Putting answer here for future posterity. Didn't send to R-help initially because I wasn't sure what OP wanted. I guessed right. Sorry for confusion in thread.
GUESSING THAT YOU WANT IS BELOW #=================================================================== i <- data.frame(x=c(1,2,3), y=c(0,0,0), B=c("red","blue","blue"), stringsAsFactors = FALSE) j <- data.frame(x=c(1,2,3), y=c(1,1,1), B=c('red','blue','green'), stringsAsFactors = FALSE) plot(0, 0, type="n", xlim=c(0,4), ylim=c(0,1)) points(i$x, i$y, col = i$B) points(j$x, j$y, col = j$B) On Sat, Aug 5, 2017 at 5:59 AM, Myles English <mylesengl...@gmail.com> wrote: > > The answer was (thanks to Mark Leeds) to do with the use of a factor > instead of a vector. > > on [2017-08-05] at 08:57 Myles English writes: > > > I am having trouble understanding how the 'by' function works. Using > > this bit of code: > > > > i <- data.frame(x=c(1,2,3), y=c(0,0,0), B=c("red","blue","blue")) > > j <- data.frame(x=c(1,2,3), y=c(1,1,1), B=c('red','blue','green')) > > The use of I() prevents conversion to a factor: > > i <- data.frame(x=c(1,2,3), y=c(0,0,0), B=I(c("red","blue","blue"))) > j <- data.frame(x=c(1,2,3), y=c(1,1,1), B=I(c('red','blue','green'))) > > > plot(0, 0, type="n", xlim=c(0,4), ylim=c(0,1)) > > by(i, i$B, function(s){ points(s$x, s$y, col=s$B) }) > > by(j, j$B, function(s){ points(s$x, s$y, col=s$B) }) > > > > I would have expected the point at (1,1) to be coloured red. When > > plotted, this row is indeed red: > > > >> i[1,] > > x y B > > 1 1 0 red > > > > however, this next point is green on the plot even though I would like > > it to be red: > > > >> j[1,] > > x y B > > 1 1 1 red > > > > How can I achieve that? > > > > Myles > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see 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.