You might want to store the data frames in a list to eliminate this problem and make it more convenient to iterate over them:
L <- list(df1 = df1, df2 = df2) rm(df1, df2) # reduce each data frame to its first few rows for(nm in names(L)) L[[nm]] <- head(L[[nm]) or if you don't need to modify them or know their names: # print first few lines of each for(df in L) print(head(df)) On 8/19/07, Darren Weber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have several data frames, eg: > > > df1 <- data.frame(x=seq(0,10), y=seq(10,20)) > > df2 <- data.frame(a=seq(0,10), b=seq(10,20)) > > It is common to create loops in R like this: > > > for(df in list(df1, df2)){ #etc. } > > This works fine when you know the name of the objects to put into the > list. I assume that the order of the objects in the list is respected > through the loop. Inside the loop, the objects of the list are > 'dereferenced' using 'df' but, to my knowledge, there is no way to > tell whether 'df' is a current representation of 'df1' or 'df2' > without some additional book keeping. > > In addition, I really want to use 'paste' within the loop to create a > new string value that will have the symbol name of a data frame to be > "dereferenced," e.g.: > > > for(n in c(1, 2)){ dfString <- paste('df', n, sep=""); > > print(eval(dfString)) } > > [1] "df1" > [1] "df2" > > This is not what I want. I have read through the documentation on > eval and similar commands like substitute and quote. I program > regularly, but I do not understand these constructs in R. I do not > understand the R framework for parsing and evaluation and I don't have > a lot of time right now to get lost in this detail. I could really > use some help to get the string values in my loop to be parsed into > symbols that refer to the data frame objects df1 and df2. How is this > done? > > Best, Darren > > ______________________________________________ > 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.