[Rd] read.table reads "i" as NA_complex_

[William Dunlap]

I just noticed that read.table() and type.convert() interpret the string "i"
as a missing value of type complex.
   > str(read.table(text=c("i\ni\ni\ni\n")))
   'data.frame':   4 obs. of  1 variable:
    $ V1: cplx  NA NA NA ...
   > str(type.convert("i"))
    cplx NA

If there are other strings in the column it makes the column character so
most people will not notice
   > str(read.table(text=c("i\nii\niii\niv\n")))
   'data.frame':   4 obs. of  1 variable:
    $ V1: Factor w/ 4 levels "i","ii","iii",..: 1 2 3 4

Is this intended?  It surprised me.

Bill Dunlap
TIBCO Software
wdunlap tibco.com

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