David, I think you are looking for
deparse(substitute(var)) See ?deparse Notice in ?data.frame this bit: ...: these arguments are of either the form 'value' or 'tag = value'. Component names are created based on the tag (if present) or THE DEPARSED ARGUMENT ITSELF. [emphasis added] Chuck On Fri, 17 Aug 2007, david dav wrote: > Dear R list, > After a huge delay, I come back to this question. Using names of > variables inside a function is a problem I run into quite often. > Maybe this little example should help to get my point: > Suppose I want to make a function "llabel" to get the labels of the > variables from a data frame. > If no label is defined, "llabel" should return the name of the variable. > > library(Hmisc) > v1 <- c(1,2) > v2 <- c(1,2) > v3 <- c(1,3) > tablo <- data.frame(v1,v2,v3) > rm(v1,v2,v3) > > label(tablo$v1) <- "var1" > attach(tablo) > > # This does the trick on one variable. > if (label(v1) !="") label(v1) else names(data.frame(v1)) > if (label(v2) !="") label(v2) else names(data.frame(v2)) > > But if I call this statement in a "llabel" function, > > llabel <- function(var) { > if (label(var) !="" ) > res <- label(var) > else res <- names(data.frame(var)) > return (res) } > > I just get "var"s instead of the names when no label is defined : > > llabel(v1) # works > llabel(v2) # gives "var" instead of "v2" > > Thanks for your help. > > David > > > 2007/6/7, Uwe Ligges <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: >> Not sure what you are going to get. Can you shorten your functions and >> specify some example data? Then please tell us what your expected result is. >> >> Best, >> Uwe Ligges >> >> >> >> >> david dav wrote: >>> Dear all, >>> >>> I 'd like to keep the names of variables when calling them in a function. >>> An example might help to understand my problem : >>> >>> The following function puts in a new data frame counts and percent of >>> a data.frame called as "tablo" >>> the step " nom.chiffr[1] <- names(vari) " is useless as names from the >>> original data.frame aren't kept in the function environement. >>> >>> Hoping I use appropriate R-vocabulary, I thank you for your help >>> >>> David >>> >>> descriptif <- function (tablo) { >>> descriptifvar <- function (vari) { >>> table(vari) >>> length(vari[!is.na(vari)]) >>> chiffr <- >>> cbind(table(vari),100*table(vari)/(length(vari[!is.na(vari)]))) >>> nom.chiffr <- rep(NA, dim(table(vari))) >>> if (is.null(names(vari))) nom.chiffr[1] <- paste(i,"") else >>> nom.chiffr[1] <- names(vari) >>> chiffr <- data.frame ( names(table(vari)),chiffr) >>> rownames(chiffr) <- NULL >>> chiffr <- data.frame (nom.chiffr, chiffr) >>> return(chiffr) >>> } >>> >>> res <- rep(NA, 4) >>> for (i in 1 : ncol(tablo)) >>> res <- rbind(res,descriptifvar(tablo[,i])) >>> colnames(res) <- c("variable", "niveau", "effectif", "pourcentage") >>> return(res[-1,]) >>> } >>> # NB I used this function on a data.frame with only factors in >>> >>> ______________________________________________ >>> R-help@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list >>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help >>> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html >>> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. >> > > ______________________________________________ > R-help@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. > Charles C. Berry (858) 534-2098 Dept of Family/Preventive Medicine E mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] UC San Diego http://famprevmed.ucsd.edu/faculty/cberry/ La Jolla, San Diego 92093-0901 ______________________________________________ R-help@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.