R help - Jul 2004 - How to pass strings to functions? [once once more, now With content I hope...]

Dear expeRts,

I fail to succesfully pass strings to functions. It comes down to the 
observation that

 > plot(someVariable,anotherVariable)

works fine, but

 > x <- "someVariable"
 > y <- "anotherVariable"
 > plot(x,y)

does not.

Does this have something to do with the returned value of x being 
/"someVariable"/ and not /someVariable/, i.e. without the quotation 
marks? Is there any way to work around this?

Ultimately I'd like to make multiple graphs by looping throught the 
values in vectors. Something like:
 > var<-c(var1,var2...n)
 > for (v in var)
 >{
 > plot(var, x))
 >}

I've looked around for help on this but am stuck.

Hope you can help,
Gijs Plomp

Gijs Plomp wrote:
> Dear expeRts,
> 
> I fail to succesfully pass strings to functions. It comes down to the 
> observation that
> 
>  > plot(someVariable,anotherVariable)
> 
> works fine, but
> 
>  > x <- "someVariable"
>  > y <- "anotherVariable"
>  > plot(x,y)
Do you mean
  x <- someVariable
  y <- anotherVariable
  plot(x,y)

Why are you not calling
  plot(someVariable, anotherVariable)


> does not.
> 
> Does this have something to do with the returned value of x being 
> /"someVariable"/ and not /someVariable/, i.e. without the
quotation
> marks? Is there any way to work around this?
> 
> Ultimately I'd like to make multiple graphs by looping throught the 
> values in vectors. Something like:
>  > var<-c(var1,var2...n)
>  > for (v in var)
>  >{
>  > plot(var, x))
>  >}
Does not make sense. You need to use "v" within the loop..... But I 
don't know what you are intending? You still need to be more specific!

Uwe Ligges



> I've looked around for help on this but am stuck.
> 
> Hope you can help,
> Gijs Plomp
> 
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list
> https://www.stat.math.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide! 
> http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html

> Dear expeRts,
>
> I fail to succesfully pass strings to functions. It comes down to the
> observation that
>
>  > plot(someVariable,anotherVariable)
>
> works fine, but
>
>  > x <- "someVariable"
>  > y <- "anotherVariable"
>  > plot(x,y)
>
> does not.
>
> Does this have something to do with the returned value of x being
> /"someVariable"/ and not /someVariable/, i.e. without the
quotation
> marks? Is there any way to work around this?
>
> Ultimately I'd like to make multiple graphs by looping throught the
> values in vectors. Something like:
>  > var<-c(var1,var2...n)
>  > for (v in var)
>  >{
>  > plot(var, x))
>  >}
>
what about plot(get(v), x)?
> I've looked around for help on this but am stuck.
>
> Hope you can help,
> Gijs Plomp
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list
> https://www.stat.math.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide!
> http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004, Gijs Plomp wrote:
> Dear expeRts,
>
> I fail to succesfully pass strings to functions. It comes down to the
> observation that
>
>  > plot(someVariable,anotherVariable)
>
> works fine, but
>
>  > x <- "someVariable"
>  > y <- "anotherVariable"
>  > plot(x,y)
>
> does not.
>
> Does this have something to do with the returned value of x being
> /"someVariable"/ and not /someVariable/, i.e. without the
quotation
> marks? Is there any way to work around this?
>
This is in the FAQ.

	-thomas