R help - Feb 2010 - Loading data from folder

Hi,

I am trying to load csv type data from a folder. However, rather than  
syntax that simply loads one file at a time I was wondering if there  
is a method that loads all data from a specific folder.

For instance, I have the following data files in a folder nebraskaStats:

10-1-2009_10-7-2009.txt
10-2-2009_10-8-2009.txt
10-3-2009_10-9-2009.txt
....etc. (245 total files in folder)

Each file has the following format:

Data1-5,Data 2-6,Data 3-7,...
1,2,3,...

Although the comma separated format is consistent file to file, the  
name of the columns differ in many of the files.


What I want to do is simply load all that data by pointing to the  
folder rather than specific file names.

I know this syntax:   state.frame<-read.table("/nebraskaStats/",  
header=T, sep=",") does not seem to read data from a folder but rather
it is intended to load specific files. I could write a loop that  
iterates the number of the files (e.g., N-S-2009_N-T-2009, whereby  
N,S, and T are iterated in the loop); however, this also seems  
cumbersome. Anyway, is there a simple method that just loads all the  
data in a folder rather than have to call out each specific file?

Thanks in advance. This has been a great board and I appreciate all  
the past help.

Mark



	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]

Something like the following might work.  YOu can use 'choose.dir()'
to get the directory:

files <- list.files(path=yourDir)
result <- do.call(rbind, lapply(files, read.csv))

On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 9:10 PM, Mark Altaweel <maltaweel at anl.gov>
wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am trying to load csv type data from a folder. However, rather than
> syntax that simply loads one file at a time I was wondering if there
> is a method that loads all data from a specific folder.
>
> For instance, I have the following data files in a folder nebraskaStats:
>
> 10-1-2009_10-7-2009.txt
> 10-2-2009_10-8-2009.txt
> 10-3-2009_10-9-2009.txt
> ....etc. (245 total files in folder)
>
> Each file has the following format:
>
> Data1-5,Data 2-6,Data 3-7,...
> 1,2,3,...
>
> Although the comma separated format is consistent file to file, the
> name of the columns differ in many of the files.
>
>
> What I want to do is simply load all that data by pointing to the
> folder rather than specific file names.
>
> I know this syntax: ?
state.frame<-read.table("/nebraskaStats/",
> header=T, sep=",") does not seem to read data from a folder but
rather
> it is intended to load specific files. I could write a loop that
> iterates the number of the files (e.g., N-S-2009_N-T-2009, whereby
> N,S, and T are iterated in the loop); however, this also seems
> cumbersome. Anyway, is there a simple method that just loads all the
> data in a folder rather than have to call out each specific file?
>
> Thanks in advance. This has been a great board and I appreciate all
> the past help.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
> ? ? ? ?[[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>
> ______________________________________________
> 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.
>


-- 
Jim Holtman
Cincinnati, OH
+1 513 646 9390

What is the problem that you are trying to solve?

Hi Mark,

You can use:
all_files <- dir(pattern="Data")
One_file <- all_files[1]

Is this what you want?

Cheers,

Augusto

--------------------------------------------
Augusto Sanabria. MSc, PhD.
Mathematical Modeller
Risk & Impact Analysis Group
Geospatial & Earth Monitoring Division
Geoscience Australia (www.ga.gov.au)
Cnr. Jerrabomberra Av. & Hindmarsh Dr.
Symonston ACT 2601
Ph. (02) 6249-9155






-----Original Message-----
From: r-help-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-project.org]
On Behalf Of Mark Altaweel
Sent: Monday, 1 February 2010 1:11
To: r-help at r-project.org
Subject: [R] Loading data from folder


Hi,

I am trying to load csv type data from a folder. However, rather than syntax
that simply loads one file at a time I was wondering if there is a method that
loads all data from a specific folder.

For instance, I have the following data files in a folder nebraskaStats:

10-1-2009_10-7-2009.txt
10-2-2009_10-8-2009.txt
10-3-2009_10-9-2009.txt
....etc. (245 total files in folder)

Each file has the following format:

Data1-5,Data 2-6,Data 3-7,...
1,2,3,...

Although the comma separated format is consistent file to file, the name of the
columns differ in many of the files.


What I want to do is simply load all that data by pointing to the folder rather
than specific file names.

I know this syntax:   state.frame<-read.table("/nebraskaStats/",
header=T, sep=",") does not seem to read data from a folder but rather
it is intended to load specific files. I could write a loop that iterates the
number of the files (e.g., N-S-2009_N-T-2009, whereby N,S, and T are iterated in
the loop); however, this also seems cumbersome. Anyway, is there a simple method
that just loads all the data in a folder rather than have to call out each
specific file?

Thanks in advance. This has been a great board and I appreciate all the past
help.

Mark



        [[alternative HTML version deleted]]

______________________________________________
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.