[R] renaming column names

[Robert W. Baer, Ph.D.]

First, data is an R function so it is better to avoid it as a name for 
another object.  For example, use dat instead.

Try this:
data(iris)
dat=iris
colnames(iris)
[1] "Sepal.Length" "Sepal.Width"  "Petal.Length" "Petal.Width"  "Species"
 colnames(dat)
[1] "Sepal.Length" "Sepal.Width"  "Petal.Length" "Petal.Width"  "Species"
colnames(dat)=c('a','b','c','d','e')
colnames(dat)
[1] "a" "b" "c" "d" "e"


>I am trying to rename the column names of a data frame called "data". It 
>has
> 177 columns. I have used :
>
> colnames(data) <- a
>
>
>
> where a is a vector with 177 character names.
>
>
>
> I don't get any error message, but the column names don't change because
> when I then type :
>
> colnames(data)
>
>
>
> I get the same set of names as before, so the assignment doesnt seem to 
> have
> worked.
>
>
>
> Any ideas or suggestions gratefully received.
>
>
>
> Benny Chain
>
> Benjamin Chain
>
> Division of Infection and Immunity
>
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>
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>
>
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