sort.data.frame {common}

Sorts a data frame

Description

An overload to the Base R sort function for data frames. Allows multiple columns to be sorted easily. Also allows you to control the sort direction for each column independently.

Usage

## S3 method for class 'data.frame'
sort(
  x,
  decreasing = FALSE,
  ...,
  by = NULL,
  ascending = TRUE,
  na.last = TRUE,
  index.return = FALSE
)

Arguments

x

The input data frame to sort.

decreasing

This parameter was added to conform to the S3 generic method signature of the sort function, and will be ignored here. Please use the ascending parameter.

...

This parameter is required for the generic method signature. Anything passed on it will be ignored.

by

A vector of column names to sort by. If this parameter is not supplied, the function will sort by all columns in order from left to right.

ascending

A vector of TRUE or FALSE values corresponding to the variables on the by parameter. These values will determine the direction to sort each column. Ascending is TRUE, and descending is FALSE. The vector will be recycled if it is short, and truncated if it is long. By default, all variables will be sorted ascending.

na.last

Whether to put NA values first or last in the sort. If TRUE, NA values will sort to the bottom. If FALSE, NA values will sort to the top. The default is TRUE.

index.return

Whether to return the sorted data frame or a vector of sorted index values. If this parameter is TRUE, the function will return sorted index values. By default, the parameter is FALSE, and will return the sorted data frame.

Value

The function returns either a sorted data frame or a sorted vector of row index values, depending on the value of the index.return parameter. If index.return is FALSE, the function will return the sorted data frame. If the index.return parameter is TRUE, it will return a vector of row indices.

See Also

Other overrides: copy.attributes(), labels.data.frame()

Examples

# Prepare unsorted sample data
dt <- mtcars[1:10, 1:3]
dt
#                    mpg cyl  disp
# Mazda RX4         21.0   6 160.0
# Mazda RX4 Wag     21.0   6 160.0
# Datsun 710        22.8   4 108.0
# Hornet 4 Drive    21.4   6 258.0
# Hornet Sportabout 18.7   8 360.0
# Valiant           18.1   6 225.0
# Duster 360        14.3   8 360.0
# Merc 240D         24.4   4 146.7
# Merc 230          22.8   4 140.8
# Merc 280          19.2   6 167.6

# Sort by mpg ascending
dt1 <- sort(dt, by = "mpg")
dt1
#                    mpg cyl  disp
# Duster 360        14.3   8 360.0
# Valiant           18.1   6 225.0
# Hornet Sportabout 18.7   8 360.0
# Merc 280          19.2   6 167.6
# Mazda RX4         21.0   6 160.0
# Mazda RX4 Wag     21.0   6 160.0
# Hornet 4 Drive    21.4   6 258.0
# Datsun 710        22.8   4 108.0
# Merc 230          22.8   4 140.8
# Merc 240D         24.4   4 146.7

# Sort by mpg descending
dt1 <- sort(dt, by = "mpg", ascending = FALSE)
dt1
#                    mpg cyl  disp
# Merc 240D         24.4   4 146.7
# Datsun 710        22.8   4 108.0
# Merc 230          22.8   4 140.8
# Hornet 4 Drive    21.4   6 258.0
# Mazda RX4         21.0   6 160.0
# Mazda RX4 Wag     21.0   6 160.0
# Merc 280          19.2   6 167.6
# Hornet Sportabout 18.7   8 360.0
# Valiant           18.1   6 225.0
# Duster 360        14.3   8 360.0

# Sort by cyl then mpg
dt1 <- sort(dt, by = c("cyl", "mpg"))
dt1
#                    mpg cyl  disp
# Datsun 710        22.8   4 108.0
# Merc 230          22.8   4 140.8
# Merc 240D         24.4   4 146.7
# Valiant           18.1   6 225.0
# Merc 280          19.2   6 167.6
# Mazda RX4         21.0   6 160.0
# Mazda RX4 Wag     21.0   6 160.0
# Hornet 4 Drive    21.4   6 258.0
# Duster 360        14.3   8 360.0
# Hornet Sportabout 18.7   8 360.0

# Sort by cyl descending then mpg ascending
dt1 <- sort(dt, by = c("cyl", "mpg"),
            ascending = c(FALSE, TRUE))
dt1
#                    mpg cyl  disp
# Duster 360        14.3   8 360.0
# Hornet Sportabout 18.7   8 360.0
# Valiant           18.1   6 225.0
# Merc 280          19.2   6 167.6
# Mazda RX4         21.0   6 160.0
# Mazda RX4 Wag     21.0   6 160.0
# Hornet 4 Drive    21.4   6 258.0
# Datsun 710        22.8   4 108.0
# Merc 230          22.8   4 140.8
# Merc 240D         24.4   4 146.7