Thanks Jim for this reply. This is the way what I was looking for. However
would you please explain me the meaning of ^[[:space:]]*" or '[[:space:]]+$'?
When should I use "^" or "*" or "+$"?
Thanks for your time.
--- On Sat, 6/12/10, jim holtman <jholt...@gmail.com> wrote:
From: jim holtman <jholt...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [R] Handling character string
To: "Megh Dal" <megh700...@yahoo.com>
Cc: "Erik Iverson" <er...@ccbr.umn.edu>, r-h...@stat.math.ethz.ch
Date: Saturday, June 12, 2010, 10:18 PM
This is probably what you want:
> sub("^[[:space:]]*", "", " Now is the time")
[1] "Now is the time"
>
You need to anchor it at the beginning with '^'
On Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 10:29 AM, Megh Dal <megh700...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks Erik for you reply. You have pointed correctly I want to remove the
> "space" at the 1st place (if any). In the mean time I have looked into the
> function sub() and there seems to be one example that mimics my problem :
>> str <- ' Now is the time '> sub('[[:space:]]+$', '', str)[1] " Now
>> is the time"
>
> However it removes the space if it is at the last position. I have tried with
> different combinations like "sub('[[:space:]]-$', '', str)",
> "sub('$+[[:space:]]+$', '', str)" etc, none is working if space is at the 1st
> position.
> What would be the correct approach?
> Thanks,
> --- On Sat, 6/12/10, Erik Iverson <er...@ccbr.umn.edu> wrote:
>
> From: Erik Iverson <er...@ccbr.umn.edu>
> Subject: Re: [R] Handling character string
> To: "Megh Dal" <megh700...@yahoo.com>
> Cc: r-h...@stat.math.ethz.ch
> Date: Saturday, June 12, 2010, 2:36 AM
>
>
>
> Megh Dal wrote:
>> Dear all, Is there any R function to say these 2 character strings
>> "temp" and " temp" are actually same? If I type following code R
>> says there are indeed different :
>>> "temp" == " temp"[1] FALSE
>
> You don't say how you're defining "same", but it definitely requires more
> explanation, since they are not the same. Why should those two strings be
> the same in your mind? Do you want to remove leading white space, all white
> space, just one space, etc?
>
> You might find the examples in ?sub useful.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>
>
> ______________________________________________
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> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
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>
>
--
Jim Holtman
Cincinnati, OH
+1 513 646 9390
What is the problem that you are trying to solve?
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