Hi, "when the value of Debut of lines i = value Fin of lines i-1" That part is not clear esp. when it is looked upon with the expected output (df2). Also, in your example dataset:
df1$contrat[grep("^CDD",df1$contrat)] #[1] "CDD détaché ext. Cirad" "CDD détaché ext. Cirad" "CDD détaché ext. Cirad" #[4] "CDD détaché ext. Cirad" "CDD détaché ext.Cirad" "CDD détaché ext. Cirad" #[7] "CDD détaché ext. Cirad" "CDD détaché ext.Cirad" "CDD détaché ext. Cirad" ##Looks like there are extra spaces in some of them. I guess these are the same df1$contrat[grep("^CDD",df1$contrat)]<- "CDD détaché ext. Cirad" I tried this: indx<-as.numeric(interaction(df1[,1:6],drop=FALSE)) df1New<- df1 res2<-unique(within(df1New,{Debut<-ave(seq_along(indx),indx,FUN=function(x) Debut[head(x,1)]);Fin<- ave(seq_along(indx),indx,FUN=function(x) Fin[tail(x,1)])})) row.names(res2)<- 1:nrow(res2) res2[,c(1,2,7:8)] Matricule Nom Debut Fin 1 1 VERON 24/01/1995 31/12/1997 2 6 BENARD 02/02/1995 12/03/1995 3 6 BENARD 13/03/1995 31/01/1996 ###here not correct 4 8 DALNIC 24/01/1995 31/08/1995 5 8 DALNIC 01/09/1995 29/02/2000 6 934 FORNI 26/01/1995 31/08/2001 7 934 FORNI 01/09/2001 31/08/2004 8 934 FORNI 01/09/2004 31/08/2007 9 934 FORNI 01/09/2007 04/09/2012 10 934 FORNI 05/09/2012 31/12/4712 df2[,c(1,2,7:8)] Mat Nom Debut Fin 1 1 VERON 24/01/1995 31/12/1997 2 6 BENARD 02/02/1995 12/03/1995 3 6 BENARD 13/03/1995 30/06/1995 4 6 BENARD 01/01/1996 31/01/1996 #missing this row 5 8 DALNIC 24/01/1995 31/08/1995 6 8 DALNIC 01/09/1995 29/02/2000 7 934 FORNI 26/01/1995 31/08/2001 8 934 FORNI 01/09/2001 31/08/2004 9 934 FORNI 01/09/2004 31/08/2007 10 934 FORNI 01/09/2007 04/09/2012 11 934 FORNI 05/09/2012 31/12/4712 Here, the dates look similar to the ones on df2 except for one row in df2. A.K. ----- Original Message ----- From: Arnaud Michel <michel.arn...@cirad.fr> To: R help <r-help@r-project.org> Cc: Sent: Friday, July 12, 2013 3:45 PM Subject: [R] simplify a dataframe Hello I have the following problem : group the lines of a dataframe when no information change (Matricule, Nom, Sexe, DateNaissance, Contrat, Pays) and when the value of Debut of lines i = value Fin of lines i-1 I can obtain it with a do loop. Is it possible to avoid the loop ? The dataframe initial is df1 dput(df1) structure(list(Matricule = c(1L, 1L, 1L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 8L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L), Nom = c("VERON", "VERON", "VERON", "BENARD", "BENARD", "BENARD", "BENARD", "BENARD", "BENARD", "DALNIC", "DALNIC", "DALNIC", "DALNIC", "DALNIC", "DALNIC", "DALNIC", "DALNIC", "DALNIC", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI"), Sexe = c("Féminin", "Féminin", "Féminin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Féminin", "Féminin", "Féminin", "Féminin", "Féminin", "Féminin", "Féminin", "Féminin", "Féminin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin"), DateNaissance = c("02/09/1935", "02/09/1935", "02/09/1935", "01/04/1935", "01/04/1935", "01/04/1935", "01/04/1935", "01/04/1935", "01/04/1935", "19/02/1940", "19/02/1940", "19/02/1940", "19/02/1940", "19/02/1940", "19/02/1940", "19/02/1940", "19/02/1940", "19/02/1940", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961"), contrat = c("CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDD détaché ext. Cirad", "CDD détaché ext. Cirad", "CDD détaché ext. Cirad", "CDD détaché ext. Cirad", "CDD détaché ext. Cirad", "CDD détaché ext. Cirad", "CDD détaché ext. Cirad", "CDD détaché ext. Cirad", "CDD détaché ext. Cirad", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun"), Pays = c("France", "France", "France", "Philippines", "Philippines", "Philippines", "France", "France", "France", "France", "France", "Martinique", "Martinique", "Martinique", "Martinique", "Martinique", "Martinique", "Martinique", "Cameroun", "Cameroun", "Cameroun", "Cameroun", "Cameroun", "Cameroun", "Cameroun", "Cameroun", "Cameroun", "France", "France", "France", "France", "France", "France", "France", "Congo", "Congo", "Congo", "Congo", "Congo", "Congo", "Gabon", "Gabon", "Gabon", "Gabon", "Gabon", "Gabon", "Congo", "Congo"), Debut = c("24/01/1995", "01/05/1997", "31/12/1997", "02/02/1995", "28/02/1995", "01/03/1995", "13/03/1995", "01/01/1996", "31/01/1996", "24/01/1995", "01/07/1995", "01/09/1995", "01/07/1997", "01/01/1998", "01/08/1998", "01/01/2000", "17/01/2000", "29/02/2000", "26/01/1995", "01/07/1996", "16/09/1997", "01/01/1998", "01/07/1998", "04/11/1999", "01/01/2001", "01/04/2001", "31/08/2001", "01/09/2001", "02/09/2001", "01/12/2001", "01/02/2003", "01/04/2003", "01/01/2004", "01/03/2004", "01/09/2004", "01/01/2005", "01/04/2005", "28/10/2006", "01/01/2007", "01/04/2007", "01/09/2007", "01/01/2009", "01/04/2009", "01/01/2010", "01/01/2011", "01/04/2011", "05/09/2012", "01/01/2013" ), Fin = c("30/04/1997", "30/12/1997", "31/12/1997", "27/02/1995", "28/02/1995", "12/03/1995", "30/06/1995", "30/01/1996", "31/01/1996", "30/06/1995", "31/08/1995", "30/06/1997", "31/12/1997", "31/07/1998", "31/12/1999", "16/01/2000", "28/02/2000", "29/02/2000", "30/06/1996", "15/09/1997", "31/12/1997", "30/06/1998", "03/11/1999", "31/12/2000", "31/03/2001", "30/08/2001", "31/08/2001", "01/09/2001", "30/11/2001", "31/01/2003", "31/03/2003", "31/12/2003", "29/02/2004", "31/08/2004", "31/12/2004", "31/03/2005", "27/10/2006", "31/12/2006", "31/03/2007", "31/08/2007", "31/12/2008", "31/03/2009", "31/12/2009", "31/12/2010", "31/03/2011", "04/09/2012", "31/12/2012", "31/12/4712")), .Names = c("Matricule", "Nom", "Sexe", "DateNaissance", "contrat", "Pays", "Debut", "Fin" ), class = "data.frame", row.names = c(NA, -48L)) The dataframe to be obtained is df2 dput(df2) structure(list(Mat = c(1L, 6L, 6L, 6L, 8L, 8L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L, 934L), Nom = c("VERON", "BENARD", "BENARD", "BENARD", "DALNIC", "DALNIC", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI", "FORNI"), Sexe = c("Féminin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Féminin", "Féminin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin", "Masculin"), DateNaissance = c("02/09/1935", "01/04/1935", "01/04/1935", "01/04/1935", "19/02/1940", "19/02/1940", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961", "10/07/1961" ), contrat = c("CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDI commun", "CDD détaché ext. Cirad", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI Détachés Autres", "CDI commun", "CDI commun"), Pays = c("France", "Philippines", "France", "France", "France", "Martinique", "Cameroun", "France", "Congo", "Gabon", "Congo"), Debut = c("24/01/1995", "02/02/1995", "13/03/1995", "01/01/1996", "24/01/1995", "01/09/1995", "26/01/1995", "01/09/2001", "01/09/2004", "01/09/2007", "05/09/2012" ), Fin = c("31/12/1997", "12/03/1995", "30/06/1995", "31/01/1996", "31/08/1995", "29/02/2000", "31/08/2001", "31/08/2004", "31/08/2007", "04/09/2012", "31/12/4712")), .Names = c("Mat", "Nom", "Sexe", "DateNaissance", "contrat", "Pays", "Debut", "Fin"), class = "data.frame", row.names = c(NA, -11L)) Thank you for your help -- Michel ARNAUD Chargé de mission auprès du DRH DGDRD-Drh - TA 174/04 Av Agropolis 34398 Montpellier cedex 5 tel : 04.67.61.75.38 fax : 04.67.61.57.87 port: 06.47.43.55.31 ______________________________________________ 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.