Convert string to a variable name

Solution 1:

assign is what you are looking for.

assign("x", 5)

x
[1] 5

but buyer beware.

See R FAQ 7.21 http://cran.r-project.org/doc/FAQ/R-FAQ.html#How-can-I-turn-a-string-into-a-variable_003f

Solution 2:

You can use do.call:

 do.call("<-",list(parameter_name, parameter_value))

Solution 3:

There is another simple solution found there: http://www.r-bloggers.com/converting-a-string-to-a-variable-name-on-the-fly-and-vice-versa-in-r/

To convert a string to a variable:

x <- 42
eval(parse(text = "x"))
[1] 42

And the opposite:

x <- 42
deparse(substitute(x))
[1] "x"