How to rename a single column in a data.frame?
RR Problem Overview
I know if I have a data frame with more than 1 column, then I can use
colnames(x) <- c("col1","col2")
to rename the columns. How to do this if it's just one column? Meaning a vector or data frame with only one column.
Example:
trSamp <- data.frame(sample(trainer$index, 10000))
head(trSamp )
# sample.trainer.index..10000.
# 1 5907862
# 2 2181266
# 3 7368504
# 4 1949790
# 5 3475174
# 6 6062879
ncol(trSamp)
# [1] 1
class(trSamp)
# [1] "data.frame"
class(trSamp[1])
# [1] "data.frame"
class(trSamp[,1])
# [1] "numeric"
colnames(trSamp)[2] <- "newname2"
# Error in names(x) <- value :
# 'names' attribute [2] must be the same length as the vector [1]
R Solutions
Solution 1 - R
This is a generalized way in which you do not have to remember the exact location of the variable:
# df = dataframe
# old.var.name = The name you don't like anymore
# new.var.name = The name you want to get
names(df)[names(df) == 'old.var.name'] <- 'new.var.name'
This code pretty much does the following:
names(df)looks into all the names in thedf[names(df) == old.var.name]extracts the variable name you want to check<- 'new.var.name'assigns the new variable name.
Solution 2 - R
colnames(trSamp)[2] <- "newname2"
attempts to set the second column's name. Your object only has one column, so the command throws an error. This should be sufficient:
colnames(trSamp) <- "newname2"
Solution 3 - R
colnames(df)[colnames(df) == 'oldName'] <- 'newName'
Solution 4 - R
This is an old question, but it is worth noting that you can now use setnames from the data.table package.
library(data.table)
setnames(DF, "oldName", "newName")
# or since the data.frame in question is just one column:
setnames(DF, "newName")
# And for reference's sake, in general (more than once column)
nms <- c("col1.name", "col2.name", etc...)
setnames(DF, nms)
Solution 5 - R
This can also be done using Hadley's plyr package, and the rename function.
library(plyr)
df <- data.frame(foo=rnorm(1000))
df <- rename(df,c('foo'='samples'))
You can rename by the name (without knowing the position) and perform multiple renames at once. After doing a merge, for example, you might end up with:
letterid id.x id.y
1 70 2 1
2 116 6 5
3 116 6 4
4 116 6 3
5 766 14 9
6 766 14 13
Which you can then rename in one step using:
letters <- rename(letters,c("id.x" = "source", "id.y" = "target"))
letterid source target
1 70 2 1
2 116 6 5
3 116 6 4
4 116 6 3
5 766 14 9
6 766 14 13
Solution 6 - R
I think the best way of renaming columns is by using the dplyr package like this:
require(dplyr)
df = rename(df, new_col01 = old_col01, new_col02 = old_col02, ...)
It works the same for renaming one or many columns in any dataset.
Solution 7 - R
I find that the most convenient way to rename a single column is using dplyr::rename_at :
library(dplyr)
cars %>% rename_at("speed",~"new") %>% head
cars %>% rename_at(vars(speed),~"new") %>% head
cars %>% rename_at(1,~"new") %>% head
# new dist
# 1 4 2
# 2 4 10
# 3 7 4
# 4 7 22
# 5 8 16
# 6 9 10
- works well in pipe chaines
- convenient when names are stored in variables
- works with a name or an column index
- clear and compact
Solution 8 - R
I like the next style for rename dataframe column names one by one.
colnames(df)[which(colnames(df) == 'old_colname')] <- 'new_colname'
where
which(colnames(df) == 'old_colname')
returns by the index of the specific column.
Solution 9 - R
Let df be the dataframe you have with col names myDays and temp. If you want to rename "myDays" to "Date",
library(plyr)
rename(df,c("myDays" = "Date"))
or with pipe, you can
dfNew <- df %>%
plyr::rename(c("myDays" = "Date"))
Solution 10 - R
This is likely already out there, but I was playing with renaming fields while searching out a solution and tried this on a whim. Worked for my purposes.
Table1$FieldNewName <- Table1$FieldOldName
Table1$FieldOldName <- NULL
Edit begins here....
