This function captures the output of printing an object as a data.frame and returns it as a single string. It's particularly useful for including tabular data in error messages or log entries as strings.
Details
The function performs the following steps: 1. Converts the input object to a data frame using `as.data.frame()`. 2. Prints the resulting data.frame. 3. Captures the print output using `capture.output()`. 4. Collapses the captured output into a single string with newline characters.
This function is particularly useful when you need to include the contents of a table or data frame in a single string, such as when throwing an error message or creating a log entry. It allows you to easily combine textual information with tabular data in a format that can be printed as a cohesive message.
Examples
# Create a sample data frame
df <- data.frame(a = 1:3, b = letters[1:3])
# Use tableToString to get the output as a string
output <- tableToString(df)
cat(output)
#> a b
#> 1 1 a
#> 2 2 b
#> 3 3 c
# Example of using tableToString in error handling
tryCatch({
# Some operation that might fail
if (sum(df$a) > 5) {
stop(
paste("Sum of column 'a' is too high. Current data:",
tableToString(df))
)
}
}, error = function(e) {
message("An error occurred: ", e$message)
})
#> An error occurred: Sum of column 'a' is too high. Current data: a b
#> 1 1 a
#> 2 2 b
#> 3 3 c