Converting numbers to string in R while retaining trailing zeros/negative signs

Question

I have a dataset with the estimate and lower/upper bounds of the 95% confidence interval.

Here is example code:

data <- as.data.frame(cbind(-0.6142, -1.2190, -0.0092))

colnames(data) <- cbind("Estimate", "LowerCI", "UpperCI")

paste(as.character(round(data$Estimate,1)), '(', as.character(round(data$LowerCI,1)), ',', as.character(round(data$UpperCI,1)), ')')

I am trying to create a variable that I can output to Word that will look like this: -0.6 (-1.2, -0.0)

But I end up with: -0.6 ( -1.2, 0 )

The problems are:

1. The spacing is off; there is a space before/after -1.2, and a space before/after 0.0
2. There is no trailing zero
3. Ideally I would like to have the negative sign in front of the 0 ("-0.0") to convey that the 95% confidence interval does not cross zero.

I'd appreciate any tips.

Answer 1

You can use sprintf with the format string "%01.1f" for this:

x = c(-0.6142, -1.2190, -0.0092)
sprintf(fmt = "%01.1f", x)
[1] "-0.6" "-1.2" "-0.0"

You can also use sprintf to put it all together:

with(data, sprintf(fmt = "%01.1f (%01.1f, %01.1f)", Estimate, LowerCI, UpperCI))
# [1] "-0.6 (-1.2, -0.0)"

I don't have it it in me to really explain - I'd recommend skimming the ?sprintf help page, running the examples at the bottom of the page, and then reading the page more carefully if you'd like to understand the nuances.