[R] how to concatenate factor vectors?

[Bert Gunter]

No. You need to test more carefully.

> a <- factor(c(1,3,5))
> b <- factor(c(5,7))
> c(a,b)
[1] 1 2 3 1 2
> lev <- sort(unique(f <- c(a,b)))
> f <- factor(f,levels=lev)
> f
[1] 1 2 3 1 2
Levels: 1 2 3

## but

> unlist(list(a,b),use.names=FALSE)
[1] 1 3 5 5 7
Levels: 1 3 5 7

However, Is level "5" in 'a' the same as level "5" in 'b' ? The OP
fails to specify, and there's no reason to assume so.  So I would say
clarification is required before any answer can be given.

-- Bert

On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 10:43 PM, Jorge I Velez
<jorgeivanvelez at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Sam,
>
> Perhaps the following?
>
>> a <- factor(5:1,levels=1:9)
>> b <- factor(9:1,levels=1:9)
>> lev <- sort(unique(f <- c(a, b)))
>> f <- factor(f, levels = lev)
>> str(f)
>  Factor w/ 9 levels "1","2","3","4",..: 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 5 ...
>
> HTH,
> Jorge.-
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 18, 2012 at 3:44 PM, Sam Steingold <> wrote:
>
>> How do I concatenate two vectors of factors?
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
>> > a <- factor(5:1,levels=1:9)
>> > b <- factor(9:1,levels=1:9)
>> > str(c(a,b))
>>  int [1:14] 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 5 ...
>> > str(unlist(list(a,b),use.names=FALSE))
>>  Factor w/ 9 levels "1","2","3","4",..: 5 4 3 2 1 9 8 7 6 5 ...
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
>> so, unlist(list()) works.
>> is there a better way or is this how this is supposed to be done?
>> Thanks!
>> --
>> Sam Steingold (http://sds.podval.org/) on Ubuntu 12.04 (precise) X
>> 11.0.11103000
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>>
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>>
>
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>
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-- 

Bert Gunter
Genentech Nonclinical Biostatistics

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