Replace special strings from all columns of data.frame in R using dplyR

Question

My data frame looks like this

value <- c(0,0.1,0.2,0.4,0,"0.05,",0.05,0.5,0.20,0.40,0.50,0.60)
time <- c(1,1,"1,",1,2,2,2,2,3,3,3,3)
ID <- c("1,","2,","3,",4,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4)

test <- data.frame(value, time, ID)
test

   value time ID
1      0    1 1,
2    0.1    1 2,
3    0.2   1, 3,
4    0.4    1  4
5      0    2  1
6  0.05,    2  2
7   0.05    2  3
8    0.5    2  4
9    0.2    3  1
10   0.4    3  2
11   0.5    3  3
12   0.6    3  4

I want to replace the "," from all columns with "" but I am still getting an error Error in UseMethod("tbl_vars") : no applicable method for 'tbl_vars' applied to an object of class "character" I would like my data to look like this

  value time ID
1   0.00    1  1
2   0.10    1  2
3   0.20    1  3
4   0.40    1  4
5   0.00    2  1
6   0.05    2  2
7   0.05    2  3
8   0.50    2  4
9   0.20    3  1
10  0.40    3  2
11  0.50    3  3
12  0.60    3  4

EDIT

test %>% 
mutate_all(~gsub(",","",.))

user12728748 · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-31 18:31:19Z

4

The easiest in this case might be to use parse_number from the readr package, e.g. :

apply(test, 2, readr::parse_number)

or in dplyr lingo:

test %>% mutate_all(readr::parse_number)

answered Jan 31, 2021 at 18:31

user12728748

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Comments

Chris Ruehlemann · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-31 18:33:35Z

3

A simple base Rsolution:

test <- sapply(test, function(x) as.numeric(sub(",", "", x)))
test
      value time ID
 [1,]  0.00    1  1
 [2,]  0.10    1  2
 [3,]  0.20    1  3
 [4,]  0.40    1  4
 [5,]  0.00    2  1
 [6,]  0.05    2  2
 [7,]  0.05    2  3
 [8,]  0.50    2  4
 [9,]  0.20    3  1
[10,]  0.40    3  2
[11,]  0.50    3  3
[12,]  0.60    3  4

answered Jan 31, 2021 at 18:33

Chris Ruehlemann

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Comments

r2evans · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-31 18:42:24Z

2

test %>%
  mutate_at(vars(value, time, ID), ~ gsub(".*?(-?[0-9]+\\.?[0-9]*).*", "\\1", .))
#    value time ID
# 1      0    1  1
# 2    0.1    1  2
# 3    0.2    1  3
# 4    0.4    1  4
# 5      0    2  1
# 6   0.05    2  2
# 7   0.05    2  3
# 8    0.5    2  4
# 9    0.2    3  1
# 10   0.4    3  2
# 11   0.5    3  3
# 12   0.6    3  4

The more we get into the "let's try to parse what could be a number", it can get crazy, including scientific notation. For that, readr::parse_number already suggested is likely a better candidate if you can accept one more package dependency.

However ... seeing this suggests that either the method of import has some mistakes in it, or however the data is formed has mistakes in it. While this patch works on those kinds of mistakes, it is far better to fix whichever error is causing this.

edited Jan 31, 2021 at 18:42

answered Jan 31, 2021 at 18:31

r2evans

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3 Comments

LDT Over a year ago

value still has a comma though

LDT Over a year ago

Thank you for your time and your detailed post r2evans, I highly appreciate

r2evans Over a year ago

btw, one premise of my answer was to keep the data as a string, even if it looks like a number. Your expected output does suggest converting to numeric and integer, but you didn't state it. No problem either way, as all offered methods have pros/cons.

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