This works as well.
df <- rename(df, c("oldColName" = "newColName"))
Solution 11 - R
You can use the rename.vars in the gdata package.
library(gdata)
df <- rename.vars(df, from = "oldname", to = "newname")
This is particularly useful where you have more than one variable name to change or you want to append or pre-pend some text to the variable names, then you can do something like:
df <- rename.vars(df, from = c("old1", "old2", "old3",
to = c("new1", "new2", "new3"))
For an example of appending text to a subset of variables names see: https://stackoverflow.com/a/28870000/180892
Solution 12 - R
Try:
colnames(x)[2] <- 'newname2'
Solution 13 - R
You could also try 'upData' from 'Hmisc' package.
library(Hmisc)
trSamp = upData(trSamp, rename=c(sample.trainer.index..10000. = 'newname2'))
Solution 14 - R
If you know that your dataframe has only one column, you can use:
names(trSamp) <- "newname2"
Solution 15 - R
The OP's question has been well and truly answered. However, here's a trick that may be useful in some situations: partial matching of the column name, irrespective of its position in a dataframe:
Partial matching on the name:
d <- data.frame(name1 = NA, Reported.Cases..WHO..2011. = NA, name3 = NA)
## name1 Reported.Cases..WHO..2011. name3
## 1 NA NA NA
names(d)[grepl("Reported", names(d))] <- "name2"
## name1 name2 name3
## 1 NA NA NA
Another example: partial matching on the presence of "punctuation":
d <- data.frame(name1 = NA, Reported.Cases..WHO..2011. = NA, name3 = NA)
## name1 Reported.Cases..WHO..2011. name3
## 1 NA NA NA
names(d)[grepl("[[:punct:]]", names(d))] <- "name2"
## name1 name2 name3
## 1 NA NA NA
These were examples I had to deal with today, I thought might be worth sharing.
Solution 16 - R
I would simply change a column name to the dataset with the new name I want with the following code: names(dataset)[index_value] <- "new_col_name"
Solution 17 - R
I would simply add a new column to the data frame with the name I want and get the data for it from the existing column. like this:
dataf$value=dataf$Article1Order
then I remove the old column! like this:
dataf$Article1Order<-NULL
This code might seem silly! But it works perfectly...
Solution 18 - R
I found colnames() argument easier
https://www.rdocumentation.org/packages/base/versions/3.6.2/topics/row%2Bcolnames
select some column from the data frame
df <- data.frame(df[, c( "hhid","b1005", "b1012_imp", "b3004a")])
and rename the selected column in order,
colnames(df) <- c("hhid", "income", "cost", "credit")
check the names and the values to be sure
names(df);head(df)
Solution 19 - R
We can use rename_with to rename columns with a function (stringr functions, for example).
Consider the following data df_1:
df_1 <- data.frame(
x = replicate(n = 3, expr = rnorm(n = 3, mean = 10, sd = 1)),
y = sample(x = 1:2, size = 10, replace = TRUE)
)
names(df_1)
#[1] "x.1" "x.2" "x.3" "y"
Rename all variables with dplyr::everything():
library(tidyverse)
df_1 %>%
rename_with(.data = ., .cols = everything(.),
.fn = str_replace, pattern = '.*',
replacement = str_c('var', seq_along(.), sep = '_')) %>%
names()
#[1] "var_1" "var_2" "var_3" "var_4"
Rename by name particle with some dplyr verbs (starts_with, ends_with, contains, matches, ...).
Example with . (x variables):
df_1 %>%
rename_with(.data = ., .cols = contains('.'),
.fn = str_replace, pattern = '.*',
replacement = str_c('var', seq_along(.), sep = '_')) %>%
names()
#[1] "var_1" "var_2" "var_3" "y"
Rename by class with many functions of class test, like is.integer, is.numeric, is.factor...
Example with is.integer (y):
df_1 %>%
rename_with(.data = ., .cols = is.integer,
.fn = str_replace, pattern = '.*',
replacement = str_c('var', seq_along(.), sep = '_')) %>%
names()
#[1] "x.1" "x.2" "x.3" "var_1"
The warning:
>Warning messages: 1: In stri_replace_first_regex(string, pattern, fix_replacement(replacement), : longer object length is not a multiple of shorter object length 2: In names[cols] <- .fn(names[cols], ...) : number of items to replace is not a multiple of replacement length
It is not relevant, as it is just an inconsistency of seq_along(.) with the replace function.
Solution 20 - R
library(dplyr)
rename(data, de=de.y)