[R] Boxplot of multiple vectors with different lengths

[William Dunlap]

If you have already made numeric vectors called "a", "b", and "c"
   a <- 1:10
   b <- sqrt(1:200)
   c <- log2(1:500)
and a character vector "z" containing their names
   z <- c("a", "b", "c")
then make a list containing the data with them with
   dataList <- lapply(z, get, envir=environment())
   names(dataList) <- z
and make your boxplots with
   boxplot(dataList)

Then forget about using the variables "a", "b", and "c"
and use dataList[["a"]], dataList[["b"]], etc. instead.
You may want to use a shorter name than dataList. 

Bill Dunlap
Spotfire, TIBCO Software
wdunlap tibco.com 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: r-help-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-project.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Utz
> Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 3:15 PM
> To: r-help at r-project.org
> Subject: Re: [R] Boxplot of multiple vectors with different lengths
> 
> Thanks for the help, everyone. However, no solution yet...
> 
> My vectors names are neatly stored in a character vector of their own. This
> happens based on how they were imported. So, say I have vectors a, b and c,
> all with numeric-only contents. Then I have another vector, say z, that
> looks like this:
> 
> z<-c("a","b","c")
> 
> Is there really no way to tell boxplot to plot the contents of a, b and c
> while only referencing z?! Why is this so difficult?? Again, this is part
> of an automated process, so the number of incoming data sets, etc. will
> vary, which is why I'm seeking a solution this way.
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 4:09 PM, Vining, Kelly <Kelly.Vining at oregonstate.edu
> > wrote:
> 
> > Ryan,
> > Do you necessarily have to use "list"? Have you tried the usecols=TRUE
> > option in boxplot?
> >
> > Cheers,
> > --Kelly V.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: r-help-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-project.org]
> > On Behalf Of Ryan Utz
> > Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 1:24 PM
> > To: r-help at r-project.org
> > Subject: [R] Boxplot of multiple vectors with different lengths
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > I'm attempting to write a code that automatically imports data from
> > different files (with different lengths-just one variable) and makes tidy
> > box plots for comparison. I can successfully import the data and create a
> > list of the vectors I want to compare. But I cannot, for the life of me,
> > figure out how to generate box plots using the "list" option. Suppose these
> > are my data:
> >
> > a<-c(1,1,1,1,2,3,2,1,2,3)
> > b<-c(2,2,2,3,4,4,4,3,3)
> > c<-c(4,3,3,2,3,4,5,3,3,3,4,4,5,6,3,2)
> >
> > And this is my list of the vectors I'm interested in:
> >
> >  z<-list(c("a","b","c"))
> >
> > Well, this successfully generates the kind of boxplot I want:
> >
> > boxplot(a,b,c)
> >
> > But this does not:
> >
> > boxplot(z)
> >
> > Because I'm trying to write an automatic plot-generator as the amount of
> > data I'm working with will typically vary, I need to write this to handle
> > any number of data vectors.
> >
> > I've tried every imaginable means of tweaking the name of "z", with zero
> > success. And I've scoured the help pages for about 45 minutes (just to
> > preempt any "read the help" responses). Please help!
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Ryan
> >
> > --
> >
> > Ryan Utz, Ph.D.
> > Aquatic Ecologist/STREON Scientist
> > National Ecological Observatory Network
> >
> > Home/Cell: (724) 272-7769
> > Work: (720) 836-2488
> >
> >         [[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.
> >
> 
> 
> 
> --
> 
> Ryan Utz, Ph.D.
> Aquatic Ecologist/STREON Scientist
> National Ecological Observatory Network
> 
> Home/Cell: (724) 272-7769
> Work: (720) 836-2488
> 
> 	[[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.