R help - Jan 2013 - How to convert a string to the column it represents in a dataframe, with a reproducible example

Hello R-helpers,

I have run the following lines of code:

x<-"cars$dist"
y<-noquote(x)


Now y is a string containing the characters "cars$dist"

My question....is there an R function (or combination of functions) that I
can apply to y that will cause y to contain the numbers in cars$dist? Even
better, can I do it without using noquote()?

Many thanks,

Mark Na

	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]

On Jan 17, 2013, at 1:36 PM, mtb954 at gmail.com wrote:
> Hello R-helpers,
> 
> I have run the following lines of code:
> 
> x<-"cars$dist"
> y<-noquote(x)
> 
> 
> Now y is a string containing the characters "cars$dist"
> 
> My question....is there an R function (or combination of functions) that I
> can apply to y that will cause y to contain the numbers in cars$dist? Even
> better, can I do it without using noquote()?
What is the goal of this effort?

-- 

David Winsemius
Alameda, CA, USA