What is the match() function in R?

Overview

The match() function in R is used to:

  1. Return the index position of the first element present in a vector with a specific value.
  2. Return the index position of the first matching elements of the first vector in the second vector.

Syntax

match(x, table, nomatch = NA_integer_, incomparables = NULL)
Syntax for the match() function

Parameter values

The match() function takes the following parameter values:

  • x: This is the vector object that contains the values that need to be matched. This parameter value is required.
  • table: This represents the values that are to be matched against the values of the vector object. This parameter value is required.
  • nomatch: This is the value that is returned when no match is found. This parameter value is optional.
  • incomparables: These are the vector values that cannot be matched. This parameter value is optional.

Return value

The match() function returns the index position of a specified value in a vector object. It can also return a vector of the same length as the input vector.

Example 1

To return the index position of the first element present in a vector:

# creating a vector object
myvector <- c( 11, 18, 7, 38, 18, 98, 66, 7, 18, 42, 56, 13)
# obtaining the index position of 18 in the vector
match(18, myvector)

Explanation

  • Line 2: We create a vector object called myvector.
  • Line 5: We use the match() function to obtain and print the value of the first index position of 18 in myvector.

Example 2

To return the index position of the first matching elements of the first vector in the second vector:

# creating vector objects
a = c('one', 'two', 'three', 'four', 'five', 'four', 'three', 'two', 'one')
b = c('five', 'two', 'four')
# obtaining the index position of matching elements in b found in a
match(b, a)

Explanation

  • Lines 2–3: We create the vector objects a and b.
  • Line 6: We use the match() function to obtain and print the index numbers of the elements in a that match any of the first entries of the elements in b.

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