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.
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