Formatting codes for formatting strings follow the conventions
of the base R strptime and sprintf
functions. See below for further details.
The fmtr packages accepts single strings as formatting
specifications. These formatting strings are interpreted differently
depending on the data type of the vector being formatted. For
date and datetime vectors, the string will be interpreted as an input
to the base R strptime function. For all other types of vectors,
the formatting string will be interpreted as an input to the sprintf
function.
The formatting codes for these functions are simple to use. For example,
the code fapply(as.Date("1970-01-01"), "%B %d, %Y") will produce
the output "January 01, 1970". The code
fapply(1.2345, "%.1f") will produce the output "1.2".
Below are some commonly used formatting codes for dates:
%d = day as a number
%a = abbreviated weekday
%A = unabbreviated weekday
%m = month
%b = abbreviated month
%B = unabbreviated month
%y = 2-digit year
%Y = 4-digit year
%H = hour (24 hour clock)
%I = hour (12 hour clock)
%M = minute
%S = second
%p = AM/PM indicator
%q = Quarter as integer
%Q = Quarter as "Q?"
See the strptime function for additional codes and
examples of formatting dates and times.
The "dateW." format is a date-display format that replicates the
behavior of the SAS "DATEw." family of formats. The "dateW." format converts
either numeric date values, R Date objects, or POSIXt date-time
objects into standard fixed-width character representations.
Smaller widths show abbreviated forms (e.g., "JAN70" for "date5"), while
larger widths show full day/month/year values (e.g., "01JAN1970" for "date9"
or "01-JAN-1970" for "date11"). For POSIXt values, only the date
portion is used.
Numeric inputs follow R conventions and are interpreted as days since 1970-01-01. The default width is 7. A trailing dot (".") is optional.
Output always occupies the specified width. If the date value is shorter than the specified width, it is left-padded with spaces.
The "TIMEw.d" format is a time-display format that replicates the
behavior of the SAS "TIMEw.d" family of formats. It converts time values
into fixed-width character representations of the form h:mm:ss,
optionally including fractional seconds.
The format accepts numeric values (interpreted as seconds),
hms objects, or POSIXt objects. For POSIXt inputs,
only the time-of-day component is used. Numeric and hms inputs
may be negative or exceed 24 hours; this is not applicable to
POSIXt values.
The width W controls the total output width, while D
specifies the number of decimal places for seconds. If omitted,
W defaults to 8 and D defaults to 0. A trailing dot (".")
is optional.
Output always occupies the specified width and is left-padded with spaces
if needed. Missing values return NA. This format resolves known
rounding differences between R and SAS and supports up to 12 digits of
fractional seconds, exceeding R's default precision.
Below are some commonly used formatting codes for other data types:
%s = string
%d = integer
%f = floating point number
See the sprintf function for additional codes and
examples of formatting other data types.
The "best" format is a special numeric format that replicates the "best" style of formatting from SAS. The "best" format automatically determines the best way to format a number within a specified with.
For example, if you have a number like 123.45678, and format it with "best6", the result will be "123.46". Note that the decimal point counts as one of the digits. Also note that the rightmost digit will be rounded according to SAS rounding rules.
The same number above formatted with "best8" will be "123.4567". The default width is 12. That means, if you simply send the format "best" with no width, it will be interpreted as "best12".
# Examples for formatting dates and times
t <- Sys.time()
fapply(t, "%d/%m/%Y") # Day/Month/Year
fapply(t, "%d%b%Y") # Day abbreviated month year
fapply(t, "%y-%m") # Two digit year - month
fapply(t, "%A, %B %d") # Weekday, unabbreviated month and date
fapply(t, "%Y-%Q") # Year and Quarter
fapply(t, "%Y-%m%-%d %H:%M:%S %p") # Common timestamp format
# Examples for formatting dates (date and times) using "dateW."
d <- Sys.Date()
fapply(d, "date5") # Month Year (mmmyy)
fapply(d, "date7") # Day Month Year (ddmmmyy)
fapply(d, "date9") # Day Month Year (ddmmmyyyy)
fapply(d, "date11") # Day Month Year (dd-mmm-yyyy)
t <- Sys.time()
fapply(t, "date5") # Month Year (mmmyy)
fapply(t, "date7") # Day Month Year (ddmmmyy)
fapply(t, "date9") # Day Month Year (ddmmmyyyy)
fapply(t, "date11") # Day Month Year (dd-mmm-yyyy)
# Examples for formatting numbers
a <- 1234.56789
fapply(a, "%f") # Floating point number
fapply(a, "%.1f") # One decimal place
fapply(a, "%8.1f") # Fixed width
fapply(a, "%-8.1f") # Fixed width left justified
fapply(a, "%08.1f") # Zero padded
fapply(a, "%+.1f") # Forced sign
fapply(-a, "%+.1f") # Negative
fapply(a, "%.1f%%") # Percentage
fapply(a, "$%.2f") # Currency
fapply(a, "The number is %f.") # Interpolation
# "best" formatting
fapply(a, "best6") # Total width of 6
fapply(a, "best8") # Total width of 8