be extracted.
Example
# Extract characters from 5th to 7th position. result <- substring("Extract", 5, 7) print(result)When we execute the above code, it produces the following result −
[1] "act"
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