The R Book

The scan Function

This is the function to use if you want to type (or paste) a few numbers into a vector from the keyboard.

x<-scan()

1:

At the 1: prompt type your first number, then press the Enter key. When the 2: prompt appears, type in your second number and press Enter, and so on. When you have put in all the numbers you need (suppose there are eight of them) then simply press the Enter key at the 9: prompt.

x<-scan()

1:6
2:7
3:3
4:4
5:8
6:5
7:6
8:2
9:
Read 8 items

You can also use scan to paste in groups of numbers from the clipboard. In Excel, highlight the column of numbers you want, then type Ctrl+C (the accelerator keys for Copy). Now go back into R. At the 1: prompt just type Ctrl+V (the accelerator keys for Paste) and the numbers will be scanned into the named variable (x in this example). You can then paste in another set of numbers, or press Return to complete data entry. If you try to read in a group of numbers from a row of cells in Excel, the characters will be pasted into a single multi-digit number (definitely not what is likely to have been intended). So, if you are going to paste numbers from Excel, make sure the numbers are in columns, not in rows, in the spreadsheet. Use Edit / Paste Special/Transpose in Excel to turn a row into a column if necessary.