str_replace & str_replace_all Functions in R (2 Examples)

In this post you’ll learn how to replace matched patterns in character strings with the str_replace and str_replace_all functions in the R programming language.

The article contains this content:

• Creation of Example Data
• Example 1: Application of str_replace Function in R
• Example 2: Application of str_replace_all Function in R
• Video, Further Resources & Summary

Let’s dig in!

Creation of Example Data

Let’s create a character string that we can use in the examples of this R tutorial.

x <- c("a very nice character string")    # Create character string

As next step, we need to install and load the stringr add-on package.

install.packages("stringr")               # Install stringr package
library("stringr")                        # Load stringr package

Example 1: Application of str_replace Function in R

After loading the stringr package, we can now apply the str_replace function as follows:

str_replace(x, "c", "xxx")                # Apply str_replace function
# "a very nixxxe character string"

The RStudio console output is showing the result. The first “c” in our character string was replaced by “xxx”.

Example 2: Application of str_replace_all Function in R

If we want to replace all occurrences of a certain pattern, we need to use the str_replace_all function:

str_replace_all(x, "c", "xxx")            # Apply str_replace_all function
# "a very nixxxe xxxharaxxxter string"

As you can see, this time we replaced every “c” with the replacement “xxx”.

Video, Further Resources & Summary

Do you want to know more about character strings in R? Then you could watch the following video instruction of my YouTube channel. In the video tutorial, I show the R syntax of the present tutorial in a live programming session:

The YouTube video will be added soon.

Additionally, you may have a look at the other articles of Statistics Globe. I have published numerous articles already:

• sub & gsub R Functions
• Replace Specific Characters in String
• R Functions List (+ Examples)
• The R Programming Language

In this R programming tutorial you learned how to change matched patterns in strings. Let me know in the comments section below, in case you have additional questions or comments.