Replace Numbers Written in Words with Numbers in R Data Frame Column

To replace numbers written in words with numbers in an R data frame column, we can use within function.

For example, if we have a data frame called df that contains a column say X having numbers from 1 to 5 written in words then we can convert them into numbers by using the below command −

within(df,X<-factor(X,labels=c(1,2,3,4,5)))

Example 1

Following snippet creates a sample data frame −

x<-sample(c("First","Second","Third"),20,replace=TRUE)
df1<-data.frame(x)
df1

The following dataframe is created −

     x
1  Second
2  First
3  Third
4  Third
5  Third
6  Second
7  Third
8  First
9  Second
10 Second
11 Second
12 Second
13 Second
14 Third
15 Second
16 First
17 Third
18 Third
19 First
20 Third

To replace words in x with numbers, add the following code to the above snippet −

x<-sample(c("First","Second","Third"),20,replace=TRUE)
df1<-data.frame(x)
within(df1,x<-factor(x,labels=c(1,2,3)))

Output

If you execute all the above given snippets as a single program, it generates the following output −

   x
1  2
2  1
3  3
4  3
5  3
6  2
7  3
8  1
9  2
10 2
11 2
12 2
13 2
14 3
15 2
16 1
17 3
18 3
19 1
20 3

Example 2

Following snippet creates a sample data frame −

y<-sample(c("I","II","III","IV"),20,replace=TRUE)
df2<-data.frame(y)
df2

The following dataframe is created −

     y
1    I
2  III
3    I
4   IV
5    I
6    I
7  III
8   II
9    I
10   I
11 III
12 III
13  IV
14   I
15  II
16   I
17  II
18 III
19  IV
20   I

To replace Roman Numerals in y with numbers, add the following code to the above snippet −

y<-sample(c("I","II","III","IV"),20,replace=TRUE)
df2<-data.frame(y)
within(df2,y<-factor(y,labels=c(1,2,3,4)))

Output

If you execute all the above given snippets as a single program, it generates the following output −

   y
1  1
2  3
3  1
4  4
5  1
6  1
7  3
8  2
9  1
10 1
11 3
12 3
13 4
14 1
15 2
16 1
17 2
18 3
19 4
20 1