The `readLines()` function in R can be used to read lines of text from a file. The function takes a connection object or a character string as input, and it returns a character vector containing the lines of text from the file.
The `readLines()` function has a number of arguments that can be used to control the way that the lines of text are read. For example, the `n` argument can be used to specify the maximum number of lines that should be read, and the `skip` argument can be used to specify the number of lines that should be skipped at the beginning of the file.
Here is an example of how to use the `readLines()` function to read lines of text from a file:
# Create a connection to the file "words.txt"
con <- file("words.txt", "r")
# Read the first 10 lines of the file
lines <- readLines(con, 10)
# Close the connection
close(con)
# Print the lines of text
lines
This code will open the file `words.txt` in read-only mode, read the first 10 lines of the file into the variable `lines`, and then close the file. The `lines` variable will contain a character vector with the 10 lines of text from the file.
The `readLines()` function is a powerful tool for reading lines of text from files in R. It can be used to read from files that are unstructured or contain non-standard data.
Here is an example of how to use the `readLines()` function to read from a compressed file:
# Create a connection to the compressed file "words.gz"
con <- gzfile("words.gz", "r")
# Read the first 10 lines of the file
lines <- readLines(con, 10)
# Close the connection
close(con)
# Print the lines of text
lines
This code will open the file `words.gz` in read-only mode, read the first 10 lines of the file into the variable `lines`, and then close the file. The `lines` variable will contain a character vector with the 10 lines of text from the file.
