R: Assign dataframe columns to variable within function

Question

I would like to be able temporarily assign the columns of a data.frame to variable names within a function.

mydata <- data.frame(a1="hello",a2=2,a3=3) 

f <- function(mydata) {
   for (i in names(mydata)) assign(i, tempdata[i])
   print(a1)
   print(a2+a3)
}

[1] "hello"
[2] 5

Thanks, I know this is another weird question but it would be helpful.

Perhaps if you explained what you were trying to achieve, it might be easier to help you with a solution. — A5C1D2H2I1M1N2O1R2T1
– A5C1D2H2I1M1N2O1R2T1, Commented Apr 12, 2014 at 10:02
I am working on remapping common data tasks into a more user friendly language. — Francis Smart
– Francis Smart, Commented Apr 12, 2014 at 10:05

A5C1D2H2I1M1N2O1R2T1 · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-12 10:27:17Z

1

I hesitate to post this, but your comment wasn't particularly helpful in explaining what you are trying to achieve, and this seems to match the functionality of your f function in your question.

The with function will let you refer to column names as if they were variables:

with(mydata, {
  print(a1)
  print(a2 + a3)
})
# [1] hello
# Levels: hello
# [1] 5

answered Apr 12, 2014 at 10:27

A5C1D2H2I1M1N2O1R2T1

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