You can use the following functions to sort values alphabetically in R:
#sort values in vector alphabetically sort(x) #sort data frame column alphabetically df[order(df$var1), ] #sort data frame by multiple columns alphabetically df[with(df, order(var1, var2)), ]
The following examples show how to use each of these functions in practice.
Example 1: Sort a Vector Alphabetically
The following code shows how to sort a vector alphabetically in R:
#define vector
x <- c('A', 'F', 'C', 'D', 'B', 'E')
#sort values in vector alphabetically
sort(x)
[1] "A" "B" "C" "D" "E" "F"
Example 2: Sort Data Frame Column Alphabetically
The following code shows how to sort a data frame alphabetically based on a specific column:
#define data frame
df <- data.frame(player=c('A', 'F', 'C', 'D', 'B', 'E'),
points=c(14, 19, 22, 29, 31, 16))
#view data frame
df
player points
1 A 14
2 F 19
3 C 22
4 D 29
5 B 31
6 E 16
#sort data frame alphabetically based on player column
df[order(df$player),]
player points
1 A 14
5 B 31
3 C 22
4 D 29
6 E 16
2 F 19
Example 3: Sort Multiple Columns Alphabetically
The following code shows how to sort a data frame alphabetically based on multiple columns:
#define data frame
df <- data.frame(team=c('A', 'A', 'A', 'B', 'B', 'B'),
player=c('A', 'F', 'C', 'D', 'B', 'E'),
points=c(14, 19, 22, 29, 31, 16))
#view data frame
df
team player points
1 A A 14
2 A F 19
3 A C 22
4 B D 29
5 B B 31
6 B E 16
#sort data frame alphabetically by team, then by player
df[with(df, order(team, player)), ]
team player points
1 A A 14
3 A C 22
2 A F 19
5 B B 31
4 B D 29
6 B E 16
Additional Resources
How to Sort a Data Frame by Column in R
How to Sort a Data Frame by Date in R
How to Drop Columns from Data Frame in R