try this: > x <- read.table(textConnection(" a b c d e f g h + 1 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 + 2 2 7 12 17 22 27 32 37 + 3 3 8 13 18 23 28 33 38 + 4 4 9 14 19 24 29 34 39 + 5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40"), header=TRUE) > # initial columns > init.cols <- c('b', 'd', 'h') > # now get the remaining > remaining <- setdiff(colnames(x), init.cols) > x[,c(init.cols, remaining)] b d h a c e f g 1 6 16 36 1 11 21 26 31 2 7 17 37 2 12 22 27 32 3 8 18 38 3 13 23 28 33 4 9 19 39 4 14 24 29 34 5 10 20 40 5 15 25 30 35 >
On Feb 12, 2008 12:19 PM, Thompson, David (MNR) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello, > > I would like to reorder columns in a data frame by their names as > demonstrated below: > > Take this data frame: > > xxx <- data.frame(matrix(1:40, ncol=8)) > > names(xxx) <- letters[1:8] > > xxx > a b c d e f g h > 1 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 > 2 2 7 12 17 22 27 32 37 > 3 3 8 13 18 23 28 33 38 > 4 4 9 14 19 24 29 34 39 > 5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 > > and reorder the columns like this: > > xxx[,c( c('b', 'd', 'h'), c('a', 'c', 'e', 'f', 'g') )] > b d h a c e f g > 1 6 16 36 1 11 21 26 31 > 2 7 17 37 2 12 22 27 32 > 3 8 18 38 3 13 23 28 33 > 4 9 19 39 4 14 24 29 34 > 5 10 20 40 5 15 25 30 35 > > where I only have to name the columns that I'm interested in moving to > the first few positions, something like: > > xxx[,c( c('b', 'd', 'h'), -c('b', 'd', 'h') )] > Error in -c("b", "d", "h") : invalid argument to unary operator > > Suggestions? and Thank you, DaveT. > ************************************* > Silviculture Data Analyst > Ontario Forest Research Institute > Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://ofri.mnr.gov.on.ca > > ______________________________________________ > R-help@r-project.org 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. > -- Jim Holtman Cincinnati, OH +1 513 646 9390 What is the problem you are trying to solve? ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org 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.