Is there an easy way to convert a named list into a dataframe, preserving the elements of the list in a "list-column"?
library(dplyr)
library(magrittr)
## make a random matrix
rand_mat <- function() {
Nrow <- sample(2:15,1)
Ncol <- sample(2:15,1)
rpois(Nrow*Ncol,20) %>%
matrix(nrow = Nrow,ncol = Ncol)
}
## make a named list
named.list <- replicate(10,rand_mat(),simplify = FALSE) %>%
set_names(LETTERS[1:10])
names(named.list) %>%
data.frame(matname = ., stringsAsFactors = FALSE) %>%
group_by(matname) %>%
do(comm.matrix = named.list %>% extract2(.$matname))
## Source: local data frame [10 x 2]
## Groups: <by row>
##
## matname comm.matrix
## 1 A <int[5,4]>
## 2 B <int[4,13]>
## 3 C <int[5,5]>
## 4 D <int[9,13]>
## 5 E <int[2,13]>
## 6 F <int[15,3]>
## 7 G <int[2,5]>
## 8 H <int[6,14]>
## 9 I <int[14,15]>
## 10 J <int[13,15]>
The dplyr package is used to apply the "Split-Apply-Combine" method of
data analysis. Many useRs might have previously used named lists in
combination with plyr::llply or plyr::ldply, applying a function to
each section before combining them.