Correct implementation of lapply - r

In so far as I understand it, when using r it can be more elegant to use functions such as lapply rather than for loops (that are used more often than not in other object oriented languages). However I cannot get my head around the syntax and am making foolish errors when trying to implement simple tasks with the command. For example:
I have a series of dataframes loaded from csv files using a for loop.The following dummy dataframes adequately describe the data:
x <- c(0,10,11,12,13)
y <- c(1,NA,NA,NA,NA)
z <- c(2,20,21,22,23)
a <- c(0,6,5,4,3)
b <- c(1,7,8,9,10)
c <- c(2,NA,NA,NA,NA)
df1 <- data.frame(x,y,z)
df2 <- data.frame(a,b,c)
I first generate a list of dataframe names (data_names- I do this when loading the csv files) and then simply want to sum the columns. My attempt of course does not work:
lapply(data_names, function(df) {
counts <- colSums(!is.na(data_names))
})
I could of course use lists (and I realise in the long run this maybe better) however from a pedagogical point of view I would like to understand lapply better.
Many thanks for any pointers

It's really just your use of is.na and the fact you don't need to use the asignment operator <- inside the function. lapply returns a list which is the result of applying FUN to each element of the input list. You assign the output of lapply to a variable, e.g. res <- lapply( .... , FUN ).
I'm also not too sure how you made the list initially, but the below should suffice. You also don't need an anonymous function in this case, you can use the named colSums and also provide the na.rm = TRUE argument to take care of persky NAs in your data:
lapply( list( df1, df2 ) , colSums , na.rm = TRUE )
[[1]]
x y z
46 1 88
[[2]]
a b c
18 35 2
So you can read this as:
For each df in the list:
apply colSums with the argument na.rm = TRUE
The result is a list, each element of which is the result of applying colSums to each df in the list.

Related

colnames and mutate on multiple dataframes

I have a problem with cleaning up my code. I understand I could type this all out but we don't want that obviously.
I have only dataframes in my global environment. They are all "data.frame".
I want to check the dimensions of all of them and put that in a tibble. I managed that somehow. I also would like to change their colnames() tolower() which works easy if I just type the name of the data.frame, but there's more than 2 and I want it done automatically. Then I also want to mutate all data.frames in the same way.
Small example of my code:
library(tidyverse)
x <- data.frame(letters[1:2]) #To create the data
y <- data.frame(letters[3:4])
dfs <- as.list(ls()) #I take whatever is in my environment
I managed below to get a tibble of the dimensions:
z <- as_tibble(lapply(seq_along(dfs),
function(j) dim(get(dfs[[j]]))), .name_repair = "unique")
colnames(z) <- dfs
Now for the colnames of all the data.frames stored in my list I basically want to perform this code:
colnames(dfs[[1]]) <- tolower(colnames(dfs[[1]])
but that returns NULL as I found out earlier. So I used get() in there to make it work for the dimensions. But if I use get() to assign colnames it says it can't find function "get<-".
Since all colnames for all dataframes are the same (just different nrows()) I could save the lowercase colnames as value and use that, but that doesn't take away that it cant find the get<- function.
names <- tolower(colnames(x))
sapply(seq_along(dfs),
function(j) colnames(get(dfs[[j]])) <- names)
*Error in colnames(get(dfs[[j]])) <- names :
could not find function "get<-"*
as for the mutating part I tried a for loop:
for(i in seq_along(dfs)){
get(dfs[[i]]) <- get(dfs[[i]]) %>% mutate(cd = ab)
}
But it's the same issue.
Could anyone help clearing this problem for me? (and if a cleaner code for the dimensions is available that would be highly appreciated)
I am just trying to up my coding skills. I would have been long done if I just typed it all out but that defeats the purpose.
Thanks!
-JK
Using base R
lapply(dfs, function(x) transform(setNames(x, tolower(names(x))), X = c('a', 'b')))

