R: Replace "+" character with gsub
gsub, operator-keyword, r
Solution
`+` is a metacharacter, and needs to be escaped when you want to match it:
gsub(pattern="5\\+",replacement="5",x=data)
#[1] "1" "2" "3" "4" "5"
Or more generally, if you want to remove the `+`:
gsub(pattern="\\+",replacement="",x=data)
If unescaped, `+` means "The preceding item will be matched one or more times", so in your second example, the `"5"` element of `"5+"` is matched by the pattern, and replaced by `""`, leaving you with `"+"`.
Problem
the question seems totally trivial but I cannot figure out why it isn't working. I simply want to replace a character variable involving a "+" operator with a single value excluding the "+" operator. For some reason gsub() and sub() function replace the number value but keep the operator. Any hint on how this can be overcome? Many thanks! ``` data <- c(1,2,3,4,"5+") gsub(pattern="5+",replacement="5",x=data) #[1] "1" "2" "3" "4" "5+" gsub(pattern="5+",replacement="",x=data) #[1] "1" "2" "3" "4" "+" ``` R 3.0.2