R help - Jan 2009 - Converting ddf/dct/sas data definition file to R

Dear all,

I was wondering whether anyone knows about a program which converts
(part of) a data definition file (such as a .dct file for stata, or
.sas file for sas) into an R-script.

Here is an example with a .sas file: 

<-- snipp 

VALUE HTYPE   	(default=32)
	0         =  "Not in household"              
	1         =  "Married couple family household"
	2         =  "Male householder family"       
	3         =  "Female householder family"     
	4         =  "Male householder nonfamily"    
	5         =  "Female householder nonfamily"  
	6         =  "Group quarters"                
;

snapp --> 


This entry defines the variable HTYPE as a factor and assigns levels
and labels. Ideally, it would be transformed into the following entry
in R:


data.frame$HTYPE <- factor(data.frame$HTYPE,
	levels=c(0,1,2,3,4,5,6),
	labels=c("Not in household",              
		 "Married couple family household",
		 "Male householder family",       
		 "Female householder family",     
		 "Male householder nonfamily",    
		 "Female householder nonfamily",  
		 "Group quarters"
                )
	)

                
Of course, this can be done by hand and isn't too bad with a good text
editor. The reason why I am looking for a program is because I have a
bunch of datasets (about 100) and there are about 200 variables defined
per dataset. My goal is to provide R-scripts for these datasets such
that the data files can be read in with R, making them accessible for
R users. 



Thanks! 


	Stephan






-- 
-----------------------
Stephan Lindner
University of Michigan

The sas.get function in the Hmisc package, or the sasxport.get function, 
will do what you want by a different approach.

Frank

Stephan Lindner wrote:
> Dear all,
> 
> I was wondering whether anyone knows about a program which converts
> (part of) a data definition file (such as a .dct file for stata, or
> .sas file for sas) into an R-script.
> 
> Here is an example with a .sas file: 
> 
> <-- snipp 
> 
> VALUE HTYPE   	(default=32)
> 	0         =  "Not in household"              
> 	1         =  "Married couple family household"
> 	2         =  "Male householder family"       
> 	3         =  "Female householder family"     
> 	4         =  "Male householder nonfamily"    
> 	5         =  "Female householder nonfamily"  
> 	6         =  "Group quarters"                
> ;
> 
> snapp --> 
> 
> 
> This entry defines the variable HTYPE as a factor and assigns levels
> and labels. Ideally, it would be transformed into the following entry
> in R:
> 
> 
> data.frame$HTYPE <- factor(data.frame$HTYPE,
> 	levels=c(0,1,2,3,4,5,6),
> 	labels=c("Not in household",              
> 		 "Married couple family household",
> 		 "Male householder family",       
> 		 "Female householder family",     
> 		 "Male householder nonfamily",    
> 		 "Female householder nonfamily",  
> 		 "Group quarters"
>                 )
> 	)
> 
>                 
> Of course, this can be done by hand and isn't too bad with a good text
> editor. The reason why I am looking for a program is because I have a
> bunch of datasets (about 100) and there are about 200 variables defined
> per dataset. My goal is to provide R-scripts for these datasets such
> that the data files can be read in with R, making them accessible for
> R users. 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks! 
> 
> 
> 	Stephan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

-- 
Frank E Harrell Jr   Professor and Chair           School of Medicine
                      Department of Biostatistics   Vanderbilt University

Hi Stephan,

Does the foreign package help?

HTH,
(another) Stephan


Stephan Lindner schrieb:
> Dear all,
> 
> I was wondering whether anyone knows about a program which converts
> (part of) a data definition file (such as a .dct file for stata, or
> .sas file for sas) into an R-script.
> 
> Here is an example with a .sas file: 
> 
> <-- snipp 
> 
> VALUE HTYPE   	(default=32)
> 	0         =  "Not in household"              
> 	1         =  "Married couple family household"
> 	2         =  "Male householder family"       
> 	3         =  "Female householder family"     
> 	4         =  "Male householder nonfamily"    
> 	5         =  "Female householder nonfamily"  
> 	6         =  "Group quarters"                
> ;
> 
> snapp --> 
> 
> 
> This entry defines the variable HTYPE as a factor and assigns levels
> and labels. Ideally, it would be transformed into the following entry
> in R:
> 
> 
> data.frame$HTYPE <- factor(data.frame$HTYPE,
> 	levels=c(0,1,2,3,4,5,6),
> 	labels=c("Not in household",              
> 		 "Married couple family household",
> 		 "Male householder family",       
> 		 "Female householder family",     
> 		 "Male householder nonfamily",    
> 		 "Female householder nonfamily",  
> 		 "Group quarters"
>                 )
> 	)
> 
>                 
> Of course, this can be done by hand and isn't too bad with a good text
> editor. The reason why I am looking for a program is because I have a
> bunch of datasets (about 100) and there are about 200 variables defined
> per dataset. My goal is to provide R-scripts for these datasets such
> that the data files can be read in with R, making them accessible for
> R users. 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks! 
> 
> 
> 	Stephan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>