load_fixed_width.R

library("mvbutils")

path <- "state07_DE.txt"
col.widths <- c(6, 4, 2, 4)
table.header <- c("COOP.ID", "YEAR", "MONTH", "ELEMENT")

for(i in 1:31) {
  new.widths <- c(5, 1, 1, 1)
  new.header <- c(paste("VALUE",i, sep=""),
                  paste("MFLAG",i, sep=""),
                  paste("QFLAG",i, sep=""),
                  paste("SFLAG",i, sep=""))
  col.widths <- append(col.widths, new.widths)
  table.header <- append(table.header, new.header)
}

print("Time for regular read:")
system.time(data1 <- read.fwf(file=path, widths=col.widths, header=FALSE, col.names=table.header))

print("Time for faster.read.fwf")
system.time(data2 <- fast.read.fwf(file=path, width=col.widths, col.names=table.header))