How to Combine Multiple Variables in R – Merge & Concatenate (Example Code)
In this article you’ll learn how to concatenate two or more columns in the R programming language.
Constructing Exemplifying Data
data(iris) # Load data head(iris) # Inspect data # Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width Species # 1 5.1 3.5 1.4 0.2 setosa # 2 4.9 3.0 1.4 0.2 setosa # 3 4.7 3.2 1.3 0.2 setosa # 4 4.6 3.1 1.5 0.2 setosa # 5 5.0 3.6 1.4 0.2 setosa # 6 5.4 3.9 1.7 0.4 setosa |
data(iris) # Load data head(iris) # Inspect data # Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width Species # 1 5.1 3.5 1.4 0.2 setosa # 2 4.9 3.0 1.4 0.2 setosa # 3 4.7 3.2 1.3 0.2 setosa # 4 4.6 3.1 1.5 0.2 setosa # 5 5.0 3.6 1.4 0.2 setosa # 6 5.4 3.9 1.7 0.4 setosa
Example: Combine Multiple Columns in One New Variable
iris$new <- do.call(paste, # Applying do.call & paste functions c(iris[c("Sepal.Length", "Species", "Sepal.Width")], sep = "-")) head(iris) # Inspect data again # Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width Species new # 1 5.1 3.5 1.4 0.2 setosa 5.1-setosa-3.5 # 2 4.9 3.0 1.4 0.2 setosa 4.9-setosa-3 # 3 4.7 3.2 1.3 0.2 setosa 4.7-setosa-3.2 # 4 4.6 3.1 1.5 0.2 setosa 4.6-setosa-3.1 # 5 5.0 3.6 1.4 0.2 setosa 5-setosa-3.6 # 6 5.4 3.9 1.7 0.4 setosa 5.4-setosa-3.9 |
iris$new <- do.call(paste, # Applying do.call & paste functions c(iris[c("Sepal.Length", "Species", "Sepal.Width")], sep = "-")) head(iris) # Inspect data again # Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width Species new # 1 5.1 3.5 1.4 0.2 setosa 5.1-setosa-3.5 # 2 4.9 3.0 1.4 0.2 setosa 4.9-setosa-3 # 3 4.7 3.2 1.3 0.2 setosa 4.7-setosa-3.2 # 4 4.6 3.1 1.5 0.2 setosa 4.6-setosa-3.1 # 5 5.0 3.6 1.4 0.2 setosa 5-setosa-3.6 # 6 5.4 3.9 1.7 0.4 setosa 5.4-setosa-3.9