Locate the pattern in R

Locate the first pattern in R, we will explore how to use the str_locate and str_locate_all functions in R to locate the position of patterns in a character string.

These functions are part of the stringr package, which provides a variety of functions for working with strings.

Locate the pattern in R

To demonstrate the usage of str_locate and str_locate_all, we will create a character string x and install/load the stringr package:

x <- c("my example string")
install.packages("stringr")
library("stringr")

Example 1: Application of str_locate Function in R

The str_locate function returns the position of the first occurrence of a pattern in a character string.

We can use it to locate the position of the pattern “mple” in our character string x:

str_locate(x, "mple")

This will output a matrix containing the starting and ending positions of the pattern:

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#      start end
# [1,]     7  10

As you can see, the pattern “mple” begins at the 7th character and ends at the 10th character of our string.

Example 2: Application of str_locate_all Function in R

The str_locate_all function returns all locations of a pattern in a character string. We can use it to locate all occurrences of the letter “m” in our character string x:

str_locate_all(x, "m")

This will output a list of matrices, each containing the starting and ending positions of an occurrence of the letter “m”:

# [[1]]
#      start end
# [1,]     1   1
# [2,]     7   7

As you can see, the letter “m” occurs at the 1st and 7th positions of our character string.

Conclusion

In this article, we have learned how to use the str_locate and str_locate_all functions in R to locate the position of patterns in a character string.

By using these functions, you can easily find specific patterns in your data and extract relevant information.

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