R: transforming multiple sets to dataframes at once

I have 31 datasets corresponding to data about 31 teachers. I need to perform multiple transformations on all these datasets. One of them is transforming all of them into dataframes
class(alexandre)
[1] "tbl_df" "tbl" "data.frame"
As I said, I have 31 similar datasets, and I need to transform all into dataframes. My code to do so has been
alexandre <- as.data.frame(alexandre)
adrian <- as.data.frame(adrian)
akemi <- as.data.frame(akemi)
arcanjo <- as.data.frame(arcanjo)
ana_barbara <- as.data.frame(ana_barbara)
brigida <- as.data.frame(brigida)
cleiton <- as.data.frame(cleiton)
daniela <- as.data.frame(daniela)
davi <- as.data.frame(davi)
eliezer <- as.data.frame(eliezer)
eduardo <- as.data.frame(eduardo)
eustaquio <- as.data.frame(eustaquio)
gilberto <- as.data.frame(gilberto)
gilmar <- as.data.frame(gilmar)
jorge <- as.data.frame(jorge)
juarez <- as.data.frame(juarez)
junior <- as.data.frame(junior)
... and add some rows to this code (31 lines of this). Obviously all these lines of code take too much space and there must be a faster(and more elegant) way to accomplish this. In fact, I tried this
teachers <- c(alexandre, akemi, adrian, brigida, davi, ...)
cnames <- function(x){
colnames(x) <- c(1:18)
}
mapply(cnames, teachers)
Then I would do all the work with a few lines of code. And this method (form a vector containing all datasets, then use mapply on the vector) would make my work much easier because, as I said, I have to perform multiple transformation on all these datasets.
This code does not work, however. I get the following error:
Error in `colnames<-`(`*tmp*`, value = c(1:18)) :
attempt to set 'colnames' on an object with less than two dimensions
This error message is very unenlightening, I find. I have no idea what to do to to make the code work, which is obviously why I'm here. Any other methods to accomplish what I'm trying to do are welcome. Thanks.
As commented and often discussed in the R tag of SO, simply use a list to maintain all your individual, similarly structured data frames. Doing so allows you the following benefits:
Easily run operations consistently across all items using loops or apply family calls without separate naming assignments.
Organizes your environment and workspace with maintenance of one object with easy reference by number or name instead of 31 objects flooding your global environment.
Facilitates data frame migrations and handling with rbind, cbind, split, by, or other operations.
To create a list of all current data frames in global environment use eapply or mget filtering on data frame objects. Each returns a named list of data frames.
teachers_df_list <- Filter(is.data.frame, eapply(.GlobalEnv, identity))
teachers_df_list <- Filter(is.data.frame, mget(x=ls()))
Alternatively, source your data frames originally from file sources using list objects such as list.files:
teachers_df_list <- lapply(list.files(...), function(f) read.csv(f, ...))
You lose no functionality of data frame if stored inside a list.
head(teachers_df_list$alexandre)
tail(teachers_df_list$adrian)
summary(teachers_df_list$akemi)
...
Then run your needed operations with lapply like renaming columns with right-hand side function, setNames. Run other needed operations: aggregate or lm.
new_teachers_df_list <- lapply(teachers_df_list,
function(df) setNames(df, paste0("col_", c(1:18)))
new_teachers_agg_list <- lapply(teachers_df_list,
function(df) aggregate(col1 ~ col2, df, sum))
new_teachers_model_list <- lapply(teachers_df_list,
function(df) summary(lm(col1 ~ col2, df)))
Even compile all data frames into one master version using do.call + rbind:
# ADD A TEACHER INDICATOR COLUMN
new_teachers_df_list <- Map(function(df, n) transform(df, teacher=n),
new_teachers_df_list, names(new_teachers_df_list))
# BUILD SINGLE DF
teachers_df <- do.call(rbind, new_teachers_df_list)
Even split master version back into individual groupings if needed later on:
# SPLIT BACK TO LIST OF DFs
teachers_df_list <- split(teachers_df, teachers_df$teacher)
Maybe you could use a list to stock all your data.frame. It seems to work, but you need to find a way to extract all data.frame in the list after that.
df_1 <- data.frame(c(0, 1, 0), c(3, 4, 5))
df_2 <- data.frame(c(0, 1, 0), c(3, 4, 5))
l <- list(df_1, df_2)
lapply(l, function(x){
colnames(x) <- 1:2
return(x)
})

