Substituting variables in a loop? - r

Question

I am trying to write a loop in R but I think the nomenclature is not correct as it does not create the new objects, here is a simplified example of what I am trying to do:
for i in (1:8) {
List_i <-List
colsToGrab_i <-grep(predefinedRegex_i, colnames(List_i$table))
List_i$table <- List_i$table[,predefinedRegex_i]
}
I have created 'predefinedRegex'es 1:8 which the grep should use to search
The loop creates an object called "List_i" and then fails to find "predefinedRegex_i".
I have tried putting quotes around the "i" and $ in front of the i , also [i] but these do not work.
Any help much appreciated. Thank you.
#
Using #RyanGrammel's answer below::
#CREATING regular expressions for grabbing sets groups 1 -7 ::::
g_1 <- "DC*"
g_2 <- "BN_._X.*"
g_3 <- "BN_a*"
g_4 <- "BN_b*"
g_5 <- "BN_a_X.*"
g_6 <- "BN_b_X.*"
g_7 <- "BN_._Y.*"
for i in (1:8)
{
assign(x = paste("tableA_", i, sep=""), value = BigList$tableA)
assign(x = paste("Forgrep_", i, sep=""), value = colnames(get(x = paste("tableA_", i, sep=""))))
assign(x = paste("grab_", i, sep=""), value = grep((get(x = paste("g_",i, sep=""))), (get(x = paste("Forgrep_",i, sep="")))))
assign(x = paste("tableA_", i, sep=""), value = BigList$tableA[,get(x = paste("grab_",i, sep=""))])
}
This loop is repeated for each table inside "BigList".
I found I could not extract columnnames from
(get(x = paste("BigList_", i, "$tableA" sep=""))))
or from
(get(x = paste("BigList_", i, "[[2]]" sep=""))))
so it was easier to extract the tables first. I will now write a loop to repack the lists up.

Answer 1

Problem
Your syntax is off: you don't seem to understand how exactly R deals with variable names.
for(i in 1:10) name_i <- 1
The above code doesn't assign name_1, name_2,....,name_10. It assigns "name_i" over and over again
To create a list, you call 'list()', not List
creating a variable List_i in a loop doesn't assign List_1, List_2,...,List_8.
It repeatedly assigns an empty list to the name 'List_i'. Think about it; if R names variables in the way you tried to, it'd be equally likely to name your variables L1st_1, L2st_2...See 'Solution' for some valid R code do something similar
'predefinedRegex_i' isn't interpreted as an attempt to get the variable 'predefinedRegex_1', 'predefinedRegex_2', and so one.
However, get(paste0("predefinedRegex_", i)) is interpreted in this way. Just make sure i actually has a value when using this. See below.
Solution:
In general, use this to dynamically assign variables (List_1, List_2,..)
assign(x = paste0("prefix_", i), value = i)
if i is equal to 199, then this code assigns the variable prefix_199 the value 199.
In general, use this to dynamically get the variables you assigned using the above snippet of code.
get(x = paste0("prefix_", i))
if i is equal to 199, then this code gets the variable prefix_199.
That should solve the crux of your problem; if you need any further help feel free to ask for clarification here, or contact me via my Twitter Feed.