Recode a Variable

Description

Recodes a numeric vector, character vector, or factor according to simple recode specifications.

Usage

recode(var, recodes, as.factor.result)

Arguments

Details

Recode specifications appear in a character string, separated by semicolons (see the examples below), of the form input=output. If an input value satisfies more than one specification, then the first (from left to right) applies. If no specification is satisfied, then the input value is carried over to the result. NA is allowed on input and output. Several recode specifications are supported:

single value

For example, 0=NA.

vector of values

For example, c(7,8,9)='high'.

range of values

For example, 7:9='C'. The special values lo and hi may appear in a range. For example, lo:10=1.

else

everything that does not fit a previous specification. For example, else=NA. Note that else matches all otherwise unspecified values on input, including NA.

If all of the output values are numeric, and if as.factor.result is FALSE, then a numeric result is returned.

Value

a recoded vector of the same length as var; if var is a factor, then so is the result.

Author(s)

John Fox jfox@mcmaster.ca

See Also

cut, factor

Examples

x<-rep(1:3,3)
x
## [1] 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
recode(x, "c(1,2)='A'; else='B'")
## [1] "A" "A" "B" "A" "A" "B" "A" "A" "B"
recode(x, "1:2='A'; 3='B'")
## [1] "A" "A" "B" "A" "A" "B" "A" "A" "B"