[R] Importing binary data

[Uli Tuerk]

Hi everybody!

I've a large dataset, about 2 Mio entries of the format which I would like 
to import into a frame:
<integer><integer><float><string><float><string><string>

Because to the huge data amount I've choosen a binary format instead 
of a text format when exporting from Matlab.
My import function is attached below. It works fine for only some entries 
but is deadly slow when trying to read the complete set. 

Does anybody has some pointers for me for improving the import or handling 
such large data sets? 

Thanks in advance!

Uli



read.DET.data <- function ( f ) {
	counter <- 1
	spk.v <- c()
	imp.v <- c()
	score.v <- c()
	th.v <- c()
	ses.v <- c()
	rec.v <- c()
	type.v <- c()
	fid <- file( f ,"rb")
	tempi <- readBin(fid , integer(), size=1, signed=FALSE)
	while ( length(tempi) != 0) {
		spk.v[ counter ] <- tempi
		imp.v[ counter ] <- readBin(fid, integer(), size=1, signed=FALSE)
		score.v[ counter  ] <- readBin(fid, numeric(), size=4)
		type.v[ counter ] <- readBin(fid, character())
		th.v[ counter ] <- readBin(fid, numeric(), size=4)
		ses.v[ counter ] <- readBin(fid, character())
		rec.v[ counter ] <- readBin(fid, character())
		counter <- counter + 1
		tempi <- readBin(fid, integer(), size=1, signed=FALSE)
	}
	close( fid )
	spkf <- factor ( spk.v )
	impf <- factor ( imp.v )
	
	det.f <- data.frame( spk=spkf, imp=impf, score=score.v, th=th.v, ses=ses.v, rec=rec.v, type=type.v)

	det.f
}