[R] subsetting based on vector

[Don MacQueen]

Since you are interested in subsetting, a little search of the online 
help such as

    help.search('subset')

will reveal the subset() function. Which you could use, for example, like this:

dataFIT<-function(MODEL, MARGINS, yearConsidered){
    library(foreign
    CovPaper<-read.spss("C:/Data/data.sav")
    NewData <- subset(CovPaper, YEAR %in% yearConsidered)

   #fit model to data #
}

If you truly need NewData to be a list, use as.list(). Also, within 
the context of your example, you don't need all the quotes; you can 
use CovPaper$YEAR instead of CovPaper$"YEAR".

Also check the documentation of the function(s) you are using to fit 
the model(s) for a subset argument; that might be sufficient for your 
needs.

-Don

At 1:33 PM +0000 3/25/04, Vumani Dlamini wrote:
>Dear R users;
>
>I am trying to write a small program which reads in a data set, and 
>selects observations from certain years before the analysis. I have 
>a problem including the selection criteria in the header of the 
>program.
>
>Here is the problem;
>
>dataFIT<-function(MODEL, MARGINS, yearConsidered){
>    library(foreign
>    CovPaper<-read.spss("C:/Data/data.sav")
>    NewData <- list(CovPaper$"YEAR"[CovPaper$"YEAR" == yearConsidered],
>                          CovPaper$"YEAR"[CovPaper$"SEX" == yearConsidered],
>                      #### and so on #####
>   #fit model to data #
>}
>
>When I use one year there is no problem, but I would like some data 
>sets to span over years and I am not sure how to do this without 
>having to change the body of my fitting program.
>
>I tried searching the R-list but to no avail.
>
>Thanking you in advance.
>
>
>Vumani
>
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-- 
--------------------------------------
Don MacQueen
Environmental Protection Department
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, CA, USA