loop write.table on multiple data frames

Question

I have 6-10 data frame objects I'd like to write out. Right now I have to manually write each one out with write.table. I'd like to simplify my code and loop through the objects and write them all out.

I've tried the suggestions here:

Write to files in R using a loop

writing many files in a for loop using R

However, I keep getting files that are correctly named but look like this:

> "x"  
"1" "listdata_cent"

Here is an example of my code:

names(lst) <- (ls(pattern = "^listdata"))
lst <- as.list((ls(pattern = "^listdata")))
for (i in nam) {
  write.table(i, file = paste(i, ".txt", sep = ""), col.names= TRUE, sep = "\t")
}

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure I'm missing something simple.

you should provide the data as well..., it is unclear on what you are applying pattern. — user5249203
– user5249203, Commented Dec 20, 2016 at 17:42
Rather than having a bunch of data frames floating around, best practice would be to have a list of data frames. The problem becomes trivial if your data frames are in a list. — Gregor Thomas
– Gregor Thomas, Commented Dec 20, 2016 at 18:01

betahelicies · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-20 22:20:15Z

0

Thanks to Nick Criswell, Richard Telford, and Gregor. I was able to figure out a solution.

datalist = lapply(ls(pattern = "^listdata"), get)
names(datalist) <- (ls(pattern = "^listdata"))
for (i in 1:length(datalist)) {
  write.table(datalist[i], file = paste(names(datalist[i]), ".txt", sep = ""), col.names= TRUE, sep = "\t", quote=FALSE)
}

Looks like this could be related to this question. – Nick Criswell 4 hours ago 1
i is just the name. get(i) would find the object i – Richard Telford 4 hours ago 1
Rather than having a bunch of data frames floating around, best practice would be to have a list of data frames. The problem becomes trivial if your data frames are in a list. – Gregor 4 hours ago

answered Dec 20, 2016 at 22:20

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