test<-c("20120111_181515_001_CCL54D_A01_S02_APL932_PL11_DL_20120111.CEL", "20120111_181516_002_CCL54D_A02_S08_APL932_PL11_DL_20120111.CEL")
> test [1] "20120111_181515_001_CCL54D_A01_S02_APL932_PL11_DL_20120111.CEL" [2] "20120111_181516_002_CCL54D_A02_S08_APL932_PL11_DL_20120111.CEL" fields1<-strsplit(test, "_") > fields1 [[1]] [1] "20120111" "181515" "001" "CCL54D" "A01" [6] "S02" "APL932" "PL11" "DL" "20120111.CEL" [[2]] [1] "20120111" "181516" "002" "CCL54D" "A02" [6] "S08" "APL932" "PL11" "DL" "20120111.CEL" > *releaseqc<-sapply(fields1, "[",4)* releaseqc [1] "CCL54D" "CCL54D" _____________ Dear R community, I used the *releaseqc<-sapply(fields1, "[",4)* to get the 4th elements from each sub-list within fields1 list. How do I get the first non-digital or first character element from each list? Thanks! -- Sincerely, Changbin -- [[alternative HTML version deleted]] ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.