to_named_triplet: Convert a matrix or list of matrices between named form and...

In MatthewHeun/matsbyname: An Implementation of Matrix Mathematics that Respects Row and Column Names

Convert a matrix or list of matrices between named form and indexed form

Description

Matrices can be in named matrix form or triplet form. Named matrix form is the usual representation for the matsindf package, wherein names for rows and columns are included in the dimnames attribute of every matrix or Matrix object, consuming memory. Typically, neither zero rows nor zero columns are present. In some instances, many sparse matrices with the same names will be created, leading to inefficiencies due to dimname storage with every matrix object. It can be more memory-efficient to store named matrices in integer triplet form, (a table format with matrix data represented as a data frame with row integer (i), column integer (j), and value (value) columns. (Row names and column names can be stored as character string in the i and j columns, too, called character triplet form.) Integer triplet form is required for databases that do not recognize a matrix as a native storage format. In integer triplet form, a separate (external) mapping between row and column indices and row and column names must be maintained. (In integer triplet form, it becomes the responsibility of the caller to maintain a consistent mapping between row and column indices and row and column names. However, rowtype and coltype are retained as attributes of both integer and character triplet data frames.) These functions convert from named matrix form to integer triplet form (to_triplet()) and vice versa (to_named_matrix()) using row and column name mappings supplied in the index_map argument. to_triplet() and to_named_matrix() are inverses of each other, with row and column order not necessarily preserved. See examples.

Usage

to_triplet(
  a,
  index_map,
  retain_zero_structure = FALSE,
  row_index_colname = "i",
  col_index_colname = "j",
  value_colname = "value",
  rownames_colname = "rownames",
  colnames_colname = "colnames"
)

to_named_matrix(
  a,
  index_map,
  matrix_class = c("matrix", "Matrix"),
  row_index_colname = "i",
  col_index_colname = "j",
  value_colname = "value",
  .rnames = "rownames",
  .cnames = "colnames"
)

Arguments

a	For to_triplet(), a matrix or list of matrices to be converted to triplet form. For to_named_matrix(), a data frame or list of data frames in triplet form to be converted to named matrix form.
index_map	A mapping between row and column names and row and column indices. See details.
retain_zero_structure	A boolean that tells whether to retain the structure of zero matrices when creating triplets. Default is FALSE. See details.
row_index_colname, col_index_colname	The names of row and column index columns in data frames. Defaults are "i" and "j", respectively.
value_colname	The name of the value column in data frames. Default is "value".
rownames_colname, colnames_colname	The name of row name and column name columns in data frames. Defaults are "rownames" and "colnames", respectively.
matrix_class	One of "matrix" (standard) or "Matrix" (sparse) representation for matrices. Default is "matrix".
.rnames, .cnames	Column names used internally. Defaults are "rownames" and "colnames".

Details

index_map must be one of the following:

• A single data frame of two columns, with one an integer column and the other a character column. When a single data frame, it will be applied to both rows and columns.

• An unnamed list of exactly two data frames, each data frame must have only an integer column and a character column. The first data frame of index_map is interpreted as the mapping between row names and row indices and the second data frame of index_map is interpreted as the mapping between column names and column indices.

• A named list of two or more data frames, in which the names of index_map are interpreted as row and column types, with named data frames applied as the mapping for the associated row or column type. For example the data frame named "Industry" would be applied to the dimension (row or column) with an "Industry" type. When both row and column have "Industry" type, the "Industry" mapping is applied to both. When sending named data frames in index_map, a must have both a row type and a column type. If an appropriate mapping cannot be found in index_map, an error is raised. Both matching data frames must have only an integer column and a character column.

When converting to indexed form, rowtype and coltype are retained as attributes. See rowtype() and coltype().

If any indices are unavailable in the index_map, an error is raised. It is an error to repeat a name in the name column of an index_map data frame. It is an error to repeat an index in the index column of an index_map data frame.

If a is NULL, NULL is returned. If a is a list and any member of the list is NULL, NULL is returned in that position.

By default, to_triplet() will return a zero-row data frame when a is a zero matrix. Set retain_zero_structure = TRUE to return all entries in the zero matrix.

Value

to_triplet() returns a as a data frame or list of data frames in triplet form. to_named_matrix() returns a as a named matrix or a list of matrices in named form.

Examples

triplet <- data.frame(i = as.integer(c(9, 7, 5, 9, 7, 5)), 
                      j = as.integer(c(3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4)), 
                      value = c(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)) |> 
  setrowtype("rows") |> setcoltype("cols")
triplet
rowtype(triplet)
coltype(triplet)
# We have more indices than actual entries in the martix
r_indices <- data.frame(names = paste0("r", 1:101),
                        indices = 1:101)
head(r_indices)
c_indices <- data.frame(names = paste0("c", 1:101),
                        indices = 1:101)
head(c_indices)
# Names are interpreted as row and column types
indices <- list(cols = c_indices, rows = r_indices)
named <- to_named_matrix(triplet, indices)
named
triplet2 <- to_triplet(named, indices)

# Although not in the same row order, 
# triplet and triplet2 are the same.
triplet2
rowtype(triplet2)
coltype(triplet2)
# And the same matrix can be recovered from triplet2
to_named_matrix(triplet2, indices)

MatthewHeun/matsbyname documentation built on June 11, 2025, 5:20 p.m.