[R] R and SAS pointer/informat functionality

[Ratnendra Sharma]

Hello,

I hope all is well. I've gone through and searched just about all the 
manuals, faqs, contribs available on the data import/export process and 
have not found any answer to a specific question. Hopefully, I will be 
able to fall back upon the valuable expertise in mailing list. Here goes:

How can I import SPECIFIC columns of data in a fixed width file? E.g. I 
have a fwf with 40 variables ranging from 1 to 10 characters and at any 
given time, need only a few to analyze, like so:
<age: 2 char ><sex: 1 char><morning: 1 char><location: 3 
char>......<family: 9 char><tagged: date>.......<weight at capture: 4 
char><length at capture: 7 char>etc.
which looks something like:
02M1LOS...xxcanidae011289.....10001291412


In essence I am looking for functionality similar to the SAS 
pointer/informat method. I would appreciate any help anyone would be 
able to give!

Thanks so much for your help.

best,
Ratnendra Sharma
U Minn