lapply set of functions across multiple dataframes

I have a set of functions I need to apply to several dataframes. I want to use the lapply function instead of for() loops.
#sample data frame
id lastpage attribute_2
1 20 232
2 8 232
3 6 129
4 20 1271
5 20 129
6 20 74
The functions work when I apply it to one dataframe at a time. It basically removes duplicates (based on attribute_2) with the lowest values for variable 'lastpage':
df <- df[order(df$attribute_2, -df$lastpage),]
df <- df[!duplicated(df$attribute_2),]
When I try to (l)apply this function to several dataframes, nothing seems to have changed when I call the dataframe. Intuitively I think I am messing up something when calling df, but I am not sure what:
df.list <- list(df0, df1, df2, df3)
myFunc <- function(df) {
df <- df[order(df$attribute_2, -df$lastpage),]
df <- df[!duplicated(df$attribute_2),]
return(df)
}
df.list <- lapply(df.list, FUN = myFunc)
Your help is much appreciated!
I have looked at all similar previous questions on lapply functions, specifically this one: Applying a set of operations across several data frames in r
I am probably making a very obvious mistake, but I just can't find it.
EDIT: thanks everyone for the help
For anyone wondering what code I exactly use now:
df.list <- list(df0, df1, df2, df3)
myFunc <- function(x) {
x <- x[order(x$attribute_2, -x$lastpage),]
x <- x[!duplicated(x$attribute_2),]
}
df.list2 <- lapply(df.list, myFunc)
df2_c<-df.list2[[3]]
Your code probably works as expected but you’re assigning its result to df.list, not to the original data.frames. The list contains copies of these, so they would never get modified. This is intentional, and the desired behaviour in R.
In fact, just keep working with your list of data.frames.
This example does what you intend to do:
set.seed(314)
df <- data.frame(x = sample(1:10, size = 50, replace = TRUE),
y = sample(1:10, size = 50, replace = TRUE))
df.list <- list(df,df,df,df)
lapply(df.list,nrow)
testfunction <- function(data){
data[!duplicated(data$x),]
}
lapply(df.list, testfunction)
I think there is something wrong with your function. I noticed that you reference column email which is not in your dataframe.
It is also advisable to rename the variables that are used inside the function, so you don't reference global variables.
And as Konrad said in the other answer, your original dataframes stayed the same, so call them for example as follows:
df.list2 <- lapply(df.list, testfunction)
df.list2[[1]]

Looping a rep() function in r

df is a frequency table, where the values in a were reported as many times as recorded in column x,y,z. I'm trying to convert the frequency table to the original data, so I use the rep() function.
How do I loop the rep() function to give me the original data for x, y, z without having to repeat the function several times like I did below?
Also, can I input the result into a data frame, bearing in mind that the output will have different column lengths:
a <- (1:10)
x <- (6:15)
y <- (11:20)
z <- (16:25)
df <- data.frame(a,x,y,z)
df
rep(df[,1], df[,2])
rep(df[,1], df[,3])
rep(df[,1], df[,4])
If you don't want to repeat the for loop, you can always try using an apply function. Note that you cannot store it in a data.frame because the objects are of different lengths, but you could store it in a list and access the elements in a similar way to a data.frame. Something like this works:
df2<-sapply(df[,2:4],function(x) rep(df[,1],x))
What this sapply function is saying is for each column in df[,2:4], apply the rep(df[,1],x) function to it where x is one of your columns ( df[,2], df[,3], or df[,4]).
The below code just makes sure the apply function is giving the same result as your original way.
identical(df2$x,rep(df[,1], df[,2]))
[1] TRUE
identical(df2$y,rep(df[,1], df[,3]))
[1] TRUE
identical(df2$z,rep(df[,1], df[,4]))
[1] TRUE
EDIT:
If you want it as a data.frame object you can do this:
res<-as.data.frame(sapply(df2, '[', seq(max(sapply(df2, length)))))
Note this introduces NAs into your data.frame so be careful!

