I think this does what you want using the 'na.locf' function is zoo:

x <- read.csv('/tote.csv', header=FALSE, skip=4)
# fill blanks in name column with NAs
is.na(x$V2) <- x$V2 == ""
# load the 'zoo' library for the function na.locf
require(zoo)
x$V1 <- na.locf(x$V1)  # key
x$V2 <- na.locf(x$V2)  # name
head(x,30)



On 6/30/07, Lhachimi, Stefan <Lhachimi@demogr.mpg.de> wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> I have a problem with importing an excel file into R. I can open the
> file easily (either saving it as a CSV or using RODBC). But the
> original file is using merged cell in its first column, which gives
> the name of the observation. (I am dealing with repeated measurements
> for the same observation)
> So when I open the dataframe in R it looks like this
>
> Col1    Col2 Col3
> name1 val1 val2
>      val3 val4
> ....
> name2  val5  val6
>       val7  val8
>
> Everything is fine, except that the name of the observation is on the
> first line and the following rows are empty. Until a new observation
> starts, where a new name appears in the respective row and the
> following rows are empty and so on.
>
> The number of rows is fixed for each observation. How can I fill the
> column with the proper name (eg take the first string in this column
> until you hit a row with a new string, then take this string and go on
> until the next string).
>
> Or read the excel file in such a way, that when cells are merged that
> when importing it to R all cells created from this merged cell should
> have the same content.
>
> Unfortunately, I cannot change the lay-out of the original excel file
> as it comes from an commercial data-base and I will have to use it
> quite often.
>
> I have the gut feeling that there might be an easy solution out there
> as it does not seem to be an uncommon problem.
>
> So if you have  hint or a solution I greatly appreciated it.
> Thanks and a nice weekend,
>
> Stefan
>
>
> ----------
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>
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>



-- 
Jim Holtman
Cincinnati, OH
+1 513 646 9390

What is the problem you are trying to solve?

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