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"