import_spec {libr}

Create an Import Specification

Description

A function to create the import specifications for a particular data file. This information can be used on the libname function to correctly assign the data types for columns on imported data. The import specifications are defined as name/value pairs, where the name is the column name and the value is the data type indicator. Available data type indicators are 'guess', 'logical', 'character', 'integer', 'numeric', 'date', 'datetime', and 'time'. See the specs function for an example of using import specs.

Usage

import_spec(..., na = NULL, trim_ws = NULL)

Arguments

...

Named pairs of column names and column data types. Available types are: 'guess', 'logical', 'character', 'integer', 'numeric', 'date', 'datetime', and 'time'. The date/time data types accept an optional input format. To supply the input format, append it after the data type following an equals sign, e.g.: 'date=%d%B%Y' or 'datetime=%d%m%Y %H:%M:%S'. Default is NULL, meaning no column types are specified, and the function should make its best guess for each column.

na

A vector of values to be treated as NA. For example, the vector c('', ' ') will cause empty strings and single blanks to be converted to NA values. Default is NULL, meaning the value of the na parameter will be taken from the specs function. Any value supplied on the import_spec function will override the value from the specs function.

trim_ws

Whether or not to trim white space from the input data values. The default is NULL, meaning the value of the trim_ws parameter will be taken from the specs function. Any value supplied on the import_spec function will override the value from the specs function.

Value

The import specification object.

See Also

libname to create a data library, and specs for an example using import specs.

Other specs: print.specs(), read.specs(), specs(), write.specs()