[R] Looking for simple line-splitting code

[Duncan Murdoch]

On 2025-02-05 5:20 p.m., Rolf Turner wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 5 Feb 2025 08:44:12 -0500
> Duncan Murdoch <murdoch.duncan using gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> If I have this object:
>>
>>     x <- c("abc\ndef", "", "ghi")
>>
>> and I write it to a file using `writeLines(x, "test.txt")`, my text
>> editor sees a 5 line file:
>>
>>     1: abc
>>     2: def
>>     3:
>>     4: ghi
>>     5:
>>
>> which is what I'd expect:  the last line in the editor is empty.If I
>> use `readLines("test.txt")` on that file, I get the vector
>>
>>     c("abc", "def", "", "ghi")
> 
> 
> <SNIP>
> 
> Apologies for muddying the waters with my ignorance, but why would you
> expect a 5 line file?   I would expect a 4 line file, and that is
> indeed what I get when I try the code in question.
> 
> If I append an empty line at the end of my test.txt and then
> apply readLines() to that file, I get [1] "abc" "def" ""    "ghi" "",
> again as *I* would expect.
> 
> What am I missing?  Sorry for being a thicko.
> 

That fifth line is more a function of the editor (RStudio) than the 
file.  The last line ends with a newline.  The editor shows this by 
including a blank 5th line.  If the last line just stopped at the last 
letter, the editor would display it as a 4 line file.

Duncan Murdoch