Suppose we have: dd <- c("7-déc-07", "11-déc-07", "14-déc-07", "18-déc-07", "21-déc-07", "24-déc-07", "26-déc-07", "28-déc-07", "31-déc-07", "2-janv-08", "4-janv-08", "7-janv-08", "9-janv-08", "11-janv-08", "14-janv-08", "16-janv-08", "18-janv-08")
Try this (where we are assuming the just released chron 2.3-17): library(chron) Sys.setlocale("LC_ALL", "French") as.chron(as.Date(dd, "%d-%b-%y")) # or with chron 2.3-16 last line is replaced with: chron(unclass(as.Date(dd, "%d-%b-%y"))) If those don't work (the above didn't work on my Vista system but this is system dependent and might work on yours) then try this alternative > library(chron) > library(gsubfn) > Sys.setlocale('LC_ALL','French') [1] "LC_COLLATE=French_France.1252;LC_CTYPE=French_France.1252;LC_MONETARY=French_France.1252;LC_NUMERIC=C;LC_TIME=French_France.1252" > french.months <- format(seq(as.Date("2000-01-01"), length = 12, by = > "month"), "%b") > f <- function (d, m, y) chron(paste(pmatch(m, french.months), d, y, sep = > "/")) > strapply(dd, "(.*)-(.*)-(.*)", f, backref = -3, simplify = c) [1] 12/07/07 12/11/07 12/14/07 12/18/07 12/21/07 12/24/07 12/26/07 12/28/07 [9] 12/31/07 01/02/08 01/04/08 01/07/08 01/09/08 01/11/08 01/14/08 01/16/08 [17] 01/18/08 On Jan 30, 2008 11:29 PM, Denis Chabot <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello R users, > > I have to import a file with one column containing dates written in > French short format, such as: > > 7-déc-07 > 11-déc-07 > 14-déc-07 > 18-déc-07 > 21-déc-07 > 24-déc-07 > 26-déc-07 > 28-déc-07 > 31-déc-07 > 2-janv-08 > 4-janv-08 > 7-janv-08 > 9-janv-08 > 11-janv-08 > 14-janv-08 > 16-janv-08 > 18-janv-08 > > There are other columns for other (numeric) variables in the data > file. In my read.csv2 statement, I indicate that the date column must > be imported "as.is" to keep it as character. > > I would like to transform this into a date object in R. So far I've > used chron for my dates and times needs, but I am willing to change if > another object/package will ease the task of importing these dates. > > My reading of the chron help led me to believe that the formats it > understands are only month names in English. > > Are there other "formats" I can use with chron, or must I somehow edit > this character variables to replace French month names by English ones > (or numbers from 1 to 12)? > > Thanks in advance, > > Denis > p.s. I read this in digest mode, so I'll get your replies faster if > you cc to my email > ______________________________________________ > R-help@r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. > ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.