R How to Order Columns of a Data Frame by Variable Names (Example Code)
In this post you’ll learn how to reorder data frame columns by name in R programming.
Creation of Example Data
data(mtcars) # Load mtcars head(mtcars) # Head of mtcars # mpg cyl disp hp drat wt qsec vs am gear carb # Mazda RX4 21.0 6 160 110 3.90 2.620 16.46 0 1 4 4 # Mazda RX4 Wag 21.0 6 160 110 3.90 2.875 17.02 0 1 4 4 # Datsun 710 22.8 4 108 93 3.85 2.320 18.61 1 1 4 1 # Hornet 4 Drive 21.4 6 258 110 3.08 3.215 19.44 1 0 3 1 # Hornet Sportabout 18.7 8 360 175 3.15 3.440 17.02 0 0 3 2 # Valiant 18.1 6 225 105 2.76 3.460 20.22 1 0 3 1 |
data(mtcars) # Load mtcars head(mtcars) # Head of mtcars # mpg cyl disp hp drat wt qsec vs am gear carb # Mazda RX4 21.0 6 160 110 3.90 2.620 16.46 0 1 4 4 # Mazda RX4 Wag 21.0 6 160 110 3.90 2.875 17.02 0 1 4 4 # Datsun 710 22.8 4 108 93 3.85 2.320 18.61 1 1 4 1 # Hornet 4 Drive 21.4 6 258 110 3.08 3.215 19.44 1 0 3 1 # Hornet Sportabout 18.7 8 360 175 3.15 3.440 17.02 0 0 3 2 # Valiant 18.1 6 225 105 2.76 3.460 20.22 1 0 3 1
Example: Sorting Data Frame Variables by Columns
mtcars_sort <- mtcars[ , order(names(mtcars))] # Ordering mtcars head(mtcars_sort) # Print new mtcars # am carb cyl disp drat gear hp mpg qsec vs wt # Mazda RX4 1 4 6 160 3.90 4 110 21.0 16.46 0 2.620 # Mazda RX4 Wag 1 4 6 160 3.90 4 110 21.0 17.02 0 2.875 # Datsun 710 1 1 4 108 3.85 4 93 22.8 18.61 1 2.320 # Hornet 4 Drive 0 1 6 258 3.08 3 110 21.4 19.44 1 3.215 # Hornet Sportabout 0 2 8 360 3.15 3 175 18.7 17.02 0 3.440 # Valiant 0 1 6 225 2.76 3 105 18.1 20.22 1 3.460 |
mtcars_sort <- mtcars[ , order(names(mtcars))] # Ordering mtcars head(mtcars_sort) # Print new mtcars # am carb cyl disp drat gear hp mpg qsec vs wt # Mazda RX4 1 4 6 160 3.90 4 110 21.0 16.46 0 2.620 # Mazda RX4 Wag 1 4 6 160 3.90 4 110 21.0 17.02 0 2.875 # Datsun 710 1 1 4 108 3.85 4 93 22.8 18.61 1 2.320 # Hornet 4 Drive 0 1 6 258 3.08 3 110 21.4 19.44 1 3.215 # Hornet Sportabout 0 2 8 360 3.15 3 175 18.7 17.02 0 3.440 # Valiant 0 1 6 225 2.76 3 105 18.1 20.22 1 3.460