How to apply operation and sum over columns in R?

I want to apply some operations to the values in a number of columns, and then sum the results of each row across columns. I can do this using:
x <- data.frame(sample=1:3, a=4:6, b=7:9)
x$a2 <- x$a^2
x$b2 <- x$b^2
x$result <- x$a2 + x$b2
but this will become arduous with many columns, and I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a simpler way. Note that the dataframe contains other columns that I do not want to include in the calculation (in this example, column sample is not to be included).
Many thanks!
I would simply subset the columns of interest and apply everything directly on the matrix using the rowSums function.
x <- data.frame(sample=1:3, a=4:6, b=7:9)
# put column indices and apply your function
x$result <- rowSums(x[,c(2,3)]^2)
This of course assumes your function is vectorized. If not, you would need to use some apply variation (which you are seeing many of). That said, you can still use rowSums if you find it useful like so. Note, I use sapply which also returns a matrix.
# random custom function
myfun <- function(x){
return(x^2 + 3)
}
rowSums(sapply(x[,c(2,3)], myfun))
I would suggest to convert the data set into the 'long' format, group it by sample, and then calculate the result. Here is the solution using data.table:
library(data.table)
melt(setDT(x),id.vars = 'sample')[,sum(value^2),by=sample]
# sample V1
#1: 1 65
#2: 2 89
#3: 3 117
You can easily replace value^2 by any function you want.
You can use apply function. And get those columns that you need with c(i1,i2,..,etc).
apply(( x[ , c(2, 3) ])^2, 1 ,sum )
If you want to apply a function named somefunction to some of the columns, whose indices or colnames are in the vector col_indices, and then sum the results, you can do :
# if somefunction can be vectorized :
x$results<-apply(x[,col_indices],1,function(x) sum(somefunction(x)))
# if not :
x$results<-apply(x[,col_indices],1,function(x) sum(sapply(x,somefunction)))
I want to come at this one from a "no extensions" R POV.
It's important to remember what kind of data structure you are working with. Data frames are actually lists of vectors--each column is itself a vector. So you can you the handy-dandy lapply function to apply a function to the desired column in the list/data frame.
I'm going to define a function as the square as you have above, but of course this can be any function of any complexity (so long as it takes a vector as an input and returns a vector of the same length. If it doesn't, it won't fit into the original data.frame!
The steps below are extra pedantic to show each little bit, but obviously it can be compressed into one or two steps. Note that I only retain the sum of the squares of each column, given that you might want to save space in memory if you are working with lots and lots of data.
create data; define the function
grab the columns you want as a separate (temporary) data.frame
apply the function to the data.frame/list you just created.
lapply returns a list, so if you intend to retain it seperately make it a temporary data.frame. This is not necessary.
calculate the sums of the rows of the temporary data.frame and append it as a new column in x.
remove the temp data.table.
Code:
x <- data.frame(sample=1:3, a=4:6, b=7:9); square <- function(x) x^2 #step 1
x[2:3] #Step 2
temp <- data.frame(lapply(x[2:3], square)) #step 3 and step 4
x$squareRowSums <- rowSums(temp) #step 5
rm(temp) #step 6
Here is an other apply solution
cols <- c("a", "b")
x <- data.frame(sample=1:3, a=4:6, b=7:9)
x$result <- apply(x[, cols], 1, function(x) sum(x^2))

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