[R] Naming an object after another object...can it be done?

[Bert Gunter]

On Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 1:29 PM,  <mtb954 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi everyone, and thanks for your replies.
>
> Let me make this a little simpler. Please forget the plotting, that's not
> the issue.
>
> I have run the following line of code:
>
> x<-dat.col
>
> Now, is there a function (or combination of functions) that will let me
> assign the character string "dat.col" to a new object (called y) without
> actually typing the characters "dat$col", i.e. just by referring to x?

No.  x contains only the values. As I said, don't do this.

-- Bert

>
> Many thanks,
>
> Mark Na
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 3:20 PM, Bert Gunter <gunter.berton at gene.com> wrote:
>>
>> ?
>> But Pat...
>>
>> The canonical way to do this is:
>>
>> myPlotFin(Col2 ~ Col1, data = dat)
>>
>> I have no idea what the OP wants, but my guess is that the right
>> answer is: Don't do that.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Bert
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 12:25 PM, Patrick Burns
>> <pburns at pburns.seanet.com> wrote:
>> > If you want the column names but not
>> > the data frame name, then you could do:
>> >
>> > with(dat, myPlotFun(Col1, Col2))
>> >
>> > Pat
>> >
>> > On 17/01/2013 20:07, Patrick Burns wrote:
>> >>
>> >> You are thinking that 'names' does something different
>> >> than it does.  What you seem to be after is the
>> >> deparse-substitute idiom:
>> >>
>> >> dat <- data.frame(Col1=1:10, Col2=rnorm(10))
>> >> myPlotFun <- function(x, y) {
>> >>     plot(y ~ x, xlab=deparse(substitute(x)),
>> >> ylab=deparse(substitute(y)))
>> >> }
>> >> myPlotFun(dat$Col1, dat$Col2)
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Pat
>> >>
>> >> On 17/01/2013 18:53, mtb954 at gmail.com wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> Hello R-helpers,
>> >>>
>> >>> I have run the following line of code:
>> >>>
>> >>> x<-dat$col
>> >>>
>> >>> and now I would like to assign names(x) to be "dat$col" (e.g., a
>> >>> character
>> >>> string equal to the column name that I assigned to x).
>> >>>
>> >>> What I am trying to do is to assign columns in my dataframe to new
>> >>> objects
>> >>> called x and y. Then I will use x and y within a new function to make
>> >>> plots
>> >>> with informative axis labels (e.g., "dat$col" instead of "x". So, for
>> >>> example, I would like to plot (y~x,xlab=names(x)) and have "dat$col"
>> >>> printed in the x-axis label. I can do this all manually, by typing
>> >>>
>> >>> names(x)<- "dat$col)
>> >>>
>> >>> but I'd like to do it with non-specific code within my function so I
>> >>> don't
>> >>> have to type the variable names manually each time.
>> >>>
>> >>> Many thanks,
>> >>>
>> >>> Mark Na
>> >>>
>> >>>     [[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.
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >
>> > --
>> > Patrick Burns
>> > pburns at pburns.seanet.com
>> > twitter: @portfolioprobe
>> > http://www.portfolioprobe.com/blog
>> > http://www.burns-stat.com
>> > (home of 'Some hints for the R beginner'
>> > and 'The R Inferno')
>> >
>> > ______________________________________________
>> > 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Bert Gunter
>> Genentech Nonclinical Biostatistics
>>
>> Internal Contact Info:
>> Phone: 467-7374
>> Website:
>>
>> http://pharmadevelopment.roche.com/index/pdb/pdb-functional-groups/pdb-biostatistics/pdb-ncb-home.htm
>
>



-- 

Bert Gunter
Genentech Nonclinical Biostatistics

Internal Contact Info:
Phone: 467-7374
Website:
http://pharmadevelopment.roche.com/index/pdb/pdb-functional-groups/pdb-biostatistics/pdb-ncb-home.htm