Cross Platform

Students cheer on the Redhawks during a sporting event at Miami University.
The RSQLite package helps to combine R and SQLite. An R dataset can be imported and queried like a database.

dbConnect() function

This function is used to connect DBMS so that data can be queried; see the final example below.

3 dbWriteTable() function

This function writes the table in R into a database for querying.

Parameter meanings:

  • conn: the connection made
  • name: the name of the table to be made
  • value: the data to be brought in as a database

dbListTables() function

Shows a list of tables in a database and a list of variables in a table.

dbGetQuery() function

Performs the query given on the table selected.

Parameter meanings:

  • conn: the connection to the database
  • statement: the SQL statement to be performed

dbDisconnect() function

Disconnect the connection

Example:

data(airquality)
library(RSQLite)

# Connection to the database
connection <- dbConnect(SQLite(),'airData.db')

# Write the table to the database
dbWriteTable(connection, "airData", airquality, overwrite = TRUE)

# List the tables in a database
dbListTables(connection)

## [1] "airData"

# List the variables in a table
dbListTables(connection, "airData")

## [1] "airData"

# Run the query on the table
dbGetQuery(connection, "SELECT * FROM airData WHERE Wind > 10")

## Ozone Solar.R Wind Temp Month Day
## 1 12 149 12.6 74 5 3
## 2 18 313 11.5 62 5 4
## 3 NA NA 14.3 56 5 5
## 4 28 NA 14.9 66 5 6
## 5 19 99 13.8 59 5 8
## 6 8 19 20.1 61 5 9
## 7 14 274 10.9 68 5 14
## 8 18 65 13.2 58 5 15
## 9 14 334 11.5 64 5 16
## 10 34 307 12.0 66 5 17

# Disconnect connection
dbDisconnect(connection)

Note: for brevity, only the first 10 lines of the query were shown.

Using Java in R

Java is a programming language similar to C, C++, and Python. In R studio, we can embed Java code using rJava. There are many functions inside this package:

  • .jinit(): Initializes the java virtual machine
  • .jaddClassPath(): Adds the given path to the R class path
  • .jClassPath(): Used to see what is in the class path
  • .jnew(): Create a new java object
  • .jcall(): Call a java method with the given arguments

Parameter meanings:

  • class: the file name
  • obj: the java object
  • returnSig: the return type of the method
  • method: name of the method from the java object

Example:

library(rJava)
.jinit()
## [1] 0

.jaddClassPath("C:\\Users\\username\\Google Drive\\Java\\bin")
.jclassPath()
## [1] "C:\\Users\\username\\Documents\\R\\win-library\\3.4\\rJava\\java"
## [2] "C:\\Users\\username\\Google Drive\\Java\\bin"

addNums <- .jnew("AddNums")
addTest <- .jcall(addNums, "I", "added")
addTest
## [1] 6

Using C++ in R

One of the first programming languages invented was C. Unfortunately, it did not have any classes, which made it harder to use. C++ was then created from C, but with classes. In fact, R was written in C++, so you are actually running a C++ program every time you use R.

A benefit of using C++ code is that it compliles quickly, which makes the computer run faster, however, it is also more complex, making it difficult to write.

To use C++ within R, the Rcpp package is available. C++ code is encased in between apostrophes and parenthesis.

Example:

library(Rcpp)
cppFunction('int addThreeNums(int num, int num2, int num3) {
  int sum = num + num2 + num3;
  return sum;
}')
addThreeNums

 ## function (num, num2, num3)
 ## .Primitive(".Call")(<pointer: 0x0000000071281600>, num, num2,
 ## num3)

 addThreeNums(1, 2, 3)
 ## [1] 6

USing Python in R

Python is an interpreted programming language. Like Java, C and C++, it has its advantages and disadvantages. The code to complete a task using the Python language is not complex and it is easy to learn. However, it Lacks a simple but powerful input reading function/class.

Using the rPython package, we can embed python code in R studio. There are several functions inside the rPython package.

  • python.assign(variable name, variable)
  • python.exec( function/ formula)
  • python.get(variable name)
  • python.load(file)
  • python.call(function)

Note: all python code are written inside the quotation marks.

library(rPython)
a <- 1:4
python.assign( "list", a )
python.exec( "length = len( list)" )
python.get( "length" )

we create a list from 1 to 4. Then we assign the list 1 to 4 to "list" in python, and use the python.exec() to run the length function in python and use python.get() to get the length of the list.

python.exec( c( "def addThreeNums(num1, num2, num3):
return num1 + num2 + num3") )
python.call( "addThreeNums", 1, 2, 3)

To execute the python code, we can just copy and paste the python code into python.exec() and call the python function python.call() to call the function in python. If we have a python file, we can simply load it.

python.load("addThreeNumsPython.py")
python.call("addThreeNums", 1, 2, 7)

Note: The rPython package only works on a MAC.

Need a Refresher?

Go back to the beginner tutorials.