Dear all I have a data set like following *********************** name ticker price # how to specify attributes for differet colums a ta 1 a ta 1 a ta 1 name ticker price # the extra headline is a problem a ta 1 a ta 1 b 2 b 2 b 2 b 2 b 2 c tc 3 c tc 3 name ticker price c tc 3 c tc 3 c tc 3 ************************** all columns are read in as "factor", if without specifying parameters in read.table() so how can I use read.table() function and its parameter to conveniently do following things in ONE action if can not, answer for the first and second question is especially appreciated. I did not figure out how to use "as.is" 1) specify the each row with different addtribute, e.g., the first colum as"character" second col as "factor", third one as "numeric" 2) remove extra headlines 3) remove rows with blanks thank you regards