R Error: Unexpected SPECIAL in X (2 Examples)

In this R tutorial you’ll learn how to deal with the error message “unexpected SPECIAL in X”.

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Example 1: Reproduce the Error – unexpected SPECIAL in X

This Example shows how to replicate the error message “unexpected SPECIAL in X” in R.

Let’s assume that we want to apply the %in% operator. If we just execute this operator without any other R code, the error “unexpected SPECIAL in “%in%”” occurs:

%in%        # Reproducing the error
# Error: unexpected SPECIAL in "%in%"

Operators such as %in% always need to be used in combination with other R codes.

Example 2: Fix the Error – unexpected SPECIAL in X

The R code below illustrates how to fix the error “unexpected SPECIAL in X”. For this, we have to add values in front and behind the %in% operator:

3 %in% 1:5
# TRUE

The RStudio console returns the logical value TRUE – looks good!

Video, Further Resources & Summary

In case you need further info on the contents of this post, you may want to have a look at the following video of my YouTube channel. I show the R programming codes of this tutorial in the video:

The YouTube video will be added soon.

Furthermore, you could read the related articles of my website.

• Handling Errors & Warnings in R (List with Examples)
• R Programming Overview

You learned in this article how to handle the error “unexpected SPECIAL in X” in the R programming language. In case you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments section below. Furthermore, don’t forget to subscribe to my email newsletter in order to get updates on new posts.