[R] strptime

[David Scott]

Delving into the murky world of dates and times I found this:

dates <- c("02/27/92", "02/27/92", "01/14/92", "02/28/92", "02/01/92")
> times <- c("23:03:20", "22:29:56", "01:03:30", "18:21:03", "16:56:26")
> x <- paste(dates, times)
> z <- strptime(x, "%m/%d/%y %H:%M:%S")
> z
[1] "1992-02-27 23:03:20" "1992-02-27 22:29:56" "1992-01-14 01:03:30"
[4] "1992-02-28 18:21:03" "1992-02-01 16:56:26"

which I understand. But then 

> length(dates)
[1] 5
> length(times)
[1] 5
> length(z)
[1] 9
> 

which I don't.

It seems that length of a POSIXlt vector (which z is), always returns 9. 

David Scott

PS: Using 1.9.0 on linux





_________________________________________________________________
David Scott	Department of Statistics, Tamaki Campus
		The University of Auckland, PB 92019
		Auckland	NEW ZEALAND
Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 86830		Fax: +64 9 373 7000
Email:	d.scott at auckland.ac.nz 


Graduate Officer, Department of Statistics