How can I convert a fraction expression into a character vector in R?-CodePudding

Hello an thanks for the help.

I want to convert the expression: x / y (e.g. 1298 / 1109) into a character vector: "x / y" (e.g. "1298 / 1109") using R.

I have tried it with as.character(x/y) and with as.character.Date(x/y) but this only turns the result of the fraction into a character vector.

CodePudding user response：

Do you mean this?

> deparse(quote(1298 / 1109))
[1] "1298/1109"

> f <- function(x) deparse(substitute(x))

> f(1298 / 1109)
[1] "1298/1109"

CodePudding user response：

An alternative solution using paste, as mentioned by Allan in the comments, wrapped in a function. Not as flexible as the solution by Tomas, but simple.

f <- function(x,y) {
  paste(x, y, sep = " / ")
}

f(1298, 1109)

[1] "1298 / 1109"

CodePudding user response：

As an addition to the excellent answers already given, in case that one wants to be able to evaluate the expression at some point you can take this approach.

x <- 1298
y <- 1109

z <- as.expression(substitute(x / y, list(x = x, y = y)))

z
# expression(1298/1109)

class(z)
# [1] "expression"

eval(z)
# [1] 1.1704

as.character(z)
# [1] "1298/1109"

Or without making it an expression

t <- substitute(x / y, list(x = x, y = y))

t
# 1298/1109 # not a string, but a "call"

class(t)
# [1] "call"

eval(t)
# [1] 1.1704

deparse(t)
# [1] "1298/1109"

CodePudding user response：

With MASS, there is fractions function

 MASS::fractions(1298/1109)
[1] 1298/1109