R help - Apr 2002 - placing objects with format statements into text file

Greetings,

Is there a way to explicitly state the format statement for each object
in a write statement?  For example, I have data frame with four
variables (SSN that is 11 characters, and three other variables with
values ranging between 0 and 10).  I would like to have a text file
written that preserves a specific formatting.  Specifically, I would
like the following result:

129-02-1102 1 3 4 5
123-45-345610 9 810
etc.

As you can see, the SSN takes up only 11 columns and the other four
variables are formated with no seperator but are "put" there with the
format statement of f2.0.  So, is there a way to accomplish this in R? 
If so, I would be extremely greatful for direction.


-- 
Cheers,

Patrick
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>>>>> "Patrick" == Patrick McKnight <pem at
theriver.com> writes:
    Patrick> Greetings, Is there a way to explicitly state the
    Patrick> format statement for each object in a write
    Patrick> statement?  For example, I have data frame with
    Patrick> four variables (SSN that is 11 characters, and
    Patrick> three other variables with values ranging between 0
    Patrick> and 10).  I would like to have a text file written
    Patrick> that preserves a specific formatting.
    Patrick> Specifically, I would like the following result:

    Patrick> 129-02-1102 1 3 4 5
    Patrick> 123-45-345610 9 810

    Patrick> etc.

    Patrick> As you can see, the SSN takes up only 11 columns
    Patrick> and the other four variables are formated with no
    Patrick> seperator but are "put" there with the format
    Patrick> statement of f2.0.  So, is there a way to
    Patrick> accomplish this in R?  If so, I would be extremely
    Patrick> greatful for direction.

Here is an example (providing these explicitly in such questions
		   makes the question often easier to understand)

d1 <- data.frame(ssn = c("123-345-789","987-654-3"), id =
1:2, age=c(20,60))
> d1
          ssn id age
1 123-345-789  1  20
2   987-654-3  2  60

Now the idea is to use
-  write.table with  sep=""
-  format each column - coercing to character (of same width) :
> write.table(lapply(d1,format),
quote=FALSE,row.names=FALSE,col.names=FALSE,sep="")
123-345-789120
987-654-3  260

----

Martin Maechler <maechler at stat.math.ethz.ch>
http://stat.ethz.ch/~maechler/
Seminar fuer Statistik, ETH-Zentrum  LEO C16	Leonhardstr. 27
ETH (Federal Inst. Technology)	8092 Zurich	SWITZERLAND
phone: x-41-1-632-3408		fax: ...-1228			<><
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Martin,

Thanks for your help.  It worked flawlessly!  The lapply(d1,format) was
the part that I was missing.  Thanks again.

Cheers,

Patrick


On Thu, 18 Apr 2002, Martin Maechler wrote:
> >>>>> "Patrick" == Patrick McKnight <pem at
theriver.com> writes:
> 
>     Patrick> Greetings, Is there a way to explicitly state the
>     Patrick> format statement for each object in a write
>     Patrick> statement?  For example, I have data frame with
>     Patrick> four variables (SSN that is 11 characters, and
>     Patrick> three other variables with values ranging between 0
>     Patrick> and 10).  I would like to have a text file written
>     Patrick> that preserves a specific formatting.
>     Patrick> Specifically, I would like the following result:
> 
>     Patrick> 129-02-1102 1 3 4 5
>     Patrick> 123-45-345610 9 810
> 
>     Patrick> etc.
> 
>     Patrick> As you can see, the SSN takes up only 11 columns
>     Patrick> and the other four variables are formated with no
>     Patrick> seperator but are "put" there with the format
>     Patrick> statement of f2.0.  So, is there a way to
>     Patrick> accomplish this in R?  If so, I would be extremely
>     Patrick> greatful for direction.
> 
> Here is an example (providing these explicitly in such questions
> 		   makes the question often easier to understand)
> 
> d1 <- data.frame(ssn = c("123-345-789","987-654-3"),
id = 1:2, age=c(20,60))
> > d1
>           ssn id age
> 1 123-345-789  1  20
> 2   987-654-3  2  60
> 
> Now the idea is to use
> -  write.table with  sep=""
> -  format each column - coercing to character (of same width) :
> 
> > write.table(lapply(d1,format),
quote=FALSE,row.names=FALSE,col.names=FALSE,sep="")
> 
> 123-345-789120
> 987-654-3  260
> 
> ----
> 
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