# create an example data frame
yourdata <-
    data.frame(
        cat1 = c( 1 , 0 , 1 ) ,
        cont1 = c( 0 , 1 , 0 ) ,
        cat2 = c( 0 , 0 , 1 )
    )
# if this doesn't work for you,
# please ?dput some example data in the future :)

# figure out which variables contain the word 'cat'
vars.to.order <- grep( 'cat' , names( yourdata ) )

# convert all of those columns to factor..
yourdata[ , vars.to.order ] <- lapply( yourdata[ , vars.to.order ], factor )
# ..and then to ordered factor
yourdata[ , vars.to.order ] <- lapply( yourdata[ , vars.to.order ], ordered
)

# confirm the results of the new data frame
class( yourdata )  # yourdata is a data frame..

sapply( yourdata , class )  # here's the class of each column

yourdata  # here's the whole data set printed to the screen

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