Hi list! An operation that I often need is splicing two vectors: > splice(1:3, 4:6) [1] 1 4 2 5 3 6 For numeric vectors I use this hack: splice <- function(x, y) { xy <- cbind(x, y) xy <- t(xy) dim(xy) <- length(x) * 2 return(xy) } So far, so good (?). But I also need splicing for factors and I tried this: splice <- function(x, y) { xy <- cbind(x, y) xy <- t(xy) dim(xy) <- length(x) * 2 if (is.factor(x) && is.factor(y)) { xy <- as.factor(xy) levels(xy) <- levels(x) } return(xy) } This, however, doesn't work because the level name to integer mapping gets mixed up when copying the levels from x to xy. My questions: 1.) How can this be fixed? 2.) What's the best way to do splicing of vectors and factors in R? (I couldn't find a prefdefined function for this although it seems to be such a basic and useful operation.) Thanks!! Titus
Dear Titus, Your first function can be simplified to splice <- function(x, y) { as.vector(rbind(x, y)) } For factors, you better convert them first back to character strings. splice <- function(x, y) { x <- levels(x)[x] y <- levels(y)[y] factor(as.vector(rbind(x, y))) } HTH, Thierry ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- ir. Thierry Onkelinx Instituut voor natuur- en bosonderzoek / Research Institute for Nature and Forest Cel biometrie, methodologie en kwaliteitszorg / Section biometrics, methodology and quality assurance Gaverstraat 4 9500 Geraardsbergen Belgium tel. + 32 54/436 185 Thierry.Onkelinx at inbo.be www.inbo.be To call in the statistician after the experiment is done may be no more than asking him to perform a post-mortem examination: he may be able to say what the experiment died of. ~ Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher The plural of anecdote is not data. ~ Roger Brinner The combination of some data and an aching desire for an answer does not ensure that a reasonable answer can be extracted from a given body of data. ~ John Tukey -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- Van: r-help-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-project.org] Namens Titus von der Malsburg Verzonden: dinsdag 9 juni 2009 11:12 Aan: r-help at r-project.org Onderwerp: [R] Splicing factors without losing levels Hi list! An operation that I often need is splicing two vectors: > splice(1:3, 4:6) [1] 1 4 2 5 3 6 For numeric vectors I use this hack: splice <- function(x, y) { xy <- cbind(x, y) xy <- t(xy) dim(xy) <- length(x) * 2 return(xy) } So far, so good (?). But I also need splicing for factors and I tried this: splice <- function(x, y) { xy <- cbind(x, y) xy <- t(xy) dim(xy) <- length(x) * 2 if (is.factor(x) && is.factor(y)) { xy <- as.factor(xy) levels(xy) <- levels(x) } return(xy) } This, however, doesn't work because the level name to integer mapping gets mixed up when copying the levels from x to xy. My questions: 1.) How can this be fixed? 2.) What's the best way to do splicing of vectors and factors in R? (I couldn't find a prefdefined function for this although it seems to be such a basic and useful operation.) Thanks!! Titus ______________________________________________ R-help at r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. Dit bericht en eventuele bijlagen geven enkel de visie van de schrijver weer en binden het INBO onder geen enkel beding, zolang dit bericht niet bevestigd is door een geldig ondertekend document. The views expressed in this message and any annex are purely those of the writer and may not be regarded as stating an official position of INBO, as long as the message is not confirmed by a duly signed document.
Titus von der Malsburg <malsburg <at> gmail.com> writes:> An operation that I often need is splicing two vectors: > > splice(1:3, 4:6) > [1] 1 4 2 5 3 6 > For numeric vectors I use this hack: > splice <- function(x, y) { > xy <- cbind(x, y) > xy <- t(xy) > dim(xy) <- length(x) * 2 > return(xy) > } > So far, so good (?). But I also need splicing for factors and I tried > this: > > splice <- function(x, y) { > xy <- cbind(x, y) > xy <- t(xy) > dim(xy) <- length(x) * 2 > if (is.factor(x) && is.factor(y)) { > xy <- as.factor(xy) > levels(xy) <- levels(x) > } > return(xy) > } > This, however, doesn't work because the level name to integer mapping > gets mixed up when copying the levels from x to xy. > Thanks!! > TitusHow about something like;: splice.factor <- function(x, y){ if (!(is.factor(x) & is.factor(y))) stop("Both x and y must be factors") if (length(x) != length(y)) stop("Both x and y must have same length") lx <- levels(x) ly <- levels(y) lxy <- union(lx, ly) xy <- cbind(levels(x)[x], levels(y)[y]) xy <- t(xy) dim(xy) <- NULL xy <- factor(xy, levels = lxy) xy }> splice.factor(factor(1:3), factor(4:6))[1] 1 4 2 5 3 6 Levels: 1 2 3 4 5 6 -- Ken Knoblauch Inserm U846 Stem-cell and Brain Research Institute Department of Integrative Neurosciences 18 avenue du Doyen L?pine 69500 Bron France tel: +33 (0)4 72 91 34 77 fax: +33 (0)4 72 91 34 61 portable: +33 (0)6 84 10 64 10 http://www.sbri.fr/members/kenneth-knoblauch.html
Various people have provided technical solutions to your problem. May I suggest, though, that 'splice' isn't quite the right word for this operation? Splicing two pieces of rope / movie film / audio tape / wires / etc. means connecting them at their ends, either at an extremity or in the middle, e.g. X: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Y: yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Extremity splice: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxyyyyyyyyyyyy or yyyyyyyyyyyyyyxxxxxxxxxx Middle splice: xxxxxxxyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyxxxxxxxxx or yyyyyyyxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxyyyyyyyy The splice itself is the point of connection (xy or yx) between two things. In normal English, splicing never refers to interspersing alternate members of X and Y. This may seem like a minor point, but I think it is worthwhile using descriptive names for functions. -s On Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 5:12 AM, Titus von der Malsburg <malsburg@gmail.com>wrote:> An operation that I often need is splicing two vectors: > > > splice(1:3, 4:6) > [1] 1 4 2 5 3 6 >[[alternative HTML version deleted]]