Converting pairwise distances into a distance matrix in R

Question

I have pairwise distances that I need to display/convert into a distance matrix. R should have a function for this but I am not sure which one or how to use the same. My data looks like below

A1  A1  0.90
A1  B1  0.85
A1  C1  0.45
A1  D1  0.96
B1  B1  0.90
B1  C1  0.85
B1  D1  0.56
C1  C1  0.55
C1  D1  0.45
D1  D1  0.90

I want to convert/display it as below

      A1      B1      C1      D1
A1    0.90    0.85    0.45    0.96
B1            0.90    0.85    0.56
C1                    0.55    0.45
D1                            0.90

What should I do? Thanks

Answer 1

You could use reshape :

df <- read.table(textConnection("
A1  A1  0.90
A1  B1  0.85
A1  C1  0.45
A1  D1  0.96
B1  B1  0.90
B1  C1  0.85
B1  D1  0.56
C1  C1  0.55
C1  D1  0.45
D1  D1  0.90"))

dfr <- reshape(df, direction="wide", idvar="V2", timevar="V1")
dfr
#   V2 V3.A1 V3.B1 V3.C1 V3.D1
# 1 A1  0.90    NA    NA    NA
# 2 B1  0.85  0.90    NA    NA
# 3 C1  0.45  0.85  0.55    NA
# 4 D1  0.96  0.56  0.45   0.9

d <- as.dist(dfr[, -1])
d
#      1    2    3
# 2 0.85          
# 3 0.45 0.85     
# 4 0.96 0.56 0.45

# reset labels
attr(d, "Labels") <- dfr[, 1]
d
#      A1   B1   C1
# B1 0.85          
# C1 0.45 0.85     
# D1 0.96 0.56 0.45

---

The solution mentioned by @alexis_laz seems to be more elegant:

as.dist(xtabs(df[, 3] ~ df[, 2] + df[, 1]))
#      A1   B1   C1
# B1 0.85          
# C1 0.45 0.85     
# D1 0.96 0.56 0.45