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

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

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