The assign() function in R can be used to assign values to variables.
This function uses the following basic syntax:
assign(x, value)
where:
- x: A variable name, given as a character string.
- value: The value(s) to be assigned to x.
The following examples show how to use this function in practice.
Example 1: Assign One Value to One Variable
The following code shows how to use the assign() function to assign the value of 5 to a variable called new_variable:
#assign one value to new_variable
assign('new_variable', 5)
#print new_variable
new_variable
[1] 5
When we print the variable called new_variable, we can see that a value of 5 appears.
Example 2: Assign Vector of Values to One Variable
The following code shows how to use the assign() function to assign a vector of values to a variable called new_variable:
#assign vector of values to new_variable
assign('new_variable', c(5, 6, 10, 12))
#print new_variable
new_variable
[1] 5 6 10 12
When we print the variable called new_variable, we can see that a vector of values appears.
Example 3: Assign Values to Several Variables
The following code shows how to use the assign() function within a for loop to assign specific values to several new variables:
#use for loop to assign values to different variables
for(i in 1:4) {
assign(paste0("var_", i), i*2)
}
#view variables created in for loop
var_1
[1] 2
var_2
[1] 4
var_3
[1] 6
var_4
[1] 8
By using the assign() function with a for loop, we were able to create four new variables.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to use other common functions in R:
How to Use the dim() Function in R
How to Use the table() Function in R
How to Use sign() Function in R
