Try using scan(quote='"', ...), as in the following > str <- 'rainfall snowfall "Channel storage" "Rivulet storage"' > scan(text=str, what="", quote='"', quiet=TRUE) [1] "rainfall" "snowfall" "Channel storage" "Rivulet storage"
Bill Dunlap Spotfire, TIBCO Software wdunlap tibco.com > -----Original Message----- > From: r-help-boun...@r-project.org [mailto:r-help-boun...@r-project.org] On > Behalf > Of downtowater > Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 6:44 AM > To: r-help@r-project.org > Subject: [R] splitting a string by space except when contained within quotes > > I've been trying to split a space delimited string with double-quotes in R > for some time but without success. An example of a string is as follows: > > /rainfall snowfall "Channel storage" "Rivulet storage"/ > > It's important for us because these are column headings that must match the > subsequent data. > > Here is some code I've been trying: > > str <- 'rainfall snowfall "Channel storage" "Rivulet storage"' > regex <- "[^\\s\"']+|\"([^\"]*)\"" > split <- strsplit(str, regex, perl=T) > what I would like is > > [1] "rainfall" "snowfall" "Channel storage" "Rivulet storage" > > but what I get is: > > [1] "" " " " " " " > > The vector is the right length (which is encouraging) but of course the > strings are empty or contain a single space. Any suggestions? > > Thanks in advance! > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://r.789695.n4.nabble.com/splitting-a-string-by- > space-except-when-contained-within-quotes-tp4651286.html > Sent from the R help mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > > ______________________________________________ > 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. ______________________________________________ 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.
