R help - Feb 2010 - Loss of precision when importing data into R

Hi Listers,
I can't seem to figure out why I loose precision when I try to import a
comma delimited file using read.csv or read.table.
The fields of interest are rounded to one decimal  place.
           DataTimeStamp TerminalID Hours Minutes Latitude Longitude
Status Temperature Battery BootTimes Current Google
1  2/11/2010 12:22:21 PM    4894551    12       0     45.0     -66.5
0          30    12.5         7     0.0    Map
2  2/11/2010 11:22:21 AM    4894551    11       0     45.0     -66.5
0          30    12.5         6     0.0    Map
3  2/11/2010 10:21:31 AM    4894551    10       0     45.0     -66.5
0          30    12.5         5     0.0    Map

When I construct a tab delimited file and import it without specifying a
delimiter, I can see higher precision only when I don't specify a
separator.
2/11/2010 4:21:51
PM\t4894551\t16\t0\t45.017\t-66.455\t0\t30\t14.4\t3\t0.5\tMap

I can't see any arguments that control the rounding to 1 decimal place.
What am I doing wrong? I have a Dell Precision M6400 running Windows XP
and R version 2.10.1
Regards
Alex

Here is some of the data:
DataTimeStamp,TerminalID,Hours,Minutes,Latitude,Longitude,Status,Tempera
ture,Battery,BootTimes,Current,Google
2/11/2010 12:22:21 PM,4894551,12,0,45.017,-66.45,0,30,12.5,7,0.0,Map
2/11/2010 11:22:21 AM,4894551,11,0,45.017,-66.45,0,30,12.5,6,0.0,Map
2/11/2010 10:21:31 AM,4894551,10,0,45.017,-66.45,0,30,12.5,5,0.0,Map
2/11/2010 9:26:21 AM,4894551,9,0,45.017,-66.452,0,30,12.5,4,0.0,Map
2/11/2010 8:22:21 AM,4894551,8,0,45.017,-66.455,0,30,12.6,3,0.0,Map
2/11/2010 7:21:31 AM,4894551,7,0,45.017,-66.455,0,30,12.6,2,0.0,Map

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Hanke, Alex-2 wrote:
> 
> Hi Listers,
> I can't seem to figure out why I loose precision when I try to import a
> comma delimited file using read.csv or read.table. The fields of interest
> are rounded to one decimal  place.
> 
If the fields of interest are rounded to one decimal place in the file then
that most likely means the loss of precision is occurring in the program you
are using to generate the CSV file-- not in the R importation step.

I seem to remember either Excel or OpenOffice calc having a nasty habit of
exporting to CSV what is *displayed* in the spreadsheet-- not what is
actually entered to each cell.  I.E. the numbers that end up in your file
are subject to the display precision that was set on the cells in your
spreadsheet.

Hope this helps!

-Charlie
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