[R] Make a matrix from two lists

[Ben Tupper]

Hi,

On Mar 29, 2013, at 1:29 PM, John Sorkin wrote:

> I am trying to write a function that makes a matrix out of two lists. As you will see run running the function below, the result is NOT a matrix but rather a list. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?
> Thanks,
> John
> 
> test <- function(one,two) {
>  cat("List One=",one,"\n")
>  cat("List Two=",two,"\n")
>  cat("Should be a matrix, but is not",matrix(cbind(one,two)),"\n")
> }
> x <- c(1,2,3)
> y <- c(11,22,33)
> test(x,y)
> 


x <- c(1,2,3)
y <- c(11,22,33)
z <- cbind(x,y)
is.matrix(z)
[1] TRUE

As you can see above, I don't get the same result.

I not sure if you want to see the matrix printed in matrix form when you have it in test().  If that were the case then you'll want to avoid cat() and use print() instead.
 
test <- function(one,two) {
 cat("List One=",one,"\n")
 cat("List Two=",two,"\n")
 z <- cbind(one, two)
 print(z)
}

test(x,y)
List One= 1 2 3 
List Two= 11 22 33 
     one two
[1,]   1  11
[2,]   2  22
[3,]   3  33

Cheers,
Ben


Ben Tupper
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
60 Bigelow Drive, P.O. Box 380
East Boothbay, Maine 04544
http://www.bigelow.org